Wildfires continue to consume the northern California countryside. As of this writing, the death toll has now risen to 35 after fires have ravaged over 200,000 acres and decimating more than 6,000 homes and businesses in its path. Many escaped certain death with only the clothes on their back. Spurred by high winds and dry climate, wildfires can travel quickly as a thief in the night.
Stories are already emerging of loss and devastation. Charles and Sara Rippey celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary last year. Together since grade school, Charles and Sara were rarely apart. Charles was 100 years old and Sara was 98. This week they died together as a wildfire consumed their home. Their bodies were found inches apart.
This reminds me of a young man I had the pleasure of working with in the corporate world. Sloan was smart as a whip, a financial analyst at a large corporation, handsome, and good as gold. He loved God and his family above anything. When he announced he would be moving back to Breckenridge to work his family’s ranch in the Panhandle, there was little doubt he was fulfilling his calling.
The next time I heard about Sloan was after his death. Wildfires started popping up in Kansas, Oklahoma and the Panhandle. The National Weather Service warned of the dangerous potential these fires could have. At 5:30 p.m. on March 6, 2017, Sloan knew the fire was headed straight toward his ranch. He told his family to leave immediately, but for Sloan, and other ranchers, they headed out to save the livestock.
Suddenly, the winds turned a different direction moving the flames directly to Sloan and the others. The next day Sloan was found, barely alive, able to speak only a few words until finally succumbing to his burns as he reached the emergency room.
Sloan’s death had an impact on me, although I had known him only briefly. Through this disaster, and every disaster where death can come quickly like a thief in the night, I am reminded I can’t take life for granted.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
Tagged: farm life, purpose and calling
