CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

ALL I CAN SAY IS THANK YOU

1/19/2015

 
I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was October 14, 1987 and I was sitting at home with my beautiful wife and our brand new baby daughter, Andrea, who had been born just four days earlier.  The news carried a story of an eighteen month old girl named Jessica McClure had  been at her aunt's house in an obscure place called Midland, Texas when she fell twenty two feet down into a well with an eight inch casing.

Modern media was just coming of age; and a fledging station known as Cable News Network (or CNN) took up residence along with other national news outlets to cover the story of her rescue.  A virtual media circus ensued over the next fifty eight hours until, using what was then the new technology of water jet cutting, authorities were eventually able to rescue “Baby Jessica”.  

When she was finally rescued, the photograph taken of her being lifted from the well won a Pulitzer Prize and graced the cover of virtually every newspaper and news magazine in America.  Years later, the whole ordeal was made into a movie. 

At the time, along with my wife and me, most all of America was riveted by  this unfolding live drama – so much so that then President Ronald Reagan stated that "everybody in America became godmothers and godfathers of Jessica while this was going on."

In the aftermath, Baby Jessica had to undergo fifteen or so surgeries.  She still lost a toe due to gangrene.  (Her leg had been pinned upside down against her body; and she had no circulation in it for the whole fifty eight hours.)  But other than this and a scar on her forehead, she came through the trial remarkably unscathed.

Afterwards, donations poured in; and little Jessica herself was given a trust fund that matured when she turned twenty five – then equal to about $800,000.  She used the money to buy a house and to pay for a college education for her own two children.  To this day, she lives a quiet, happy life with her husband and two children.

The one thing she does do, however, is to make certain that others know how appreciative she is for having rescued her.  In an interview twenty years after the ordeal, she told Matt Lauer on national television:  “All I can say is thank you.  There are really no words to describe how thankful I really, honestly am.”

I share this today because this past Sunday was “Sanctity of Human Life Sunday” across America.  Tens of thousands of churches and millions of Christians celebrated the blessing that is human life. 

For my part,
I am glad that all of America was once galvanized to save the life of one precious little girl named Baby Jessica. And I long for the day when we are all once again galvanized to save the life of every single person, including both the born and the unborn.   


The Bible teaches us that we are all created in the image of Almighty God.  And Jesus Christ, God's Son, gave His life for each and every one of us.  Surely, therefore, we should value all that God Himself values.  Surely we should love all those whom God Himself loves. 

Besides, only eternity will tell how thankful those who were saved truly are.  And only then will we know how much every single human life really mattered.


NOTE:  Matt Lauer’s interview with Jessica McClure Morales can be found on
www.YouTube.com.

Also, check out the "Baby Jessica Rescue Page" at: http://www.caver.net/j/jrescue.html.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All