It's In The Clouds

I have, for several years now, took advantage of the cloudiest of days to lay back on the deck in a lounge chair and watch the clouds roll by.  It's just always been a peaceful relaxing way to spend time to me.  I recall my dad, Papa Jake, accusing me of being lazy and that's putting it in a lot nicer terms then he ever did.  I never argued the point with him, I just invited him to join me.  Explained to him that he should try it, chill out, enjoy the breeze.  I also remember that once the 'misfit littles' starting entering my life it wasn't as peaceful as it used to be.  It was fun though and to this day I enjoy watching the clouds pass by whether I am doing it alone, with my wife, or with the misfit littles.

I used to look at the biggest fluffiest clouds moving through my sight, waiting for my brother Joey's feet to appear, hanging over the edge of the cloud.  I always imagined that whatever cloud Joey would catch rides on, he would also be laying on his back enjoying the clouds above him.  It was a way I could feel him and I were still together, hanging out, being brothers.  There are times when I swear I see them and then just as quickly they disappear.  One could call it great hope that I would someday find his feet draped over his heavenly ride, personally I call it faith. 

Lately I have seen a bunch of pictures online that have been of clouds where angels were formed.  I'm not going to try to fool you, since my Iowa buddy Steve captured some clouds that formed a heart shape in the sky (see picture above) I have been dying to find something in the sky formed out of clouds that is really really cool.  Now I'm not talking about clouds that look like puppies laying on their backs or dragons breathing fire.  I'm talking about a spiritual cloud so awesome and outstanding that I know my brother Joey hung it in the sky right in front of me so I could see it.

It was those 'misfit littles' that had me looking for trucks and dolls and merry-go-rounds in a desperate search for anything that resembled more than a just a cloud.  I will admit laying on my back in the park with the littles around me laying there looking up at the same clouds in the same sky as I was is very entertaining.  We start out in silence as directed by myself but it isn't long before they want everyone to see what they are seeing.  A great example of the innocence in the imagination of the littles in our world is everyone looking at the same cloud. "I see a white horse with his tail up in the air trotting along".   "I see a a little boy with a kite that is waving at us."   "I see superman."  I look at that cloud and try to see a horse, a little boy and his kite and even superman.  "What do you see Uncle Jett?"  My heart sinks, "A cloud," I tell them.  One of them will nudge over next to me and take my arm in their hand and point it to the sky.  "Right there, see his tail?"  Still I see a cloud but I also look around the edge of the cloud looking for Joeys feet to plop over the side. 

They give up on me as they lay there and continue to try to convince each other what they see is really what they all should be seeing.  I listen to their chatter as I continue to look at all the clouds and find my own piece of art moving through the sky.  I feel as if I will never see something as spectacular as a heart shaped cloud or an angel spreading their wings.  But I never give up.  Next cloudy day I will be right there laying on my back looking for my heavenly sign from my brother in heaven. 

Looking up in the sky watching the clouds and trying to make sense of their shape and size is probably a game many of us enjoy doing.   Maybe some of us are just looking up and enjoying the breeze.  Maybe some of us are looking up in appreciation of the blue and white colors.  Maybe some of us are looking for that heart shaped cloud or that angel.  Whatever it is that has us looking up at those clouds also has us looking up to the heavens above.  Next time you take a peek up, stop and say a little prayer to thank God for being able to see that beauty, or to thank him for the opportunity to be able to enjoy the fresh air.  Pray for a loved one, pray for your enemy, pray for yourself.  After all, you are looking in the right direction.  You don't always have to be on your knees in church praying to and thanking God.  Take a moment on your cloudy days and find a new appreciation for all you are blessed with, the good and the not so good.  Remember, it's in the clouds.

WHAT DO YOU SEE IN THE CLOUDS?

 

Be The Difference In Someone's Day

A single act of kindness throws out

 roots in all directions,

and the roots spring up and

 make new trees.

~Amelia Earhart

People watching is something everyone ought to be required to do at least once in their lives.  We all watch people but very few actually people watch.  What is the difference?  Watching people is something we do naturally.  As we stroll through our day and we notice someone doing something out of the ordinary, something we consider bizarre, we watch them.  We casually stare in their direction, judge their actions and move on. 

People watching is much different.  It is when you decide to sit quietly and observe the actions of those around you.  It is taking note of what someone is doing, and how it has affected someone else.  In the best case scenario you will observe someone doing something so touching and positive that it will change someone in the most spiritual sense.  People watching can be something so small to you yet be so rewarding to someone else.  Someone else's actions can easily influence the outcome of someone else's day.

