I wasn't in my office at church yesterday due to meetings at our presbytery office. When I came in this morning I found this cute little bear, dressed in a NASA shuttle suit on my desk. It was in a bag along with a note from the chair of the CE committee, my good friend who is a REAL rocket scientist and works with NASA.
The bear was a thank-you for my prayers and support for her and her work group. They were devastated by the Columbia tragedy a couple of years ago and have been working very hard on NASA's "return to space". That's what the RTF stands for on the front of the bear's uniform.
She is under a great deal of pressure--in fact she will be incommunicado for much of the flight. She is the safety engineer responsible for the performance of the camera that is now mounted on the outside of the shuttle. This camera continuously scans the outside of the spacecraft, looking for loose or missing tiles. Those tiles were the cause of the Columbia tragedy. Take-off was successful this morning, so now that camera will be operating to help alert the crew to any potential danger.
This little bear reminds me that behind the headlines about Discovery, or any news story for that matter, are people whose lives are affected by the events reported. I'm keeping the bear on the counter in my kitchen until Discovery lands safely as a reminder to keep everyone involved, especially my friend, in prayer asking for traveling mercies for the Discovery shuttle.
The bear was a thank-you for my prayers and support for her and her work group. They were devastated by the Columbia tragedy a couple of years ago and have been working very hard on NASA's "return to space". That's what the RTF stands for on the front of the bear's uniform.
She is under a great deal of pressure--in fact she will be incommunicado for much of the flight. She is the safety engineer responsible for the performance of the camera that is now mounted on the outside of the shuttle. This camera continuously scans the outside of the spacecraft, looking for loose or missing tiles. Those tiles were the cause of the Columbia tragedy. Take-off was successful this morning, so now that camera will be operating to help alert the crew to any potential danger.
This little bear reminds me that behind the headlines about Discovery, or any news story for that matter, are people whose lives are affected by the events reported. I'm keeping the bear on the counter in my kitchen until Discovery lands safely as a reminder to keep everyone involved, especially my friend, in prayer asking for traveling mercies for the Discovery shuttle.
Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks.
ReplyDelete