In the Zone

One day, an elderly man decided to go into town to run some errands. He lived in the country and that day determined he needed to get things down in town. While in town, he started not feeling well. He became dizzy and short of breath. He grew weaker and had to sit down. Someone noticed and called 911. Because he was in town, first responders reached him quickly. Within 15 minutes, he was at the hospital and diagnosed as having a stroke. Within 30 minutes, he had already been administered medication. Within a few days, he left the hospital with almost no effects from suffering a stroke. Had this man stayed home, he likely would have died. A 911 call from his house, if anyone had noticed, would have meant a response time of at least 20 minutes. Then, he would have another 20-minute ambulance ride to the hospital. By the time a diagnosis would be made and medicine administered, he would have suffered permanent damage. He may have died. This man was a believer in Christ. He doesn...

Wilmer Mclean famously claimed that the Civil War started in his front yard and ended in his parlor. He's somewhat accurate in that assessment. Wilmer McLean and his family lived on a farm near Bull Run Creek in Virginia. As the first battle of the Civil War neared - the First Battle of Bull Run - Confederate General B. G. T. Beauregard used McLean's farmhouse as a headquarters. The family barn served as a make-shift hospital for the wounded. After the battle, Wilmer, having had enough of war, fled the family farm and settled in a house in Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. He moved because he wanted to flee destruction and certain death near Bull Run. However, at the end of the war, an aide to General Robert E. Lee selected McLean's house as the place to negotiate the surrender of the Confederate forces. After everything was signed, soldiers began to raid his house for souvenirs of the signing of the document that effectively ended the Civil War. He fled to escape de...