I am reminded of an angel in heaven who while still on earth spread joy to others with such a fun small gesture she called warm fuzzies.  A letter, a phone call, a bag with cocoa and candy in it, each one given to a specific person she knew that needed a lift in their day.  I've recently seen in the news about young adults leaving post-it notes with encouraging words on them to strangers throughout their day.  In my own apartment building we have someone who has been leaving small potted plants in front of the doors of others that live in the same building with a note that simply says "life is beautiful". 

My wife and I recently met in a small diner in the back bay of Boston for lunch.  A very elderly couple walked in and was seated at the table next to ours.  The old man helped his wife take her coat off and pulled her chair out for her then sat down.   The waitress took their order and the elderly couple sat across from each silently as they waited for their coffee to arrive.  They drank their hot coffee in silence, even as the little diner's guests enjoyed the conversation of those they dinned with.

I tried to guess at the life they lived together.  Clearly they had been together for years by the looks of the faded wedding bands each of them wore.  I thought they looked tired, tired from a life of many years they have walked their journey.  Surely they are retired from whatever careers they had chosen for themselves so many years ago.  Even their shoes were dusty and had worn out wrinkles that ran cross the tops of them.  I didn't know whether to feel that their life had been good to them, or bad to them but one thing I was sure of, they were good to each other.

I looked beyond their table to the table next to them that was occupied with a family of four.  A young businessman, a young mother and what appeared to be their two children.  I guessed their ages to be four and six or close to that.  Their food had just been delivered to them and just seconds later the elderly couples meal had arrived.  My attention went back to the elderly couple when I noticed with no words spoken they reached across their table and held hands.  They bowed their heads in silence and appeared to be giving thanks for the bounty they were about to receive.  Not a word spoken, just actions that made you believe they had practiced this their entire life together as they sat down to eat and give thanks for the blessings in their lives.

Beyond their table I saw the younger of the two boys watching this couple.  When he whispered something to his parents and then they all took each others hands and the father lead them in a small prayer of thanks for the meal they were about to consume, I knew.  I knew that what that little boy was doing was more then watching people, he was people watching.  I knew that elderly couple who was just simply going about their day, business as usual, made an impression on the young boy observing them.  The smile on his face after their family prayer was as big as his heart could hold. 

When the waitress of the young family brought their ticket to them the young man said a few words, handed her his card and away she went.  She came back and thanked them for their business, wished them a great day and they went about their way.   A few minutes later the elderly couple asked for their ticket and were told that the little family next to them picked up their tab.  The old man went behind his wife, pulled her chair back and helped her up.  He helped her put her coat on and they made their way to the counter.  I thought how nice of them to stop and leave a tip for the waitress who certainly was already tipped by the young family.

My wife and I had finished our lunch and asked the waitress for our ticket.  "The elderly couple next to you picked up your ticket for you."  We looked at each other and thanked the waitress.  We stopped at the counter and paid for the three college kids who sat behind us, to pay it forward.  Random acts of kindness, all of them the result of an old man and his little wife who stopped to give thanks to God for the meal they were about to consume.  Had that young boy not been people watching and caught a glimpse of the occupants of the table next to him, those random acts of kindness would have had to wait for another day. 

Lives lived. Lives changed. Lives enriched. 

May Your Faith Be Bigger Than Your Fear

2 Timothy 1:7:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

but of power and of love and of a sound mind”

As amazing as the medical world is and as advanced as it becomes and changes on a daily basis there are still times when a life cannot be saved.  Long before one is considered terminal many turn to God in prayer as they struggle with a medical issue.  Your life has changed when you are facing death and if you are a survivor you embrace your second chance and your life as you knew it is forever changed.  If you are faced with the news you are terminal you embrace God and work on accepting that He is now inviting you into His Kingdom for a life of eternal happiness and never ending health.

What does a child do when they are facing a terminal illness?  How do we help them cope with the end of life that has really only just begun?  There is help available for you as you watch your child die.  There are options for you to choose from as you try to make the remainder of your child's life comfortable and pain free.  There are others who will assist you in helping your child understand they are facing death and what that means to them. 

I introduced my blog followers to eight year old Grace (my little Amazing Gracie) as together her and I blogged about her life, and her death.  Gracie allowed us to spend the final months of her life with her as she revealed to us her strength as she was dying.  Gracie's parents welcomed us unselfishly into their lives as they dealt with the upcoming death of their only child.  We saw death invading their lives from inside their hearts, and from the inside of the mind of the daughter slipping away from them.

