American spirit

 

I loved this quote by Mack Wilberg …

"As much sorrow and grief as came from 9/11 there have also come positives. The indomitable American spirit turned a tragedy into a triumph of coming together as a nation, caring and serving one another."

I thought  today at church as we had a Moment of Silence, for all those who  gave up their lives and their families during 9/11… that it made me realize that we need not forget the lessons that we learned from 9/11.

May those memories change our lives and attitudes forever. I was in the grocery store the other day and saw on the front cover of a magazine where the children of the victims of 9/11 was shown. How proud they must be to  know that they are the children of heroes. Yes, their lives also had to have come with heartaches and sorrow but still…hopefully they will live their lives in such a manner that their parents would have been proud.

I think that we need to all check how our American Spirit is doing? Are we actively involved in making the world a better and safer place? Are we being heroes for our children and those around us?
Yes, let us not ever forget the tragedy of that day, and still be ever prayerful… for all those who paid the ultimate price.

Good night dear friends!

"Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children." -President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

"You can be sure that the American spirit will prevail over this tragedy." -Colin Powell

"The moment to spend with a husband who loves me, or a sick friend, or a delicious new grandchild is here and now. Not some time later .... The nation learned this lesson all at once that horrible day in September 2001. The pictures stay with us -- the fires and falling debris, and, most hauntingly, the faces. Look how young so many of them were, people who thought there would be much more time, a lot of 'later' when they could do all the things they really wanted to do. I grieve for their families -- especially for those, like me, who haven't found any trace of the people they loved. But I grieve even more for the people who died that day. They couldn't know what we know now about the precious gift of time." -Cokie Roberts, contributing senior news analyst for NPR News

True heroes

I am always amazed at the people I meet, who struggle with many different problems in their life, and yet they still keep going and are full of hope and faith. And they aren't any different than you and I, they are normal people who have every day challenges. Yet somehow it doesn't knock them down, but gives them more courage and wisdom in their lives.
I am reading a book about one such person. I am drawn to those type of true heroes, they are a great example to me and to be honest with you ...that is what I want to be when I grow up!  So this post is for all you true heroes out there, that make the world a better place by continuing to survive, thrive and share your strength, your stories and examples to us. You are our true heroes! Thank you!

“Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.”  ~ Carol Lynn Pearson

"Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story."  ~John Barth

"I believe it is the nature of people to be heroes, given the chance."  ~ James A. Autry

 

Old Testament Heroes

I am working on another presentation, this one Jeff and I will be doing together in two weeks for the Youth in our church. We have been preparing the main presentations to be about HEROES. Of course when you say that in the world today, everyone naturally thinks of Batman, Superman, Ironman and on and on. But I am thinking about more REAL HEROES, ones we know personally or ones that we know from the Scriptures. At church we talked about Gideon. I love the strength and courage that he had. I loved how human he was and some of the things he did, to keep asking God for reassurance. I have done that myself many times, when I thought what lied ahead of me was too big or too hard. His task was not an easy one, but isn't that true for most of  us?

In Judges chapter 7 we read where the Lord tells Gideon that too many in his army. So Gideon tells them 'Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart...'  After that there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. The Lord tells Gideon once again that there are too many, he then told them how to make the judgement of who leaves and who stays. At the end of that test, there was only 300 left that the Lord wanted. The Lord reassures Gideon that with those 300 men, he will save and the deliver the Midianites into his hand. The Lord knew that if there were too many men that they would think it was by their own strength that they won the battle. He wanted to make sure that they knew it was only with his help that they were victorious. Gideon...was a true hero.

How thankful I am for the scriptures which give us a knowledge of the Lord's way. It is not always our way, but definitely the right way!

"I have always found that when we do the little things correctly, the Lord gives us the strength to accomplish big things... You might not always understand the reasons for some rules or commandments, but if you will follow them even in the little things you will have more strength to do big things... And you will have the great blessing of knowing that you are on the Lord's side and that He is on yours."  ~ Donald L. Hallstrom

"To reach a goal you have never before attained, you must do things you have never before done."
--Richard G. Scott,

"Nobody ever outgrows scripture; the Book widens and deepens with our years."   ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

 

Real Hero

I loved this story in our local newspaper the other day about a local boy with cancer gets to be a superhero for a day. It was also on the TV today, introducing him and his parents. It touched my heart. I will only include a brief part of it, but if you have the time...you really should read it. The reporter's name and email are just below. I am sure that I am partial to it because one... I love children, two...I am a cancer survivor myself, so I truly understand what a toll it takes on the whole family. How grateful I am that there are so many good people in the world, who were willing to make this young boy's dream come true.

Erik Martin, who is living with liver cancer, has always wanted to be a superhero. On Thursday, the regional chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted him that wish with an elaborate event that involved hundreds of volunteers in Bellevue and Seattle.

By Katherine Long  klong@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times Eastside reporter

Dean Rutz  Seattle Times

The Make-A-Wish Foundation made 13-year-old Erik Martin's dream of becoming a superhero come true.

Electron Boy lances Blackout Boy (Jake Anderson) before turning on Dr. Dark (Edgar Hansen) in the battle between good and evil at the Space Needle. Erik Martin's dream of becoming a superhero came true Thursday. At left is Lightning Lad, played by actor Rob Burgess.

DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

A crowd of better than 200 gather outside Puget Sound Energy in Bellevue to cheer on Electron Boy as he saves a stranded worker in a bucket truck on Thursday.

School day for 13-year-old Erik Martin, but then something extraordinary happened: Spider-Man called.

Spider-Man happens to be one of the few people who knows that Erik, too, has a secret identity — he's Electron Boy, a superhero who fights the powers of evil with light.

And Spider-Man needed Erik's help.

Erik, who is living with liver cancer, has always wanted to be a superhero. On Thursday, the regional chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted him that wish with an elaborate event that involved hundreds of volunteers in Bellevue and Seattle.

The local chapter, which serves four states, grants more than 300 wishes every year to children with life-threatening medical conditions, but only a few of them involve so many participants.

Seattle City Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw stepped forward with a key to the city and a proclamation that Thursday was Electron Boy Day. Afterward, Erik posed for the TV cameras, flexed his muscles and spent some time astride a Bellevue police motorcycle.

"He's over the moon," said Foote. "This is definitely beyond anything we thought it would be."

Watching her son run across the plaza in front of the Space Needle, mom Judy Martin said Erik goes to school when he's able, but is often too tired. "He hasn't had this much energy in a long time," she said. "They called it the power of the wish, and they're right."

Like any good superhero, Electron Boy kept his innermost thoughts to himself. But he did have one important thing to say:

"This is the best day of my life."

May we all really stop and count our blessings each day!

"WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DREAM HEROIC DREAMS. THOSE WHO SAY THAT WE'RE IN A TIME WHEN THERE ARE NO HEROES, THEY JUST DON'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK." ~Ronald Reagan

" NURTURE YOUR MIND WITH GREAT THOUGHTS; TO BELIEVE IN THE HEROIC MAKES HEROES" ~ Benjamin Disraeli