A lot has been said about the bravery of the soldier who stood in the doorway and took rounds fired by the shooter in Roseburg.

We have heard a lot about the professionalism of the officers that responded and took the shooter down.

All of that is warranted, they really were heros.

What we haven’t heard – or at least I haven’t heard – is the professional demeanor of the dispatcher that sent the officers to the scene.  She did a phenomenal job of getting the correct information in a calm and professional manner to the officers.

Her performance helped them focus on what they were going into and kept them from wondering if she had their back if they needed more help.

She, too, is a hero!  She deserves accolades!

Isaiah 30:15-18 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

¹⁶ But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

¹⁷ One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.

¹⁸ And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

Colossians 1:10:13  That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

¹¹ Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

¹² Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

¹³ Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

In my devotions this morning I was reminded that a common theme in both the Old and New Testament is to rest and walk in God.

We have all experienced the times when we were in a place and uncomfortable.  I can remember the first time I was in the forest, by myself, at night.

All the shadows and noises seem to bear down on me.  It was hard to rest, and even knowing there really wasn’t anything out there I should be afraid of, my imagination told me otherwise.

Little things can startle us, little things can cause us to back off and go around a different way.

Most of the time our imaginations get the best of us.  We start worrying about what could go wrong, what or who is out to get us and we become ineffective.

Satan is very good at using our fears to make us unproductive.  We are afraid, so it is safer to do nothing.  We don’t want to make a fool of ourselves so we choose not to engage.  We cannot come under criticism if we remain out of the fracas.

Most of the time that we find ourselves in a fearful situation it is because we have not prepared for it.

Police officers train with their firearms.  They train to meet various scenarios where people are in danger and the officer may have to draw down and make a decision on whether they should shoot or not.  The more training they have the better prepared they are when something surprising happens, and instead of just reacting by instinct, they react as trained – while the two are not necessarily non-compatible, it is better to have the training.

It is the same in every other Emergency situation where someone is under the influence of adrenalin and must need to make a decision.  If they have had proper training, they can control themselves and do what needs to be done.  The trained EMS worker goes forward to the threat in a confident and professional manner, instead haphazard and/or instead of running from it.

The Law Enforcement Officers that arrived on the scene of the Roseburg shootings were praised for their professional manner in which they handled the situation.

The soldier who stood at the door and took rounds into his body to keep the shooter from going elsewhere and continuing his murderous spree is indeed a hero.

But what we haven’t heard, and what was incredibly important in the whole situation, is the professionalism of the dispatcher.  She had the information necessary to direct the officers to the right building and room.  She remained calm and in control as she relayed the information from what had to be people in panic, but she did not – by her being calm the officers were given that added assurance that she knew what was happening.  Her calm demeanor helped them remain calm.

I have written of this incident in the past, but let me relate some of it again.  I was in a high-speed chase of a very dangerous driver.  The dispatcher on the other side of my radio transmissions was acting alone for the first time since she was hired.  Her training officers had told me at the beginning of the shift that he was going to let her alone in the Communications Center, but would be in another part of the building monitoring everything.

It was a quiet night, Tuesday night, so I understood why he was letting her ‘fly solo.’

However, as I radioed that I was in pursuit, she was calm and just let me know she heard me, I then radioed direction and speed, she acknowledge, calmly.  Through the first minute or so of the chase I felt I was all alone out there, I didn’t think she understood the gravity of what I was doing.

After what felt to be hours later, in reality it was less than a minute, her training officer came on the air, it was like a hand had been placed on my shoulder and I knew everything was all right.  

Later, I found out she was well aware and when I asked how she remained so calm she said, she knew she couldn’t do anything for me if she got upset.

Now, that was her personality, also, that helped a great deal, but she had been trained to remain calm on the calls, emergency by citizens as well as EMS workers, so she was mentally prepared for those situations.

If we take the time to meet with God.  To wait on Him, to listen to Him and to follow Him we will be stronger; we will be prepared for those darts that satan will throw at us.  We will be better at fending them off and become more triumphant for God.

It takes determination, BEFORE things happen, to prepare ourselves for battle.  We must take the time to read His Word, spend time with Him and then follow where He leads us, confident that His firm hand is on our shoulders.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again