Quips & Quotes

Anonymous: Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows.

Paying it forward

As many readers would know, I work for the media and I'm a Christian. And more than a few times it's bothered me how those in the media are unfairly and ignorantly criticised by someone in the pulpit, and vice-versa, how the "church" is misrepresented by some journalist who didn't take the time to ask questions, or perhaps has unresolved issues. Some would say "they" have an agenda.

However, last week was one of those cool times when the dreaded media, in this case Hawke's Bay Today, used its influence for good, to publicise the plight of Sarah de la Haye, aka Annie de la Haye.

Sarah has cerebral palsy, moves around in a wheelchair, and with her fiance, had borrowed thousands of dollars to revamp their bathroom so she could take a shower without being helped.

Unfortunately for her - and many others - Mercy Renovators, the company doing the job, went into voluntary liquidation and she lost her deposit. Here's our first story, Hopes go down drain with cash.

As often happens - and you can never predict or expect it - people helped out via Givealittle and tradesmen came to the party and gave generously. Tradesmen offer to donate services. You've gotta love Hawke's Bay people!

As if that wasn't enough, just days later, staff at Hawke's Bay Today were gob-smacked to receive on Sarah's behalf, an anonymous gift of $1,000 in $50 notes.

Reporter Amy Shanks and I quickly drove over to Sarah's to deliver the gift, and I snapped away at her various expressions of anticipation, disbelief, absolute shock and delight as she opened the envelope.

"Ms de la Haye was in total disbelief as she pulled out

$50 notes - her face said everything words couldn't manage."

When the shock wore off she said: "whoever you are, 

I can't thank you enough, thank you.""

Woman amazed at generous support

But here's the part that really touched me, as a member of the media and as a Christian. The anonymous gift came with an anonymous note:

"I too have been let down by people and been put into debt.
But God has inspired someone to put money
into my bank account to remove my debt.

So, I'm just passing on some of what He has given me.

You are one of His children, whether you believe it or not.

He has seen your situation and cares for you.

Love and Blessings."

It wasn't just Sarah that had a tear in her eye....

Quips & Quotes

Frank L. Gaines: Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible.

Quips & Quotes

Seen on a T-shirt: A cowards dream is a hero's vision - only the strong survive.

Quips & Quotes

Anonymous: Success occurs when your dreams get bigger than your excuses.

In a Word

Ian Clayton: If you are a believer, you have the capacity for your DNA to be totally and absolutely changed. You have been given the capacity to make solid things out of nothing.

Christ in me, the hope of glory - more notes

Christ in me, the hope of glory - audio

In a Crisis?

And so we come to the end of another year, or so it might seem. I guess I'm lucky I'm one of those guys who thinks about Christmas on the 24th - right after I've knocked off for the day. Some would call it crisis management, but I call it live one day at a time - and I also have an incredible wife J

And yes, I really do plan ahead - a little - and as a details, pedantic kind of guy I do set goals, but in considering the near and distant future, I also plan to enjoy the present.

So watch out, any moment now, folks will be asking what you plan to do next year, what are your New Year's resolutions, what are your goals? And people who know better will remind you that your goals need to be smart - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. All good sense, and I don't disagree.

But what if you're like some of the people I've been talking to this week who feel like they're not getting anywhere, and for every step forward they've taken two steps back? What do you say to those who are discouraged and are afraid to set new goals because they've failed so badly already?

There are some who would remind us that Edison "failed" a thousand times before he invented the light bulb, but Wikipedia raises some doubts on that, and besides, who wants to look forward to 999 failures. I'm having enough difficulties with just my few...

So here are some thoughts:

One, it's not so important whether you achieve all you set out to do, it matters that you set out at all. So what if you fall over, that's how you learnt to walk. And if need be you can start by crawling, I promise not to laugh at you.

And two, you can only go backwards if you turn and walk away. So what if you're doing the old one step forwards, two steps back, you're still on the road, you're still on the journey and your future is still ahead of you. Who knows what might be just around the corner? Who knows when a fellow-traveller might help you out in some unexpected fashion?

And so what if other people don't help, or don't understand, or worse, remind you of every reason why you shouldn't even try.  It's your life, and it's your dream. There is only one person who can live it, and there's only one person who can achieve it - and that's you. And I believe in you. Kia Kaha.