Heroes...I got a plenty!

No I don't pretend to know you
But I bet it's safe to say
There's someone out there somewhere looking
up to you today
And they see everything you do
Except for your mistakes
You may not think you measure up
but you got all it takes

No one gives them medals
The world don't know their names
But in someone's eyes
They're heroes just the same
Yea , in someone's eyes
They're heroes just the same
Talking bout heroes....
Special kind of heroes.....
No ordinary heroes.

Today I'm pretty focused on the Heroes in my life - and thanking God for them!  The chorus of this Paul Overstreet song up above comes to mind.

It only seems fitting since my #1 Hero, my sister-in-law Jennifer, is currently undergoing a mastectomy as I write this. 

Mr. Webster defines Hero as a person with distinquished courage or abilty.

As a child I would have described a Hero as someone with supernatural abilities - that saved the day every time! They were someone that everyone knew and could count on.

Today I have to agree more with the "courage" part of that definition and with Paul Overstreets lyric that no one gives them medals - The world don't know their names.

The world doesn't know the names  of my heroes, but I do, and they are true Heroes to me!

• Jennifer Steiner, Kim Christner, Deb Beechey, Kristi Drablos, Lynette Ray (and many other awesome women in my life) - all of these dear friends have gained Heroe Status for their courage in facing Breast cancer head on, never giving up and enduring whatever was necessary to be cancer free!

• My niece Gretchen who is Type 1 diabetic and pregnant with baby #2.  She takes such good care of herself when pregnant.  And, what are the results for this? A beautiful little boy named Levi. (hmmmm, maybe result #2 will be a little girl named "Kimberly" - just sayin'!) That kind of dedication to mommyhood gets high Hero Status in my books! 

• For my son Zac, who plays hard and complains little even when it hurts. He hasn't let pain of a benign tumor in his leg keep him from his dream of playing baseball.

• Sam Grewe - who I don't know personally - but who can't help but not know who he is around these parts - these days!  Sam just underwent rotaionplasty (I think that's what it is called).  Because of cancer  his leg was amputated below the knee and his foot reattached to form a better way of using a prothesis. He is 12, he loves sports and guess what....this isn't going to stop him!

• Ben and Carmen Bailey who just lost everything to a house fire and are thankful to be alive and looking to the future with a positive attitude.

My list could go on and on.  Unlike the Cowardly Lion these folks found the courage without the trip to OZ to face incredible fear.  I can't fathom the amount of courage some people face every day.  Like the Cowardly Lion says..."They got something I ain't got"  - Courage- !

If faced with a situation in which I need to find some courage it is my prayer that I can remember David's advice in Psalm 121: 1&2

"I lift up my eyes to the hills...where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Thank you Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth,  for the strength you have given these Heroes in my life!

Something to count on!

Oh Vacation - How I love thee!

Where for art thou Vacation?

Where didst thy jacuzzi tub go?

From whence didst thouest goest o lovely sunshine?

I like to refer to the above piece as "Ode to Vacation"!  Pretty good, eh?  Well not really, but having taken a long awaited vacation over the last week my mind is pretty much mush and my poetry is lacking...yeah that's it...let's blame my poetic patheticness on vacation!

Instead of boring you with all the details I will just give you the highlights!

Highlight #1 - First day of trip Hubs got food poisoning and spent the better part of two days worshiping the porcelain god (or in this case a pink dishpan).  Sorry I don't have a slideshow of this for you!

Highlight #2 - Seeing the Nickster!  We got to see our son Nic in his element - serving as Student  manager/student assistant to the baseball team at Grand Canyon University.  We also got the honor of seeing the "outside" of his dorm only (inside is condemned I think :), meeting his roommates and other new friends.

Highlight #3 - Friends - We saw lots of friends and usually ate really good food with them.  Well, I did anyway - Joel spent the rest of the week turning his nose up at anything edible that went in front of him.  But Never Fear - I went ahead and ate that for him!

We saw many friends but only the Ropps are getting blog billing - for many reasons - but mainly because they're the cutest!

 Highlight #4 -Eventhough we decided to travel north to Sedona and the Grand Canyon with a weak husband, a sick son, sat still in a two hour traffic jam, took a wrong turn taking us another hour out of the way, and battling a short snow storm on the way back down - I'd say that our trip to see the grandeur and majesty of the Sedona Red Rock Mountains and the Grand Canyon was a big highlight for all of us. (it should actually be #1 but I have to give the puking husband props!) If you are able to look at these Marvels without your mouth hanging open and saying things like - Wow, Amazing, or using beautiful and awesome in every other sentence then you must be either blind or from another planet!  If you have never seen these beauties allow me to enlighten you....sit back and enjoy these pics and see how many times you use any of the words listed above!!

Beautiful, Awesome Exquisite!  - Hey, and the mountains are beautiful too!! ha ha 

Okay, now for the real stuff...

 Sedona Mountains - Seriously one of the most beautiful places in the world!

The Grand Canyon - Seriously one of the most amazing sights in the world

 I was looking over the pictures today and dreaming and wishing I was still there since it's all of 38 degrees here today and gray!  As I was dreaming, I thought about how amazingly beautiful these Sedona Mountains are and how they rise up into the sky and everyone there, people from all nations and walks of life, were drawn to them and their majesty.  It reminded me of this verse in Isaiah 2:2

In the last days the mountian of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains, it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it!

In my shallow mind, my sheltered world, these Red Vortexes in the sky are the most beautiful thing I can imagine - but, Oh, what a day that will be when the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established and Believers from every nation will meet there!  I can't even fathom what that will be like!

Since we are broke now and another vacation isn't on the horizon anytime soon, perhaps I shall just look forward to the rising up of the mountain of the Lord's temple - for this - I can count on!