Gracie was born on Jan 20, 2004 and died on May 27, 2012.  I met Gracie on Nov 19, 20012 and I had visited her last on May 27, 2012.  I first blogged about Gracie on Feb 4, 2012.  I knew Gracie for a little over six months of her very short life lived on earth.  I feel as if I have known Gracie for my entire 22 years on earth.  One of the last wishes Gracie relayed to me was "I wish that no kid ever again has to die, but because God needs them in His park, my wish is that more people like you becomes their friend and is not afraid to watch them die."

I promised my sweet little Amazing Gracie friend that I would continue to befriend terminally sick kids at the Children's Hospitals in Boston MA as well as hospitals around the world as I travel.  In return she promised me to meet all my angels that are, or will arrive, in heaven before God calls me home.  I know she has kept her promise and I am keeping my promise. 

It is something that I have continued to do, keeping my promise to Gracie.  I continue to meet some of the most amazing, courageous kids of all ages as I stroll through hospitals.  I am not their medical consultants and I am not their care giver.  I am their friend.  I am the guy that listens to their stories, reads to them from books that interest them. I talk to them about their hobbies and their interests.  I cry with them when they want to cry, I laugh with them when they want to laugh.  I play barbies with the girls and superhero with the boys.  We color pictures and watch TV.

And I learn from them.  Each child I have spent time with teaches me more about life than any adult I know.  Through their demise I also learn about death.  The children I spend time with will not survive their earths journey.  I know that going in and they know that going out.  Sometimes they want to talk about that and tell me how they feel, what they think.  When they do I tell them how brave they are and how much braver they are than any super hero ever.  They do not hesitate to tell me to be brave too and they go on about all the reasons why I should be brave with them.  Kids like to talk about God and I love to listen to their take on eternity and what it means to them.  I love hearing them describe to me what they think heaven is like. 

I get to met their parents and grieve with them way before their child's time on earth is done.  I listen to their stories and work with them to find comfort as they face an unbearable pain that is known only to those who have lost a child.  I pray with them for strength as they face the known truth, that which is that their child will soon be gone from their physical world. 

It started with little Amazing Gracie and it leaked over into my nieces and nephews and I continue to be amazed by the children I meet in my life.  Not just the sick children I spend time with but the children around me through friends, family, my church and even kids running through the park.  It is amazing to watch these miracles from God and witness a faith and love so big, so unconditional, then I've ever known.  The trust, the innocence, the hopes, the dreams.  The way a child looks at the world, the hopes and wishes they dive into with complete belief, little hesitation. 

I recall a conversation Gracie and I had regarding fear.  She showed so little fear in everything we did together, very little hesitation in what we were doing.  Her decisions were solid and she knew what she wanted and when she wanted it.  I remember that she started the conversation by asking me if I was afraid that she would die.  I told her yes, and that I was afraid of how badly I would miss her. I asked Gracie if she was afraid.  "No", she answered me, "the angels told me that God said not to be afraid.  The angels said that God said to tell me "Fear not for I am with you."

#WE ARE NOT QUITTERS

Thirty three days devoted to thirty three radiation treatments for a friend with brain cancer.  It's so very important to remain faithful, strong, and encouraged  when you battle any kind of health issues.  Where does your strength come from?  Who is praying for you?  In whose thoughts were in as you stayed in the fight and completed your treatment?  Who helps you realize #YouAreNotAQuitter?  Who never left your side because #TheyAreNotAQuitter?  Who listened repeatedly when you told them #WeAreNotQuitters? 

Day 1: As the Sun rises with each new day, thank the Lord for all he has given you and all you are about to receive. #WeAreNotQuitters

Day 2: I believe in God, the Father, the Almighty ... and in Him, through Him, with Him, I shall cast aside my fears and trust Him in all things before me.
#WeAreNotQuitters

Day 3: The FAITH you have inside you comes from your LOVE of GOD. The more you BELIEVE in HIM, the more you TRUST HIM, the stronger you become. That is what gets you through the obstacles you face in life. Let nothing stand in your way of the path you take to get to Eternity. #WeAreNotQuitters

Day 4: Do not let fear weigh you down and take away your desire to move forward in your FAITH. Believe in God as you do in the wind, sight unseen you know it's power. The stronger it blows the more you feel it around you. Trust in God like you do the wind. Enjoy the gentle breezes in life and brace yourself for the storms you face. #WeAreNotQuitters

Day 5: Most of GOD's work goes unseen, unheard, unappreciated, but HE continues to give freely, love unconditionally, bless evenly. Feel the warmth of HIS love at its finest when you need it the most but know it never leaves you, not even when you need it the least. #WeAreNotQuitters

