Presidents, Planning & Providence

Today was an extremely interesting and eventful day.

First we had the privilege of visiting the libraries of John F. Kennedy and the persoanl library of John & John Quincy Adams. What a difference in these presidents. Kennedy was known for his social agenda - Adams for his promotion of liberty and justice. The Kennedy family was known for its extreme wealth not always gained in an honorable fashion while the Adams were mere farmers who were also patriots. JFK was known for his little indiscretions, especially in regards to Marilyn Monroe, while John and John Quincy were of impeccable character. The Adams promoted family values while the Kennedy's promoted values clarification apart from the scripture. John Adams read his Bible daily, JFK was well read. John Adams stood up for injustice at the Boston Massacre by defending the British in a court of law, while JFK was also valiant in the defense of his country during World War II.

After finishing at the Adams house, we got lost on the trolley and were 20 minutes late to our lunch appointment, making us about 20-30 minutes behind schedule the rest of the day. We ate lunch at the beautiful Cambridge Galleria then went to see Old Ironsides, the oldest active commissioned war ship in the world. It was amazing to see this ship that had fought in the war of 1812 and was commissioned and named by George Washington himself when he established the Navy. We decided to take the full tour this year which we hadn't done for about ten years. That kept us from catching up on our time - we were still 30 minutes behind. That made us 30 minutes late to dinner, which was no big deal because we had only one more thing to do after dinner.

We went to Quincy Market which I always enjoy doing, the over to the Holocaust Memorial. We walked through there very slowly, viewing the memorial and then sending the students across the street where everyone would wait and then we would talk to them for about 15 minutes before boarding the subway and going back to the motel.

About 5 minutes before everyone was through the memorial, fire trucks, emergency vehicles, and police cars were flooding the area and shutting off Government Center. We got word that the very subway we were to get on was involved in a subway crash at the time we would probably have been on the subway. Over 20 people were injured. God had providentially protected these students and all of us from danger that He knew existed.

You know, we talk all the time about the how God cares for us and protects us. But this time we got to see it first hand and know that it was definitely the Lord who was watching over us. He did that for each of us this day whether we realize it or not. May we live in such a way that our lives might reflect His goodness and that we might be "a city that is set on a hill and cannot be hid."