The Hero In You

Just a little something on my mind tonight. I know I have been away for a while but sometimes health can hold you back a little. My hands are not working well these days so typing is a major challenge. So is rest. I have missed this and to be honest this message is way different then most I have written. I know many of my blogs are stories but tonight just something that is zooming through my mind has me sitting here typing. I have missed it so much. 

I want to thank all of you who read this Blog and I promise that starting next week there will be a series of Blogs that will bring you face to face with me and other Parkinson's friends.Stories, information and facts. Mostly the chance for me to reconnect with you and I hope you will come along for the ride. 


We all have it in us but to often we are afraid to take a chance. We are afraid to stumble, look stupid, make a mistake or step out of our comfort zone. We see things we want to change, we see things we want to try and we think of things we want to do but there is too often that voice that says don't do it. Don't blow it.

That my friends is the little voice of evil stopping you from helping others. That is the negative voice that wants to hold you back the voice that wants to keep you from helping your brothers and sister or it is the voice that is trying to hold you back from greatness.

People Need you to stand up and take a chance.

All the lonely people cryin'
It could change if we just get started
Light the darkness, light a fire
For the silent and the broken hearted

When I was a small child I would dream of things I could do that would be cool to help my community, my family and my friends. I never did because I was afraid I would look dumb and later I realized how much I could have helped someone if I had just tried. I remember the first fundraiser I did way back in the 1980's. I planned and organized for a whole month. My goal was to raise thousands of dollars for a dear friend. I was sure bummed when I only raised $1000.00. But then Mr Southard reminded me that it was a whole $1000.00 that my friend did not have to start with. He also reminded me that I did it. I made it happen. 

There's a comfort
There's healing
High above the pain and sorrow
Change is coming
Can you feel it?
Calling us into a new tomorrow

It was a fire that started in me to do more. I felt I had to because so many for so long had done so much for my family. I look at this community and I watch and see so many doing so many great things for other people. There are senior projects to raise money for cancer research., Alzheimer and Parkinson's. 

There are high school kids working a Saturday morning at Luc's Run to raise money to support those who have given the greatest sacrifice. I see the Kiwanis, Rotary and Families giving scholarships. I see people giving blood and I see kids giving time to help Horses Heal, FOAC and so much more. 
They are giving hope. Taking dinner to a neighbor. Mowing a friends lawn and clearing brush for an elderly couple. 

When the walls fall all around you
When your hope has turned to dust
Let the sound of love surround you
Beat like a heart in each of us

Reminds of Gideon. Remember him? Well let me recap the story according to my version.

The story of Gideon starts out with God not being very happy with his people, the Israelite's.  If you remember the Israelite's were the ones God saved from Pharaoh.  The people Moses led across the Red Sea on dry ground.  Hundreds of years had passed since then but throughout all of God's miracles they had experienced, they still did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

There were consequences for these actions.  That means that when they did something wrong God didn't bless them but gave them into the hands of the Midianite's.

The Midianites weren't their friends.  They took or ruined all their crops and animals.  The Israelties had to hide from them in caves.

After Israel had nothing left they finally cried out to God for help.  God heard their cry (like he always does) and had a plan.

The cool thing about all this is that God wasn't happy with the Israelites but He still listened to them and answered their prayer! 

This is where Gideon comes into the story.  He was threshing wheat in a hidden place so that the Midianites wouldn't see him and steal the wheat, when an angel of the Lord came and sat next to him.

The angel spoke to him and said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." Gideon was like "you cant be talking to me I am a coward even my family thinks I am a coward. 

"But sir,"  Gideon replied, "if the Lord is with us why is all this bad stuff happening?  Where are all the miracles our fathers (the people that crossed the Red Sea) told us about?"

The Lord replied to Gideon, "Go with all your strength and save Israel from the Midianites.  I am sending you to do it."

Then Gideon started all the excuses. "But Lord, how can I save Israel?  My people are the weakest in Manasseh and I am the smallest and the youngest in my family."

I think God probably smiled here, but He said "I will be with you, and you will defeat all the Midianites together." Then Gideon asked God  So God sent three different signs and Gideon said ok lets do this.

So Gideon gathered up an army and started out for the Midianite camp.  Gideon was probably feeling pretty good about things.  He had lots of men to help him fight and God promised he would help them win.

God had something a little different in mind.  He told Gideon he had too many men in his army. He knew that Israel would think they defeated the Midianites on their own without God's help.

So God said to Gideon, "Announce to the people, 'Anyone whose afraid may go home now'."  Amazingly twenty-two thousand of the men left!  That's a lot of people!  More than half of the whole army went home.  Only ten thousand stayed.

Gideon still felt alright.  At least they had ten thousand men, right?  Not for long.  The Lord told Gideon he still had too many men. When they went down to the water for a drink the Lord told him, "Separate the men that drink the water like a dog and the ones that get on their knees and drink from their cupped  hands."

I'm thinking this took quite a while with all those men but Gideon did it.  It's surprising, but only three hundred men got on their knees and drank from their hands.  All the rest looked silly drinking like dogs!

God told Gideon that he only wanted the three hundred men and the rest were supposed to go home.  This way when they won, the Israelites would know that God was in control with only three hundred men left.  There were 130,000 Midianites against just three hundred of them so he worried and wasn't getting any sleep.  So, God decided to help Gideon and make him feel better about things.

During the night the Lord spoke to Gideon and told him what to do. Long story short he won.

Next time you're in a tough situation know that God can give you strength and he wants to help you.  Just ask and He will!

So that is it. Life is not about how much money you make it is about the relationships we make. The love we share. The people we bless. The love we share. I watch it all and it motivates me to do more for others as I make "My Journey."