So many thoughts....

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“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” 
~ Fred Rogers ~

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Saw the drowning pic this morning. Oh my, I could go so many places with this pic.

My oh my, how often do we get told we are being prayed for or being thought of yet so often we feel so alone...... How often do we see on social media (And we say it too!) that we are thinking of and or praying for someone? Do we honestly do it or do we just do our "social duty" with it? We say it, and move on? How often do we tell someone to their face we are praying for them? Do we really though? I wrote this post for me too because I needed this reminder as well.

How did that work for Moses? Think he would have just said, "I'll pray for the Red Sea to part and deal with it whenever it finally does." and not acted? Nope! That's not how it worked. What about Joshua and the Jordan river? "I'll just wait for the waters to recede and THEN try crossing." Nope!

They stepped out!
They did something!

Now, okay, next step: Let's really look at that pic. One guy is drowning and the other one is just standing there talking, does that help the one drowning? Clearly not! Would we help? We would all say "YES" right?

Of course! Now you are probably thinking I'm nuts now. (If you hadn't already lol)

So then what about in other situations? Now I'm not saying stick your nose in everything or everyone. That's not the intent here. Yet what CAN we do? What do we feel LED to do?

What about when you witness a car wreck? "Oh I'm sorry you are injured, I'll just pray for you" and walk away. Same concept going on here. If we witnessed a wreck, we would first call 911 right? THEN check on the injured, help keep traffic out of the way or something till at least the police got there right? The law says we can't leave the scene right?

Well then....

What about the family that's in the waiting room with you who you can tell is having a really bad day? What about the family who you overheard say to their children, "I'm sorry I don't have enough money for food since I had to pay the electric bill." Or the man sobbing while on the phone because he just heard from his wife that their child has cancer?

Would you figure, "That's not my business" and walk away or would you offer to do or say something?

I remember still my son's first surgery and the morning after I was on the way to the PICU when I met a family needing help outside. I saw a couple bringing out a large wagon of stuff but no child..... I feared the worst. Shortly after I saw a grandmother carrying a bouncy seat crying. As we approached her truck, I could tell she needed help. I was running a bit behind for when I wanted to be back in the PICU by but I knew I needed to be here.

I went to her and asked how I could help. She was sobbing. I held the truck door so it wouldn't hit the car beside it as she put the bouncy in. I knew in my heart she was with the couple that was bringing out the loaded wagon. I found out they were the aunt and uncle bringing stuff and the woman I helped was indeed the grandmother. Her granddaughter had just died a few hours before. I can't remember the name of the condition but it was a weak trachea and it collapsed again and this time they couldn't get it to open back up. The poor child suffocated. As she told me this out in the parking lot, I held her as she sobbed. I was wiping my eyes as well. Tears for a complete stranger. Soon after I walked in with her and I met the mother. I gave her huge hugs as well and told her as well that I would pray for the family. I went in to see my son. Very soon after I felt God tugging at me saying, "Why didn't you pray for them right there with them?" So, I made an excuse to go back out to the waiting room of the ICU. The whole family was there then. Most of them either sobbing or red eyes where they had just exhausted tears. I went to the grandmother and asked her if I could pray for all of them. I stepped out of my comfort zone and prayed out loud for all of them. They all thanked me, mostly by nodding and smiles. The next time I stepped out of the ICU, they were all gone.

I went back into my son's room and held him as much as I could and told him I loved him as I grieved for the family who had spent the last three months in that same ICU floor.

Now I have had other times where I probably should have said or done something over the years. Yet I didn't.... That morning on the way to ICU though taught me to be more aware, even in the middle of our storms.


So let's take that same pic:




We find a family struggling. We often think, "Not my circus, not my monkeys" or "That's not my business" or "They are just trying to leech off of people" or "Well I'm struggling too so they can just suck it up and deal with life like everyone else." "They brought these medical issues on themselves so they can just deal with it." "They chose these defective, jacked up kids so they can suck it up."

Do you know how much someone may be drowning in their life? When you think like that, no matter how well you know someone, do you see that they may be swimming well or are drowning?

Do you ask them, "What can I do to help you?" "How can I pray for you?" "I can watch the kids for you so you and your spouse(whatever) can go on a date." "I'm sorry you are dealing with ____" "Need some help with ___" "If you don't have enough for groceries, we can go to the store and I can get you some food." And so much more examples can be used......

Which way do you hope people are to you the next time you are in a storm? Or a bad season in life?

Do you dish out what you want served to you?

Do you think the family I met in the PICU waiting room would have been helped had I not done what I did? Do you think their day would have been worse or better by what I did? As if the day wasn't hard enough..... Yet to start with, all I saw was a woman trying to put stuff in a car. I knew nothing of their story to start with. At first it would have looked like the family was going home that day and all of that stuff was being loaded up to go home then the child would be discharged and all good. Nope.... I stepped out on faith either way and helped. Through my help and compassion, I learned their story.


Now, I'm sure almost everyone knows by now what happened in Vegas..... I took this pic last night on my way to community band.

All over the news they have plastered that psycho's face BUT they have also told of the stories where people acted as heroes. Risking themselves to help others. Several who died or were severely injured using themselves as a shield for whom they were protecting under them. Did they say "Well that person is ___ so I won't do anything for them" stuff?

NO!

Nothing mattered in that moment. People were out there helping each other, knowing the risk that the psycho shooter would wound or kill them too, yet instead of fleeing and hoping for the best, they stayed and helped. Even those that weren't there are going out and helping. GMA reported this morning that a GoFundMe had raised over a million in less then a day. Now it's over four million. Just over 59k people as of this post have donated. A lot showed up to do blood donations. People are going to check on the victims, to help, to pray.... And so much more...

I think the lesson here about this tragedy is several things. No I'm not talking about gun control or all of that. Think what you want on that. Here's what I think first and foremost on this:

1) Let's go back to all of us treating each other like we are human and deserve care, compassion, mercy and to be treated equal. I don't care what your religion, beliefs, financial status, and all of that is.

2) Learn to step out and ask others how you can help them, or just step in and do something if you see someone hurting and struggling. Don't put a price or stipulation on that. Just do it.

3) Learn to be human again..... Learn to be like Jesus taught how to treat others, no matter what your religious views are. Make this world a better place.....

4) Step out and report if you have suspicion of someone about to do something they shouldn't. A criminal is going to find a way to break the law regardless of how strict we make laws. Best thing we can do is report suspicious behavior to the proper authorities and hope for the best....


To me honestly, it's not about the guns, the alcohol, the drugs, the whatever. Anything can be used as a weapon to harm people. Cain killed Abel with a rock. What is it then? It's a heart problem. Let's work together to help each other heal wounds instead of playing blame games or worse, getting more cold toward everyone around us.


~ Special Momma ~