Day 6: Be strong in your faith, trust in God and all things good. Accept His way for it is the truth that lights the path in your journey to Him. #WeAreNotQuitters

Day 7: Be humble in your journey, be trusting in The Lord and of the heavens above this earth. Stay strong in your faith, stay true to HIS teachings. There is no inconvenient time to pray. #WeAreNotQuitters

Day 8: When life gets to busy for us to include GOD, HE finds ways for us to slow down and let HIM in. Let HIM! Rejoice and be glad, for HE is the Savior we unknowingly seek. #WeAreNotQuitters

Day 9: Like the wind that whispers your name, the angels call out to you with the flutter of their wings, letting you know they are there to comfort you, support you, keep you warm. Let them in. #WeAreNotQuitters

Day 10. Be strong in your will to live, and when you find yourself in doubt of your own strength, let others be strong for you. Lean on God in the good times and the bad. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 11:  To pray is to believe. To believe is to trust. To trust is to have hope. To have hope is to have faith. Faith alone will provided you the strength to win.  Hope and trust provides light along the way. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 12: For all good things come from HIM, through HIM, with HIM and in HIM ... because HE so loved the world and everyone in it. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 13: If there were never storms with big gusts of winds we would never know the beauty of a gentle breeze. Embrace ALL of GOD'S gifts, trust in ALL HE has to offer, never wish any of it away. PRAYERS provide STRENGTH. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 14: Jesus walking on water was a Miracle, you believing HE did is Faith, you wanting to believe HE did is Hope, you sharing HIS Miracle with others is Trust. Share HIS stories. Spread HIS Word. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 15: GOD will reveal to us what matters and what matters not. Love no one or nothing more than you love HIM. Follow HIS heart and you are on the right path. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 16: At some point in our lives we have to believe in someone, trust someone, love someone. Open your heart to God, believe, trust, and love Him above all others. The rest will fall in place. ‪#‎WeAreNotQuitters‬ Rejoice in His gift of life. Repay Him by living His Word.

DAY 17:  If you don't believe in the gift of life ... hold a baby.  If you don't believe in the gift of life ... hug a grandmother.  The circle of life begins and ends with miracles. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 18: You are not blessed for what you have, you are blessed for what you do not have. It is what you hold in your heart and soul that reveals the truth about who you are. ‪#‎WeAreNotQuitters‬ ‪#‎LiveSimpleDieHumble‬

DAY 19: When we question God it is not His faith we are doubting ... it is our own faith we are struggling with.  Through Him all things pass ... through Him we find comfort and peace. ‪#‎WeAreNotQuitters‬ ‪#‎BelieveInMiracles

DAY 20: When you pray you are asking God for strength, either for yourself or for others who need it. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 21:  When life's moments changes our faith and refocuses our priorities the balance often gets forgotten. don't forget the balance is what made you strong enough to carry you and your faith to a higher ground of hope.  Don't forget the people who have silently never left your side. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 22:  What begins with hope ends with faith. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 23: Trust Him with all your heart.  Follow Him with faith.  Praise Him all the days of your life.#WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 24: At any given moment GOD can place someone in your life who will be the strength you ran out of ... at any given moment HE can also remove them to see if your faith will hold you up. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 25:  Though I have failed HIM many times HE has never failed me.   The power of prayer is testament to HIS love for us. #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 26: Cloudy days do not create gloomy moods. Gloomy moods create clouded minds. Look for the rainbow, be the sunshine. ‪#‎WeAreNotQuitters‬

DAY 27: STRENGTH alone does not provide us with desired results. It's a combination of FAITH HOPE and TRUST. It's knowing we are never alone in our journey. Never alone in our sorrow. ‪#‎WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 28: Each breath we breathe is a gift. Each day we awaken is a blessing. Give thanks, rejoice, and be glad. ‪#‎WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 29: We will stumble and we will fall, and each time we do our faith in GOD will bring us to our feet once again.  There are no tests to measure our pain, no scale to weigh our gain.  Time is our strength, day in and day out. ‪#‎WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 30:  Stop looking for a life to live and start looking for a purpose to serve.  It proves to be less work and more fulfilling ‪#‎WeAreNotQuitters‬

DAY 31:  At the end of the day if you can say you did your very best ... if you can say you walked with Jesus ... if you can say you never gave up ... you won ‪#‎WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 32: Courage is facing your battles head on even when fear paralyzes your strength #WeAreNotQuitters

DAY 33: For the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are yours, now and forever.   Stand strong against the odds against you.  Fight for what you believe, embrace the impossible.  Battles are won with prayer, wars are beaten with Faith. ‪#‎SheIsNotAQuitter‬

 

Zero Balnce Due

 

 

I look back at the time I got to spend with my little friend Amazing Gracie who at the age of eight lost the war with cancer. There were many battles between Gracie and her brain cancer in the almost two years of their fight with each and Gracie won the majority of those battles but in the end she surrendered to the war and they parted ways.  Gracie earned her spot in heaven and cancer stayed left behind on earth.  Many have let go of their battle after a courageous fight, I was honored to have been by Gracie's side the last six months of her life and in many ways blessed to have been able to observe her fight from so close to it.

