January 14, 2013
Giving Back
"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled . The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let that beautiful stuff out. " Ray Bradbury
It is Count your blessing day. If you have food in your belly, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and someone to love or care for then you should be grateful. If you have a dream or goal then you are also very lucky and if you don't why not make one today.
I was reminded of this by some really wonderful people over the past week. You see my wife Ruth went to surgery to have a mass removed from her breast just last Wednesday afternoon. The preliminary testing showed no cancer but some pre-cancerous cells. We were able to schedule the surgery and recovery period around most of my work schedule having to miss only 2 days of work which was a big help financially.
We had started attending Heritage Church here in Moultrie back in September because they have a ministry they call Breathe. We have 2 handicapped Children which the Breathe Ministry takes care of while we attend services. We had not been attending Church due to the logistics of taking care of the boys, but the Church had a special night and we found out that they had the ministry working each Sunday. One of the people involved was a Special Ed teacher at the local school and most of the "teachers" were also parents of special needs children. Here was a Church that embraced the parents and the needs of Special Needs Children. We had actually been asked to leave other Churches over the years due to our children being too loud.
It was the people from this Church and from the Breathe Ministry that really helped us see how important Giving Back actually is and how to " Pour that Beautiful Stuff Out" as Ray Bradbury said.
Ruth went to surgery Wednesday and one of the Breathe group took her to the Hospital so I could get our boys ready to go to the Center they attend each day. Scott Braswell then waited with Ruth until I got the boys on the van and arrived at the hospital. He then came back to the house to get them off the van when we found out that we would not get out of the hospital until after the van would return them home. When I offered to pay for gas or give him some money the answer was that it "was already taken care of".
That evening about 5 PM after we had arrived home and got her to bed, I cleaned up the boys and another member of Breathe showed up with some Pizza for supper, saying they knew I would be tired and really would not want to cook. Throughout the next few days several people from the Church and the Breathe Ministry brought by meals, which included homemade soup, beef stew, Fried Chicken and more. Ruth spent a lot of time resting and I would not allow her to lift anything, and she recovered quite well.
Sunday we all went to Church and the people at Breathe were all so happy to see that she was doing well. As far as we know right now there is no cancer so she will not need Radiation treatments. They are such wonderful people and they sure have shown us the type of people we want to be and want to be around. They have also helped to remind us of how important it is to give to others and to "let that beautiful stuff out". It does you nor anyone else any good whatsoever if it is bottled up inside you.
Ruth and I have given of ourselves many times, doing bicycle rides for various charities including Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetes, Autism and each year since its existence we have been an integral part of the Tour de Tifton which helps the YMCA to serve underprivileged children in the area and we have seen such wonderful blessings in our lives. No we don't live in a 50,000 SF Mansion, but we have a roof over our head. We don't eat at the fanciest restaurants, but we have plenty to eat. We do not drive a 50,000.00 car, but the Minivan gets us where we need to go and has been very dependable. We have a lot to be thankful for, but we are most thankful for the wonderful people that have come into our lives.
I have set up a "bicycle ministry" I guess you would call it. As of this writing I will take donations of bicycles, new or used, condition is not important. Non-repairable bikes will be stripped and used for parts to repair other bikes. I have a bicycle shop with suppliers where I can buy parts at very low cost for the stuff that we can't find used parts for. If anyone would want to donate money for parts or bikes that would be fine too. Bikes will be repaired or used for parts and then will be donated to a group that will deliver them to families of children that can not afford to buy bikes. Some of the bikes may be sold through the shop with the money then being used to help the Breathe Ministry or other ministries at Heritage Church. Heritage has numerous Ministries all over the world. Honduras, Haiti and Israel are just a few places they send Missionaries.
If there are any runners out there reading this Heritage and Breathe will be sponsoring a fund raising 5 K run soon. Keep watching for days and dates. For you cyclists out there the Tour de Tifton is coming up April 6, 2013. I will be keeping you updated in future blogs on both of these events.
I received the following email from my friend Sotero and thought you might want to take a look, he has some very good points.
Hello Jerry,
Hope you enjoyed my tips on staying motivated....?
Here is my blog for today, Hope you enjoy it...
---
If you live by yourself, how you manage your finances
may not be a big deal. However, if you have a family,
how you manage your money is important.
Read on to find out how to better manage your
personal finances, so that you can benefit from them.
See you there,
~Sotero Garcia
Have a great day
Jerry "The Bicycle Nut" Goodwin
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