I was a pre-schooler and was playing checkers with my Mom in the living room of our house on East Main street in Butler. It was evening and was getting dark outside. All of a sudden our whole house shook and there was a tremendous roar. We ran to the front door and saw that a semi driver had fallen asleep and drove his big rig into the house across the street, knocking the entire house off its foundation.

The whole neighborhood turned out to help rescue the occupants, an older couple named McKee, who were, fortunately, not harmed. That was big excitement for the sleepy town of Butler. And it pulled the community together. Crisis has a way of getting people to work together with compassion for another.

I don’t want to say we need more crises, but God will do whatever it takes to get us to work together. Who do you know who’s in trouble?

Tags: rescue, trouble, unity