Why do some people seem to have it so bad in life? This is a question many people still ask in their daily lives. Although this story is fiction, many people still struggle with incredible hardships in their lives, and these are the people I want to address.
Even though things may look bleak or hopeless now, there IS hope, especially if you turn to God and let Him help you through the dark valleys of life.
Sandra Corona was the inspiration for this story. Read her poem, and also her newsletter. It will literally open your eyes. It did mine! Thanks, Sandra!
I look at the young faces of several of my children, I see the pain and hardship reflected in their eyes as they struggle to understand why things happen the way they do.
Take my son, Johnny, as an example. Only ten years old, he has had to struggle since his birth, and every day continues to be an ongoing struggle for him. He was born premature, weighing only 2 pounds, and when he was being born, his mother died. He never even got to know her or see her. He then lived with his mother's parents; but then they took sick and died; and he was then flown to America and put up for adoption. He was only a few months old when he joined our family.
Johnny seemed to be developing well, but at about the time he was learning to walk, he fell often, and he would be covered head to toe with bumps and bruises. We assumed that this was attributed to his premature birth, but then he was diagnosed with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy at the age of one year.
He wasn't expected to live beyond the age of five.
At the age of three, he got his first leg braces and his first pair of crutches. At the age of four, he got his first wheelchair.
Prior to that, though, he nearly died when he had a particularly virulent strain of bacterial meningitis. It left him hard-of-hearing and relying on powerful hearing aids and thick glasses in order to see. It also left him with some residual brain damage.
At the age of six, Johnny had a second bout of meningitis, but thank GOD it didn't leave him any more damaged. Still, he wAS a very sick little boy, and for a week, we stayed by his bedside and prayed our hearts out. He recovered without any further problems, but it left him terribly weakened.
Johnny is now ten, and his muscular dystrophy is starting to take a toll on his little body. He needs help with a lot of his personal needs, and he now has a dog to help him in case he should happen to drop anything. He is also starting to have some trouble with his breathing, and he is often on supplimental oxygen.
He has lived a lot longer than doctors have previously predicted, but he still isn't expected to live to become an adult. In fact, he isn't expected to live to become a teenager.
Still, despite all he has gone through, and all he continues TO go through, Johnny is a little boy who smiles through life and all its problems; nothing keeps him down for long, and when somebody is hurting, there is our little son, giving the hurting person a smile or a hug. He is a very cheerful child with a sunny outlook in life, and he tries to put the feelings of others ahead of his OWN needs.
Or take my daughter, Ronee'Le-Anne. Like Johnny, Ronee' has also has faced much adversity in her young life, and she has had to struggle every day with ongoing health problems. She was born very premature, weighing just over a pound at birth, and she wasn't expected to survive; but somehow, she did. She has asthma and allergies that have threatened her life in the past (THANKFULLY her asthma IS getting better!), and she also has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis that has left her body riddled with incredible pain (and a recent knee replacement surgery which curtailed much of her summertime plans; she is still recovering and right now is doing quite well), but like her brother, Johnny, Ronee' remains the eternal optimist, and she, too, can be counted on to be lifting another person's spirits. If she isn't praying for another person, she is lifting them up in song, and she has blessed many people with her God-given musical abilities.
Sure, Johnny and Ronee' ARE both children with special needs, but they are every bit as normal as any other child: they have the same needs, wants, dreams, desires as any other child their age. They laugh, they cry, they learn, they think just like any other child, and their disabilities shouldn't be the main focus upon meeting them. All they want is to be accepted, loved, and respected, just as any other child, and all they want is a chance to suceed in life, even when life threatens to destroy whatever dreams or desires they may have.
Yet, even with all Johnny OR Ronee' have gone through in their young lives, compared to a child like Richard or Jodie, even their problems seem insignificant. Richard survived an abusive childhood that left him dependent on a trache tube and suffering from emotional problems, and Jodie is unable to do a lot of things for herself because of severe cerebral palsy AND mental retardation. Still, both Jodie and Richard are both very happy young citizens, and they teach other people what it means to survive even the most trying or difficult circumstances. They teach people that if one can survive what they have had to endure in life, then anyone can survive MOST anything, no matter HOW bad or terrifying it may be!
