By Dr. Noah H. Kersey, Ph.D.
Love Is a "wonder-ous thing" as Huey Lewis puts it, and it truly is powerful. But, real love is hard to come by except when we see it in the acts of people who do for others.
There have been so many charity rides I've gone on negotiating the curves on my Harley-Davidson cruiser and there were even more that I could not make, due to scheduling conflicts and just plain exhaustion.
But, there are still many people out there who are willing to give of their time, energy, resources, and just plain good old love.
I see it all the time in my CMA group, the Cornerstone Riders.
We get regular email updates on who to pray for or what event is happening for us to have the opportunity to serve whether it's in a prison ministry or some community organization who are trying to help the needy or hurting.
It feels great to do good deeds for others without any expectations of anything in return. So, I just keep on truckin' as I try to give back to others as they gave to me growing up without benefit of parents or family.
It is what God wants from me.
But, He gives so much back, that I can't keep up with Him and His blessings. It is awesome what he has given to me over the years:
The opportunity to finish high school along with my friends in the marching and orchestral band, having the opportunity there [Thanks to Mr. Herrin, my band director] to write music, play it, conduct it as well as arrange our marching music and, being 'Band Captain' as a senior.
Thank you Mr. Herrin.
When The Children's Home I lived in was pushing so many of us older teenage boys to drop out of high school to join the military, Mr. Herrin came to the rescue by talking to the Band Parents Association to help me have a place to live so I could finish high school and possibly go to college.
Thank you again, Mr. Herrin!
Also, thank you CHI staff and house parents!
Thankfully, the Morrison family stepped up to the proverbial "plate" and gave me the opportunity to finish my junior year in high school, especially Mrs. Hilda Jean Morrison, who spent so much time with me, trying to help me, attempting to advise me on spiritual matters even though I argued with her for the year that I resided in their home that there is "no such thing as God".
Thank you Hilda Jean for your patience. It finally paid off four [4] years later!
I was also blessed with the Schwartz family for taking me in my senior year and allowing me to call them "mom" and "dad" treating me just like a member of their family. They saved me from failure to complete high school and my first year of college.
Thank you folks!
Thanks also goes to my high school guidance counselor.
Sadly to say, I can not remember her name because it was brief and so long ago, but I do remember her helping me with college applications and advising me along the path to getting into Florida State University even though I was granted a scholarship to go to a small college in central Florida for my lousy trumpet playing.
If you only knew today how much your help means to me.
Such as Dr. Sherwin J. Broersma, the pastor of the church in Tampa that the Morrisons attended.
He goes by "Chic", a nickname he picked up in college back in Holland, Michigan. I think he said it had something to do with a "chicken", but it was shortened to just plain old "Chic" and that is what thousands who know this extraordinary man calls him.
Chic took me under his wing four years after Mrs. Morrison did and, at the right moment, when I was truly humbled by the Lord to stop fighting Him, guiding me with his Bible in learning the ways of being a Christian.
Chic also, many years later, married me to my beautiful wife, Diana, who, every twenty-five months after the wedding and going to Paris, France for our honeymoon, gave me a son, another son, and then a beautiful and talented daughter.
My sons are also talented as well. One works in a grocery store, a great young man; and my youngest [and name-sake] becoming a gifted physician dedicating his life to healing the sick and keeping the well healthy.
Thank you Chic!
And, thank you honey for all that you have taught me over the years and for giving me beautiful children to be proud of for their just being here to breathe. I love my family and was blessed with the opportunity to run, jump, play, nurture, and protect them as they grew to adulthood to become the outstanding individuals they are today.
Thank you kids for being great progeny!! It was truly fun to raise each of you!
By the way, when I graduated from my doctoral program, guess who flew in to see me get hooded?
Yep, that would be Chic.
He did it again.
As well as being there as my spiritual mentor all these years, he guided me to then turned around and use his words of wisdom to help my own patients as I attempted to help them heal their pain, sorrow, and suffering.
Again, thank you Chic!
As the years have passed, God continued to put me into the path of people who helped me along the way. Always providing me with what I needed and just when I needed it.
It would take a full volume tome to thank everyone that allowed themselves to be utilized by God to advance me through this turbulent and sometimes confusing life, but you all know who you are, and I just want to say "thank you" to each and every one of you.
Even to the individuals who didn't think I could make it through school, or create and grow a successful private practice, or to be the best husband and father that I could be with what I was provided.
You also played a part in your words of discouragement to me. You drove me to excel when you thought I would fail.
Thanks to all of you.
Now I have to apply that same determination to keep training, keep preparing for the 500 miles of El Camino de Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.
And, when I am walking that historic route of St. James, I also have to have that same determination to finish it. The same as I did for all other worthy goals I've had in my life.
Keep up the good fight; finish the race; keep the faith.
Amen.
Never let someone discourage you from achieving your life's goals!
When you get knocked down get right back up determined you are going to keep trying, keep working, keep winning even if others expect you to fail. You can do it because it is up to you and what you're saying to yourself right now is what you are going to be in five years.
And, when God places you in the path of someone who can help you, be thankful for them, as well as to God for doing so. Don't allow an opportunity to pass you by when you can use all the resources at your disposal to make things happen.
Never stop "fighting" the good fight. Finish the race and keep the faith.
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