Lessons In Life Through Tragedy

Pablito - Gabrielle - Nicia - Pablo

At times I like to use this forum to help others in times of need. Doing so usually means that something sad has occurred. It is hopefully offset by my other words of inspiration. So please understand that not only can we learn from tragedy, but can help others during these times of heart break.

Members of our church were involved in a traffic accident on Christmas Eve. A suspected drunk driver ran a stop light, killing the family's 9-year old son. Pablito Medrano had a smile like many other young boys. A smile that he will now share with others gone before him.

Why do I write of this? To serve a reminder of the effects of drunk driving on others. Not to preach against the 'sins of drink' but to say that the choices YOU make can effect OTHERS. These choices can have a positive effect while others can have tragic effects.

What can you do? First, you can read the news article as reference to what I've stated here. It appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/gwinnett/1205/29metfatal.html

Second, there is more to the story. The folks impacted are Nicia and Pablo Medrano, members of my church - Christian City Church (www.christiancitychurch.com). Additionally, Pablito's mother, Karla Navarro is most certainly grief stricken by this news.

Pablo's son, Pablito was in a coma for a few days but unfortunately died. The father Pablo, has internal bruising & Nicia has a broken leg. Their baby daughter Gabrielle is OK. Nicia has said each day gets a little easier. Pablo’s place of employment has kindly given him extra time off, but we assume that is without pay. Nicia is pretty much bedridden but is happy to be back in her own home again. To add to this story, an aunt who had come into town for the funeral and to help take care of baby Gabrielle, was on her way home. She got ten minutes down the road before someone ran a red light and slammed into HER car! She was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery and will be there for a week.

Third and lastly, what things can you do if you wish.

1. Pray for the family; for a quick recovery, for comfort, for strength.
2. We are coordinating through my church the following effort.

• help at their home with the baby
• meals brought to their home
• financial help

As this is a weblog, locally the church is working to get help at their home, with the meals and with financial help. But some of the things you can do online...do you know any businesses in the Atlanta area that could help with meals or food items. You could make some contacts if you do. Also, financial support always helps and is greatly appreciated.

If you would like to help in some fashion, please contact Penni by means of email at our church: PenniH@christiancitychurch.com.

As does life, death teaches us lessons about what we can do for others.

"God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way." - Unknown Author

Persistence In Humor

From the folks at http://www.despair.com/, check out their webpage some time.

There is so much that can be concluded from this particular picture. But what ever you do, do try to be persistent and when something doesn't work out, stop and rethink. Then set another goal and go after it. Persistence does pay off if you want it to... and in those cases in which it doesn't..."it's over, Man. Let her go." Get over it and move on to the next one.

Persistence to Make Changes

We are in our second day of the year and the fog of day one is starting to fade. You can take a bit more time to start planning those changes for this coming year. But don't procrastinate, think of one thing you can do. May be its getting up and leaving for work ten minutes earlier. It will result in a more relaxed drive to work and you will have a better start to your day.

This is a year for change and you are just beginning. Think long term, think of doing thing in small increments and see your success in each of them. In the book I referred to a couple of days ago - "Healthy, Wealthy and Wise - 52 Life Changing Lessons for the 21st Century - is a chapter on persistence. If you want to make change, you will have to be persistent.

Ms. Waggener says, "whatever you are trying to accomplish in your life, you must keep going. Your goals are worthwhile. They deserve committed, unwavering action. They require put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other sort of dogged movement. They require persistence.

With your new attitude and courage to change, persistence will become easier as you see the rewards of achieving your goals. Stand strong, make a change and do it now. John Quincy Adams said, "patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." Make 2006 your year and start now.

Change Of Attitude For 2006

Today marks a new day in a new year, a rebirth of possibility. The past events of last year, whether good, bad or indifferent are just that, in the past. You can not live on the glory or the pain of those events. What you can do is learn and more importantly, grow from the experience of 2005.

Dean Sweetman has said, "if you really want 2006 to be different, then you have to change the way you do things." This means you can not keep doing things the same way. Change only happens when you make changes for the betterment of your future. Dean goes on to say that, "to possess the future you want, then you have to let go of the past."

Remember my 'rocks in your wagon' article? The past year could have you pulling a wagon full of rocks. Weighing down your ability to pull yourself along to a better life. Or can you look back to a wonderful path of stones paving a way for those that come after you. Leaving a legacy that you can be proud of, doing for others before doing for yourself.

My particular faith comes through at times in my writings. And life is best served by serving your God first, others second and yourself third. I won't get into the physcological thoughts of placing yourself third because we all know we have to take care of ourselves. But serving one and two first will reward the third if done in the correct spirit of servitude.

In doing so, you will reap benefits of different kinds. Dean has stated that you will "prosper in the natural, but you must also have blessing upon your life as well." It will happen this year for you if you are willing to make changes different to 2005. Move forward, move on and live a much more prosperous 2006.