My brother Joey died of lung cancer when he was 24 years old.  I watched him lose battle after battle in the two years it took for cancer to win that war.  I watched from a very different perspective then I did when I sat with Gracie during her fight.  I watched as the little brother who had never heard of, or seen the presence of, someone's war with cancer.  I watched my brother slowly lose his life not knowing that he was actually dying.  I waited day after day, week after week, month after month for him to get better.  I anticipated the day him and I could once again go to the park and play catch, or go to a movie, or sneak away and eat junk food until we felt ready to burst.

With Gracie I knew from the day I met her that she would die.  By the time I had the privilege of meeting her she was already classified as a terminal cancer patient with just a few months to live.  I was sad for her and I cried for her almost daily as I journeyed with her as she prepared herself to leave this earth.  I never once gave way to the hope of ever seeing her graduate, getting married or having children of her own because from day one Gracie made it very clear to me that she was leaving us and going to live with GOD.  At the age of eight years old Gracie had the strength of GOD himself and that along with the innocence of a child had helped her take her last breath, beyond a breath of life, that would carry her to a better place.  A pain free, worry free, beautiful place for an eternity beyond the world who could not save her.  GOD was saving her is something she covered with me more than once.

It was hard to even think of Gracie as only being eight.  When I first started spending time with Gracie I wondered if she truly was an angel GOD put on earth to help me find comfort in a life that I felt had dealt me a losing hand.  Day after day that I spent time with her I was amazed by her strength, her determination, her will.  Not to live, but to die.  I think to myself still today how while most of us were trying to live a better life, Gracie was trying to die with as much gusto as most of us were trying to live.  I often still wonder ... where did Gracie get her faith in moving onto an eternal life beyond her breaths on earth? 

Gracie left nothing in the balance as she exited her life on earth.  The entire final months of her life that I spent with her, she continued to work on her eight year life to make sure there was no balance when she was gone.  She knew she was leaving and she was determined to leave having everything all tidied up so no one felt left out of the life she lived while she was still here.  I remember when I first visited Gracie at her home and walked into a bedroom that was as pretty in pink as a girl could ask for.  I also remember the final day I visited Gracie at her home and saw how she coordinated the transition of that little girl bedroom into a guest room so her parents did not have the heartbreak of facing that room after Gracie was gone.  I sat with Gracie in one of her final days on earth as she dictated to me the rest of her story for me to one day publish so the world would know how much joy and happiness she found in her short time on this earth and how blessed she felt that GOD was inviting her to come live with HIM. 

Gracie thought of everything and everyone up until the day she died.  She accepted the short life GOD gave her and she was honored to get to go live with HIM.  She left this earth with enough instruction to get her parents through their lives and me through mine.  Yes, Gracie was bossy and sassy and in charge of our friendship.  Yes.  Gracie was a child full of fun and games and laughter.  Yes.  Gracie was as girly as a girl could be.  Yes.  Gracie was an angel sent down from above us to spark in us our own fight in a world hungry for more of everything and less of nothing.

Gracie was one of the strongest, most unselfish Christians I had the chance of ever knowing.  In the face of her own battle on earth she lived for others even knowing her own life was ending.  Gracie trusted GOD so much she accepted that her time on earth was meant to leave it a better place.  Gracie left after instilling faith and hope and love in the hearts of those who would never fully understand why HE took her so soon.  

What was important to Gracie the day I met her was as important to her the day she left us.  What was important to Gracie was the people that she was important to.  The people that stood by her, sat next to, never feared her upcoming death, were the people Gracie comforted and the people she made sure understood that she loved them the same today as she did yesterday and would still love tomorrow even after she was gone.  Gracie exited the earth with zero balance due, she gave back what she was given.  When most of us were selfish enough to want to remain a part of her short life Gracie saw to it that we understood she would never forget what we brought to her life when we could of just up and walked away.  Because walking away from sadness and pain is the easy way out, and she wanted to make sure we knew that she knew our decision to stay with her was painful as we watched her work her magic to die better than she had lived.

                                                                    Zero Balance Due.