I, too, have had to survive tremendous circumstances. I lost my three biological children, two while still babies, and I lost my mother six years ago to brain cancer--in addition to a sister, a brother-in-law, and two small nieces (all died in a plane crash), uncles, aunts, and am facing the inevitable deaths of several of my own children that my husband and I have adopted (Johnny and Rhiannon). I also survived a devastating back injury I suffered as a child and one that left me nearly paralyzed and now dependent on a cane for walking. I also suffer from chronic pain due to worsening arthritis and sciatic pain running in my lower back and down both my legs. The pain can be so intense at times it literally takes my breath away, and it is all I can do to keep from crying or screaming out loud.
I also have lost friends in the terror attacks nearly three years ago. I lost a dear friend named Stephanie Green who died when a plane crashed into the one World Trade Center tower she happened to be in at the time; and for a very long time, I found myself to be a very angry and bitter person. I could't understand the reasoning behind the attacks or why these terrorists hate America so much (still can't understand at times), but I found that if I was to be the Christian I was saying I was, I had to learn to forgive my enemies, even the terrorists who had killed my friend, and once I was able to do so, I felt all the hate and anger leave my body, and I have been a totally different person ever since. No, I still don't like what they had done, but I no longer HATE them. I just hate what they DID, NOT them. I also can pray for them, and ask God to change their hearts, and I still pray this every day now, nearly three years later.
But do I let MY health problems get to me, or the fact that I lost a friend in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 stop me from living my life? NO. I keep on going. I work as a nurse (have done so for 9 years now), and I am very good at what I do. I also take care of a monster-sized family, and I take care of a husband who also suffers from ongoing health concerns. No, my husband ISN'T bedridden, but like me, he has arthritis and sciatic nerve pain and walks with walking aids (in HIS case, crutches). He also has asthma, high blood pressure, and is bi-polar depressive. He is on medication for his moods, his asthma, blood pressure, and his chronic pain. He has had two back surgeries in the past, and he still faces pain each and every day. But like me, he works, too, for a living. He works at Wal*Mart as a greeter, and he loves his job, even when he is hurting. He knows raising a big family like ours IS expensive, so he tries his best to help out.
Some of my children have been through so much that if I sat down and told you their stories outright, they would be guaranteed to curl your hair. Still, they continue to survive, and their attitudes have remained incredibly upbeat. And I continue to go on, even though I lost a good friend on September 11, 2001. Not many people say they can go on and survive incredible tragedy, but WE have, and it is ONLY because of the Grace of God that we HAVE been able to go on.
God has been so good to our family, and sometimes I wonder what we may have done to deserve all the blessings He has left our family. Even with everything we have had to endure in our life, He was ALWAYS there, in the midst of our sufferings; and this was when He showed us His Goodness and His Loving Ways.
This is why I write because it helps me deal with everything I have had to go through in my life, as a wife, a mother, a friend, or a nurse; and it has helped me mature and grow in my Christian walk. I can look back at my life and realize that even though I have survived incredible heartache and hardship, there are always people who have had it far worse, and I think that if I can survive what I have done so in MY life, then other people can, too! People are more resilient than they may think, and no matter WHAT they may go through in life, they CAN persevere! And as long as one has God on their side, then NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!! God WILL make a way, even when you feel that He doesn't care or seems so far away!
All you have to do is ask, and God is RIGHT THERE! And He WILL help if you give Him the chance!
Wow! Thank you and thanks to our Creator for making all things possible :) . . us, our friendship and so much more!
God never gives us more than we can bear but sometimes I wish he didn't 'trust' me so much :)!
There is always a reason which is why I never ask 'why'--if we're meant to know, God will reveal it to us.
Our spirits are unhindered by 'health problems' which is why they sometimes soar in spite of everything.
God be with you and yours always.
LA YF :)Sandy
When two men hit the reset button and decide to go out looking for the good in the world, they not only find it but also a lot more.
P.S. The title is listed on Amazon under Look for Something Good by Robert Drews (not by Robert H. Drews)
This book consists of a 150 pages of Christian poetry about the end of time and the Second coming of Jesus Christ not as a servant but as a King, the King of kings. To bring righteousness and peace to the earth and restore the government of God! Peac
