positive story

Yesterday I came across this inspiring story and I just thought I had to write it down. 

Samuel Herschberger was just three days away before he celebrated his tenth birthday. The boy was however caught in a farm accident when his shirt sleeve got caught in a grinder attached to a tractor. HIs dad Oba was sure he was dead despite having sprinted to help the poor boy. He was pretty sure the mangled mess was not a sight he wanted to see and quite certain he had lost his son.

But the sound of a tiny voice imploring for help filled Ola's ears. His son was still alive!

For eighteen hours, eleven doctors worked conscientiously to save the child. No one dared to believe he would survive but the amazing thing was, the child did survive. As you can imagine, the medical bills were enormous and even with help from friends, relatives and the church, the family still struggled.

The Herschbergers had an idea. They decided to host farm style dinners in their home to raise money and word got to the Chicago newspaper that reported on their fund raising efforts which further helped them to raise more money.

At one point Ola had to ask the public to stop sending money. He had received so much more abundantly than he had prayed for, for the thirty seven operations that his son had to go through. With the blessings of strangers and people who had compassion, Samuel survived his terrible ordeal and is a fine young man today helping to raise champion draft horses on a farm. His grateful family still welcomes guests for country dinners.

I believe it could have been nerve wrecking at every point for this family. To have their dear son embroiled in a bloodied mess was enough grief, but to have him go through operation after operation which they had no idea how they could afford was a second hurdle to overcome. They could have given up at any point but they did not. And it is true that often, we may be angered or provoked by people around us, or even strangers who may have been rude to us. But this is a story that showed compassion and love from people who were not the slightest related nor acquainted and yet, there was humanity and goodness.

If someone has hurt you today or caused you to feel that you cannot trust people again, remember that there will always be kindness and compassion around, even in people we've never met. I still have walls but slowly, they are crumbling. Everyday now, I believe God planted the seeds of desire in my heart along with the passions and gifts He has blessed me with. This is the season of increase dear friends, may love and peace be with you!

PS. There came a point in my life where I never thought I could trust another human being again. I would have much rather trusted my orange plastic mug than another actual breathing human being. And since I'm a walking barrel of sarcasm, I'd be shooting pellets as my armor and walling myself up with these protective symptoms. You have no idea how many people call me the "icy" chick. And that is ironic because I never used to be like that. I used to be miss friendly from the day I could walk. Haha.:):) As time passes, so we learn and thus the ice melts.

Compassion is the basis of morality.-Arnold Schopenhauer