Page 97 - Lubbock Senior Link Magazine Summer 2022 - Online Magazine

HONORING SENIORS

It’s Easy to Forget!

by Randall Hinds

A dear friend of mine recently had a massive heart lessened. One thing I can say for
attack in the middle of the night that took his life sure: as a firefighter, I have been
shortly thereafter. Later that day, my wife and I drove on many emergency calls where I
to our friend’s home in Amarillo to help and support came away thinking, “That could Inspiration
his wife, also a very close friend of ours. While there, have been A LOT worse.”
the firefighters who worked the call came by the
house to retrieve a piece of equipment they had left So, I trust God for my health
the night of the call. While they were there, I was and safety and for that of my
able to ask several important questions about what family and friends. But that trust
happened in the ambulance from the house to the includes the realization that He
hospital. It was quite a comfort to know, firsthand, may just choose to let a human
what had happened. being step in and be the help that’s
needed at that moment.
This was a surreal experience for me. As a Lubbock
Fire Fighter for 21 years, I have gone into people’s It’s easy to forget emergencies are
homes so many times in emergency situations, often a reality. It’s easy to forget how
in the middle of the night. I and the other guys on good it feels to have someone
our Engine were the ones being awakened from deep show up who knows what he
sleep, jumping into our bunker gear, and trying to be or she is doing. It’s also easy to
alert and ready for whatever we might face. forget that, in God’s plan, people
are called to help other people …
But there, on that day, I was on the other side, feeling whether it’s a family member, a
what it is like to be in a critical situation and having neighbor, a friend … or that first
trained people arrive in a matter of minutes to help. I responder who shows up on your
watched those three Amarillo firefighters with intense doorstep in the middle of the
interest, thinking, “So this is what it feels like to be night.
on the other side.” It made me wonder how my crew
was perceived by the people into whose homes we Emergency workers are easy to
went. Did we provide a sense of protection, security, forget because, in the normal
compassion? Did they feel toward us the way I was course of life, you don’t see them.
feeling toward those firefighters who helped my dear But aren’t you glad they’re there
friends in their emergency? when you need them?

It's easy to forget, when things are “normal”, that
the unforeseen can really happen … and not just to
someone else. Like a beautiful spring day, the warmth
and beauty make us forget the frigid, blustery winter.
But bad weather does come again, and the wind and Randall Hinds was an
cold shake us back into reality. LFD firefighter for 21
years. He is the father
of seven children,
I often think how amazing it is that there aren’t more grandfather of 13, and
wrecks, fires, and medical emergencies. The potential Executive Director for
is all around us, all the time. But for someone like me, Christ in the Arts.
who believes in a personal God who is at work, often
in untraceable ways, in personal lives, I shouldn’t be
surprised that many potential tragedies are averted or

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