I’ve been amazed this past week at the resolve of the people of Chicago. Reportedly this week saw the worst snow storm since 1967. I’ve not been through a blizzard before, so this was an experience. You can read why I’m here in THIS POST.
What amazes me is how the people responded so quickly. Even before the storm hit, people were taking precautions, but during and after the storm, people spread salt, shoveled snow, pitched in to help one another, and quickly got back to normal. Many places were closed early Wednesday, hours after the snow ended, but many were open by the afternoon. By Thursday everyone was seemingly back to normal. There’s still a lot of snow on the ground, you have to be careful where you walk, but people have gone about their business…in spite of the largest snow the average Chicagoan has ever seen.
Watching the quick response of the Chicagoans this week prompts me to ask:
Why?
Because there is an inner resolve in people to survive…to recover…to succeed!
- We saw it in our city after the devastating flood last year.
- We saw it in our city after the 1999 tornado destroyed most of downtown.
- We see it in the aftermath of earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and famine.
- I’ve seen that resolve firsthand in Brazil, and Lithuania and Sierra Leone.
- I’ve seen it in families who lost everything in a house fire.
- I’ve seen it in individuals whose lives were wrecked by adultery, cancer and financial devastation.
- I’ve seen it in individuals, who in spite of paralyzing injuries, continue to live with great joy.
There’s an inner drive in people to overcome.
I love seeing it…
I think it’s God-given…
I’m thankful for the times I’ve been able, by God’s grace, to pick myself up and move forward.
If you are experiencing the bad side of life these days, may I be a voice encouraging you to draw from that God-given inner resolve to push forward! The best is yet to come if you will pursue it!
Who has a story of recovery from tragedy that inspires you?
Do you have a story? What’s the worst thing that ever happened to you…you lived to tell about it?…tell me NOW!
I’ve written before about failure in these posts: (Click on the title to read)
7 Ways to Recover from a Major Failure or Mistake
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about 19 months ago, as I was driving to a music festival w/ my sister, I got a call from the director over my part of the department I worked in. She informed me that I was getting laid-off in 60 days along with most of my co-workers in that department (about 90% of the dept.). I kept my composure during the call, but lost it towards the end (and I'm the one driving). I grabbed my CD case from the center console in my car, handed it to my sister, and told to grab out Jeremy Camp's album stay. I got as far as track 3, Walk By Faith, and that's where it stayed the remaining 2 hrs to the festival. I had my MP3 player w/ so once we were set up @ the festival, that track was repeated for hours until the music started. The next day was the same in the morning and again during the final act for the night (my feet were too sore to watch Skillet). It kept my focus where it needed to be. 2 weeks after the notice, I got a call from my alma mater about grad school and less than a week after the lay-off, I started grad school. In 10 more class sessions, I'll be done. Through this whole time, I saw God provide so much. I even started sponsoring 2 kids through compassion during this while on unemplyment benefits. And I still don't have a job, but I know God will provide one in His timing. I have also discovered what I'm passionate about. I've known for years that God has called me to ministry, I've finally figured out (in the last 4.5 months) what that is and I'm starting some work on that in the way of Bible study related to the idea. My passion is biblical discipleship and compared with other ministry ideas I have had in my head, this one really stuck and I realized that the other 2 ideas I had focused on discipleship when I boiled down what I wanted to do with each as the primary focus.
Great story. Thanks so much for sharing with me and my readers.
Yep, we had 24 inches in my neck of the woods. The truth is, the global ecomony demands that you get to work. We all pitch in and help each other because you sure can't do it alone. We HAVE to get back on our feet fast – no excuses.
That's a lot! Good thought on the global economy aspect.
Victoria BC had a monster snowstorm over New Years 1996-97 that shut down the city and there were amazing stories of people helping one another. One of my radio colleagues walked 2 miles to work at 2 AM, shut down the overnight satellite programming and kept the station on the air, knowing that people needed to have a live, local voice at a time when they'd be terrified; he and another colleague then used the station to coordinate neighborhood volunteer efforts to get help to people who needed it (Victoria has a high proportion of seniors): shovelling snow, getting food to people; even just checking on their welfare. It could have been a point of anger, if people started asking, "where is the military? Why aren't the buses running?", but instead it was a rallying point.