Photo Credit:  Gabo

What do you think of that photo?  Isn’t it beautiful?  I’d love to have one of them to set my cake on!

Here’s a list of things of this week’s gratitude list. 

Dan Kennedy’s excellent, inspiring article on Your Prices are Too Low.  

I’m grateful to know that I continue to inspire and impact people’s lives.   One example would be Andrea Hess’s foray into making her first video post at Empowered Soul.  She just joined Toastmasters only to discover how much she really likes public speaking.  Andrea told me that earlier video posts and public speaking articles at Adversity University have encouraged her to give them a try.  I’m happy to say that not only did she do a fabulous job on her first video but that she’s also going to subtitle it.  Not only that but she loves public speaking and is having a ball with her Toastmasters club.  Congratulations to Andrea for her recent achievements!

Adversity University achieved a new milestone yesterday, reaching just over 400 subscribers (402).  The university has experienced the fastest growth this year by far and I’m very grateful for it.  We’ve come a long way and I look forward to making it even better as we move forward.  This is a special note of gratitude to YOU, the subscribers, who have become a vibrant part of the community. 

The incredible power of the Internet, combined with the existence of such sites as YouTube has made it incredibly easy for me to ask an army of people in my network (such as yourselves and others) to help me promote my newly released professional speaking demo tape (if you haven’t seen it, go to “Hire Stephen“).  It is much easier and cheaper than stuffing envelopes with hard DVD copies and then spending hours sending them out via snail mail.  I’m grateful for the vast power of the Internet.

This week another guest article I wrote appeared in PickTheBrain (PTB) with the story Courage Under Fire:  Facing Up to the School Bully.  I’m grateful PTB was inspired to let me share the now-famous fifth grade teacher story the week before and following it up with the bully incident.  The stories emphasize how words are like electricity:  they either have the power to uplift or destroy.

Let’s not forget the simple things in life that I continue to be grateful for:  a very comfortable queen-sized sleigh bed, heat to keep me warm during winter months, a continuous supply of hot water for the shower/bath and of course food to nourish my body, not to mention a roof over my head.  Thank you God!  

Sharmaine Hobbs found an essay she wrote a long time ago, ”God Knows Exactly Where You Are,” when organizing her books one morning and finding it tucked away in her bookcase.  It inspired me to write Not Giving When You Know You Should:  A Haunting Story last weekend.  Thank you Sharmaine for not only inspiring me to write that article but also giving me permission to share it with the Adversity University community:  

                                   GOD KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE

While on a trip to the mountains to visit The Homestead about four years ago, I received an opportunity to be a Good Samaritan. I was on my way to get quiet within, to soak up the scenery and to cleanse my soul. It’s a ritual that is like pressing a reset button in my life. I was looking forward to thinking, writing, and “just being.” The scenery was so beautiful and while driving I got the urge to stop in a small town to go to the Dollar General Store and buy a couple of my favorite colored writing tablets. These tablets inspire me and the colors seem to be able to pull the words right through me.

I got off at the Lexington Exit and saw a Dollar Tree Store, but no Dollar General. I had never shopped at Dollar Tree and I didn’t know if I would find the tablets I wanted and I almost decided to drive on and stop at another exit. Instead I decided to have some lunch and then stop by the store anyway. I did find three pretty writing tablets that I thought would inspire me and was eager to get back on the road to get to my destination. When I went to pay for the items, I realized I only had $8.00 in cash. I had left my cash at home, but I had my credit cards. My purchase came to $7.28.

As I was pulling out of the parking lot and approaching the stop sign, there stood a woman holding a sign that said “Stranded - need money to go back to Michigan.” I read the sign and briefly our eyes met. I drove off, but instantly I knew that this was the real reason that I was prompted to get off at that exit. I went to the nearest gas station and explained to the attendant that I wanted to help the lady just down the street who was stranded. I would charge the gas to my credit card, give her the receipt and he was to accept the receipt and give her the gas. He tried to discourage me, saying that somebody had a similar sign on a camper a couple of days before. That did not matter to me. I was sure in my heart that I was the person who was supposed to help this woman. I would rather be counted as an angel in God’s eyes, than a fool in the gas attendant’s eyes.

I imagined what it must feel like to be miles away from home and you are a stranger counting on the goodness of someone to extend a hand to you to help. I felt a warm feeling inside that I would be the bridge to get her back on the road and going back home. All I did was put myself in her place. I remembered my own life, being stranded on the highway with a flat tire and counting the number of people that drove by before one person stopped to help me. It took 45 minutes for someone to stop, but I knew that someone would. I remember a time in my life when I did not know where my next meal would come from and I thought about being in the store and realizing I did not bring my cash with me and having only $8.00 and being in a strange place. Thankfully I did have credit cards but suppose I did not.

This lady was miles from home, stranded and yet God knew exactly where she was. I left home that morning thinking I was on my way to vacation and that I was merely stopping to get some writing tablets, but I had another assignment that day. Suppose I had listened to the gas attendant for fear that I was being taken advantage of? Suppose she really was taking advantage of me? I may never know. This I do know, if you have never been in that place in your life, it’s easy to dismiss a person reaching out for help. But if you have been at a low place in life, you will always rise to the occasion because you remember “when.”

You never know how God will use you to answer the whispered prayer of someone else. When you are gently urged to be that answer, rise to the occasion. Or if you are like the woman, stranded in your life at a destination you are unfamiliar with, remember that God knows exactly where you are and will send you the help you need. Don’t be discouraged if people are passing you by. The right person with the right heart is on their way to you. A Good Samaritan is coming your way. And when things get better for you, it’s your turn to be one.

Written by Sharmaine Hobbs on 7/26/2004

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