Jack’s Winning Words 8/30/21

 “Everything is going to work out,  There’s no other option.”  (Kari Miller)  Kari is amazing!         Imagine playing volleyball when you have no legs.  Kari lost her legs in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.  She took a bad situation and made it better by joining the American Paralympics Sitting Volleyball Team.  Try playing volleyball while sitting!  I have a hard time while standing.  But when you have no other option, you do what you can do.  All of the Paralympians give us encouragement that things will work out for those who don’t give up…like Kari.  ;-) Jack

FROM SCIENTIST:  I too am pretty bad at standing volleyball. I notice that she didn’t say it will all be like it used to be. Instead, she found a different way that worked for her.===JACK:  I was a better athlete before I had polio, but I seldom look back and  wonder, "What if?"  Maybe once in a while.  As with any of us in our life, we have to keep movin' on.

FROM MAGGIE:  I have been watching the paralympians in awe. Thank you for sharing Kari’s story ===JACK:  Is it right to compare the Olympics with the Paralympics...or the Special Olympics.  Each has its own story to tell.  Maybe that says something about each of us.  We each have our story to tell...which is like no other. 

FROM JU IN NC:  It is a good thing to give up to the Lord.  After that you have nothing left you need or can give up.===JACK:  What more can be said at the end of a race (win or lose)?  He/she gave it their all.  So, too, at the end of a life.  Yesterday my son drove me through the Fort Snelling (Minnesota) Cemetery, and I saw row upon row upon row of many who had given their all.

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  good one,  Jack.  It is amazing how the human spirit can sometimes triumph over adversity===JACK:  As pastors, you and I have met some gallant people.  I especially thing of a cystic fibrosis person in SLLC.  A parishioner told me of her former pastor who had no arms and, yet, was able to paint his own house.

FROM THE VOLUNTEER:  Thanks, Jack! So needed this today🤗===JACK:  Even those who seem totally in control have "those" moments, don't they?

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  IOn TV last night there was a similar story of a NFL Football player (QB) who had such a horrendous leg injury they thought they'd have to amputate it, but he fought o keep his leg, and after many months, and 21 surguries they saved, but thought it impossible for him to walk and run, and certainly return to Football, but in 3 years he did come back for one more season, and his odds and treatment were an awesome story! He's a Football annalist on ESPN now!  His wife and 2 children were his chief cheerleaders, which I imagine was his inspiration, too.===JACK:  i saw the same program,,,60 Minutes.  it was inspiriting.  I don't think that I would have gone back to "the situation" that helped cause the problem, but it worked out for him.  That's why we are "individuals."  While you were a twin, you were you, and she was she.  God makes us as our own person.