Joy
Community
If Tomorrow Never Comes
I Asked God...
If I Had My Life to Live Over
Good Timber
Heaven's Very Special Child
Sharing
Beatitudes for Disabled People
My Cyber Friends
Drinking From My Saucer
Joy
We
all have heroes
One
we wish we could be
Mine
is my sister
She's
a hero to me
When
she is scared
She
doesn't run and hide
She
stands up for what she believes
Showing
nothing but pride
We
share the same genes
And
suffer the same fate
Where
she learned to love
I
learned to hate
Her
courage is uncanny
Her
fight is unreal
I
want to be like her
I
want to feel
She
has managed to turn
Bad
into good
I
am trying to be like her
I
know that I could
My
hero is my sister
She
is the real McCoy
I
love her to death
My
hero named Joy
by Geoffrey Fox
Community
Somewhere, there are people
to whom we can speak with passion
without having the words catch in our throats
Somewhere a circle of hands
will open to receive us,
eyes will light up as we enter,
voices will celebrate with us
whenever we come into our own power
Community means strength that joins our strength
to do the work that needs to be done.
Arms to hold us when we falter.
A circle of healing.
A circle of friends.
Someplace where we can be free.
(Starhawk - Dreaming the Dark)
IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES
If I knew it would be the last time
that I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.
If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.
If I knew it would be the last time
I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.
If I knew it would be the last time,
I could spare an extra minute or two
to stop and say "I love you,"
instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.
If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
well I'm sure you'll have so many more,
so I can let just this one slip away.
For surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything right.
There will always be another day
to say our "I love you's",
And certainly there's another chance
to say our "Anything I can do's?"
But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget.
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance
you get to hold your loved one tight.
So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you'll surely regret the day,
That you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.
So hold your loved ones close today,
whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them
and that you'll always hold them dear,
Take time to say "I'm sorry,"
"please forgive me,"
"thank you" or "it's okay"
And if tomorrow never comes,
you'll have no regrets about today.
--Author Unknown
I Asked God.........
-Author Unknown
I asked God to take away my pain.
God said, No.
It is not for me to take away,
but for you to give it up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, No.
Her spirit was whole,
her body was only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No
Patience is a by-product of tribulations,
it isn't granted, it is earned.
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No.
I give you blessings, Happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No.
Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares
and brings you closer to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, No.
You must grow on your own,
but I will prune you to make you fruitful.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, No.
I will give you life so that
you may enjoy all things.
I ask God to help me LOVE others,
as much as he loves me.
God said... Ahhhh,
finally you have the idea.
IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER by
Erma Bombeck
I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained
and the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much
less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his
youth.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day
because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted
in storage.
I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass
stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more
while watching life.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband. I I
would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a
holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't
show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every
moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to
assist God in a miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later.
Now go get washed up for dinner."
There would have been more "I love yous". more "I'm
sorrys"... but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look
at it and really see it... live it...and never give it back.
**In memory of Cindy Main (FA Parent) who lost her fight with cancer
in January 1999
Good Timber
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
by Douglas Malloch
HEAVEN'S VERY SPECIAL CHILD
A meeting was held quite far from earth.
"It's time again for another birth,"
Said the Angels to the Lord above,
"This special child will need much love.
His progress may seem very slow
Accomplishments he may not show
And he'll require extra care
From the folks he meets way down there.
He may not run or laugh or play
His thoughts may seem quite far away
In many ways he won't adapt,
And he'll be known as handicapped.
So let's be careful where he's sent
We want his life to be content.
Please, Lord, find the parents who
Will do a special job for You.
They will not realize right away
The leading role they're asked to play
But with this child sent from above
Comes stronger faith and richer love.
And soon they'll know the privilege given
In caring for this gift from Heaven
Their precious charge, so meek and mild
Is Heaven's very special child."
-Author Unknown
SHARING
When we share laughter,
There's twice the fun;
When we share success,
We surpassed what we've done.
When we share problems,
There's half the pain;
When we share tears,
A rainbow follows rain.
When we share dreams,
They become more real;
When we share secrets,
Our hearts we reveal.
If we share a smile,
That's when our love shows;
If we share a hug,
It's when our love grows.
If we share with someone
On whom we depend,
That person is always
Our family or friend.
And what draws us closer
And makes us all care,
Is not what we have,
But the things that we share
--Author unknown
Beatitudes for Disabled People....by Marjorie
Chappell.
Blessed are you that never bids us "hurry up" and more blessed
are you that do not snatch our tasks from our hands to do them
for us, for often we need time rather than help.
Blessed are you who take time to listen to defective speech,
for you help us to know that if we persevere, we can be understood.
Blessed are you who walk with us in public places and ignore the
stares of strangers, for in your companionship we find havens of
relaxation.
Blessed are you who stand beside us as we enter new ventures,
for our failures will be outweighed by times we surprise ourselves
and you.
Blessed are you who ask for our help, for our greatest need is
to be needed.
Blessed are you when by all these things you assure us that the
thing that makes us individuals is not our peculiar muscles,
nor our wounded nervous system,
but is the God-given self that no infirmity can confine.
Blessed are those who realize that I am human and don't expect me
to be saintly just because I am disabled.
Blessed are those who pick things up without being asked.
Blessed are those who understand that sometimes I am weak and
not just lazy.
Blessed are those who forget my disability of the body and see the
shape of my soul.
Blessed are those who see me as a whole person, unique and complete,
and not as a "half" and one of God's mistakes.
Blessed are those who love me just as I am without wondering
what I might have been like.
Blessed are my friends on whom I depend,
for they are the substance and joy of my life!!!!
