lack of control

Today one of my best friends left Colorado. We went to college together, we ran marathons together, we did some of the most difficult tasks of our lives together. Now he's going to Iraq for a year. Lots of my friends have deployed, but this is different. He's an EOD commander and a really really really caring guy. His unit blows up IEDs, the most dangerous work possible in the most dangerous part of the world. He is such a great and caring guy, he'd put himself in danger before any of his men. I'm really worried about him because he is so selfless. He volunteered to go for a year. He will experience more danger than I could ever fathom.
It's also getting more dangerous in Afghanistan...there's an increasing threat against unarmed westerners. I'm worried about Katie.
When I was over there, i didn't really worry about myself because I was in control of the situation. With my guys, I could train them so they could respond to a situation. I had control.
Last night, Mike and I stood on a cliff overlooking Colorado Springs. I realized that with Mike and Katie, I have no control...no way to keep them safe. It freaked me out, I felt hopeless because there's nothing I can do to keep them safe. But this made me realize that there's an illusion of control of our own lives. Who knows what will happen tomorrow. We are never in control of the situation. The only thing we can really count on is that the unexpected will happen. You can't control or expect the unexpected. The only thing you can really count on is the righteousness of His plan, regardless of what the plan is. I know they'll be ok, regardless of what happens. With faith, there's never hopelessness, we have an undying hope.