So I’m in a writing class this term, and for this class, we have to do a blog post every week. Therefore, by default I am going to be a better blogger starting now!
Yesterday I was trying to decide what to write/blog about. And, of course, while I was debating that, I had to look at all the blogs I love. Needless to say . . . I ended up going from link to link and spending hours looking at blogs instead of writing my post. But it wasn’t completely unproductive! I came across a lot of awesome things. On Snippet & Ink, there was this awesome link to a breakdown of beard trustworthiness. I laughed extremely hard and considered doing a blog post on that. But then I saw an even better link on Snippet & Ink. And that’s what I want to write about today.
It’s this giveaway fundraiser for a little six year old boy. His name’s Liam and he has a neuromuscular disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. His parents are having this giveaway to raise money to remodel a bathroom for him this summer that he can actually use on his own and that’s accessible for him. This little boy is ridiculously cute and I think this fundraiser is a wonderful thing. And the giveaway prizes are quite impressive. I am pretty much floored by the generosity of all of the people who are donating prizes. As I went through the list, which you can see here, I was surprised to see quite a few things from blogs/businesses/people that I am a big fan of and follow. Even if it wasn’t for a good cause, I’d want in on this. The fact that it’s for a good cause is just like a MAJOR plus! Actually, it makes it completely worth it.
After reading about the giveaway, I looked around the blog. The most recent post was amazing. I absolutely loved reading it. Please read it. This woman, Lynn (Liam’s mom), is incredible. I am so impressed by her, and she makes me want to be a better person. It was interesting though, because she talks about how people email her to tell her what an inspiration she is. Then she says, “honestly, I think – without meaning to disregard the goodwill meant by it – that I am doing what so many parents do all the time. Yes, different circumstances – ones I never imagined would be mine – but in the end, I love Liam and I am doing my best to advocate for him . . . This is what parents should do, when they are able, however they are able. I think that’s the best we can do, really.” The funny thing is . . . this is what really impressed me.
Yes, what she says is true. She is doing what so many parents do all the time and it is what parents should do, but that isn’t the most important part. The important part is that she is doing it. Just because there are other parents out there who do stuff just like her, it doesn’t make her any less inspiring for doing it. There are plenty of people in the world who wouldn’t handle the situation the same as her. More importantly, not everyone would have the same attitude that she has about it. She doesn’t pretend like it’s not hard, but she does show what she has learned from it and how it has changed her for the better. Maybe I don’t know her enough to be assuming some of this, but from what she wrote, she is letting this whole thing be a crucible for her. And that’s incredibly inspiring to me.
Now I don’t want this post to just be about Liam and his mom. (Although I do think you all should hop on over to the blog and donate if you feel so inclined.) I want it to be about more than just them. We all have struggles in our lives. Actually, a life wouldn’t be a life at all if there weren’t problems. If there was nothing bad, would we ever appreciate the good? No, we wouldn’t. We wouldn’t be able to. And if we never had struggles, we would never be able to grow like we can. These truths don’t necessarily make the struggles any more desirable, but sometimes it can help us have the strength we need to deal with them. So yes, we all have struggles. We will each have our own set of trials. Some of us might have a child that is really sick. Some of us might have to suffer through the death of a child. Some of us might never become a parent. Maybe you will never get married. Maybe you will lose your job . . . over and over and over. No matter what, the trials are hard. But at the same time, they are always for our benefit. It’s hard to remember this while we are going through them, but it’s true. We can learn so much from them. We can either let the trials break us or we can let them strengthen us. We always have the choice of being bitter or being grateful. We can all have a good attitude and do “the best we can do.”
