When it finally hits home....

I was sitting in my math class this morning and felt a nudge to check my phone. I had checked it just a few minutes earlier. I pulled it out of my purse and saw that I had a new voice mail. I then looked to see that the missed call was from my dad's phone. My first thought was that he wanted to remind me to call about what I got on my tests. (I took two tests yesterday--math and American government.) I didn't get my test back, so I figured I'd just listen to the voice mail and call him after my American government class when I got that test back. I waited until I got out of the building to make sure that I'd have reception. I called my voice mail, punched in my password and listened to my message. It was my dad, but it wasn't about my tests.

It was serious. I could tell by my dad's voice.

He said that he just wanted to call me to let me know the news....And then he dropped a bomb.

Joel, an Army Specialist who is on his first tour in Iraq, has been killed.

I could only say "Oh my God!" over and over again. I honestly wanted to drop to the ground and weep. It took my breath away.

Joel Taylor is 20 years old. I've known Joel for a few years. We had gone to the same church for a while. His mom and I were on the dance team at church together. My friend was his girlfriend. His dad, a firefighter, had been to our house when my mom put a fuse back in incorrectly.

I can't explain how it has effected me, and I haven't seen him or his parents in quite a while.

It really puts things into some sort of perspective when it hits home.

Or maybe it changes perspectives, in a good way.

Please pray for the Taylor Family. I can't imagine what this would feel like. Joel was a sweet, fun-loving guy who was proud to serve his country. We were honored to have him serve and protect us, as we are with all of our military.