One of Our Own

One of our own teens at our church, Jessica, a nineteen year old firefighter, is battling forest fires in the western part of the US this summer.  Sent off earlier this summer, she’s been in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and is now in Idaho.  The fire she is currently working has grown to over 5,000 acres and is barely contained.  The crew was in peril a couple of days ago, but escaped and everyone is OK.  The accompanying photo is a recent one of her on the job.

Firefighting is one of the last occupations to be integrated by women.  And fighting forest fires is one of the last of the last.  Jessica is an inspiration to me, and I hope to all who know about this amazing young woman and what she is accomplishing at such a young age.

I have to stop and think about where I was and what I was doing at age nineteen.  Sadly, I remember all too well that I was in the middle of getting an education and starting a career.  I had no thoughts about serving others; no thoughts about a higher calling; no thoughts about what it meant to make the world a better place.  My only thoughts were staying out of the draft (1969), and not having to move back home because of no job.

I think society has changed in many ways over the years.  I think young people have changed in many ways over the years.  Much of that change is for the better.  Young people are more in tune with society now.  They are more gregarious and interactive not only within their culture, but in the cultures of adults and seniors.  They have a notion of what service means and are not swayed by artificial walls put in their way.  They embrace a dream and find a way to fulfill it.

Yes, there are issues with this generation, just as there are with every generation.  They don’t, by and large, embrace the social and moral norms of us older folks.  They can be loose cannons at times.  Their thought processes are not always as logical and ordered as ours.  And they continue to make the dumb mistakes that we also made when we were that age.

But think of it.  Think of all of the challenges that Jessica faces every day in what she has chosen to do.  Everything from staying healthy to finding  a bathroom spot in the forest.  Constantly on the watch…constantly on guard…constantly getting the backs of her fellow fire-fighters and having her backside covered by others.  It’s tiresome, gritty, dangerous work.  And my guess is that she has, more than once, wondered why she’s where she is doing whatever it is that she’s doing at the moment.

So here’s to Jessica and all like her who dream a dream, seize that dream, and make it happen.  Thank you for your service, your sacrifice, and your example.  And may God bless you and all you work with this summer.