A Fresh Coat

I spent most of the day on Wednesday painting at Selma High. We've been having crews of people coming in and out all week to try to get 48 classrooms painted with the Saint's blue and gold. Around 10:00 am, a group of Selma High band members came in, ready to put paint on the walls of the classrooms they'd be sitting in come August. There was a pair of boys who looked a little too young to be walking those halls anytime soon, and I found out that they were tagging along with their cousin for the day. I paired up with one, a ten year old with the sweetest smile. As I taught him how to use a paint brush and watch his drips, he told me about the flat tire on his bike, and how he loves math because he's good at it.

At noon, the band kids headed out, and my buddy for the morning followed suit. Before he left he said, "I'm coming back all week!" I told him we'd be there waiting on him.

An hour later I left for a soda run, and as I was leaving the parking lot, I saw him across the street. I waved and he yelled, "Y'all still there? Can I come back?" He sure did come back and stayed the rest of the afternoon. I made up tasks for him to do just so he could stay around. He was a great helper and it was really special to me not only to have him be a part of everything, but to see how much he loved being there.

I was on the first shift this morning, and sure enough, when I got to the school, he came running down the hall to let me in the door, ready to paint!

It's the Little Things

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and see they
were the big things." Antonio Smith

We met Miss Debra through the radio show we began as an effort to bring
positive energy to Selma's residents through the airwaves. She listened
faithfully because she loved the energy and life the show carried to her.
She quickly became one of our biggest fans and we became one of hers. She
was always quick to call with an encouraging word or just to say she loved
us and was praying for us.

After a life of very actively doing and working hard serving others, a
tragic illness bound Miss Debra to a wheelchair. She found herself just
pushing through her personal pain on many days and looking for ways to be
her same energetic self, even though confined to the chair.

She credited the members and activities of the Freedom Foundation for adding
a spark to her life and has become an active part of the volunteer group and
a bright spot to the community events and activities.

I could list a hundred examples of times she brightened one of the days
we've had here with a thoughtful word or gift. But the greatest moment we've
had with Miss Debra yet came a little while back on the Alabama River.

A friend invited a group of us to spend a day at his river cabin to eat,
swim, hang out and cruise around the river in his speed boat. Miss Debra
accepted the invititation extended to the group before any of us could think
of a way to not invite her, fearing it would be too hard for her to get
around the unstable hilly ground that surrounded the cabin. She was more
excited to go than any of us and it was all over her face. We quickly became
more excited for her to come, regardless of what we had to do to help her
get around once we got to the river.

It was a beautiful day....the water was high, the air was warm and the sun
shining through the most majestic clouds.  Joyful sounds filled the air as
people talked and laughed and  kids and dogs were ran around everywhere. The
owner of the house was always focused on everyone having a great time. He
offered to take a couple of small groups out on the boat and Miss Debra was
the first volunteer. 

Instead of a single question being raised as to how this would occur,
different people immediately began getting Miss Debra out from her chair and
into the boat. She sat there on that boat as if she owned it. Her smile
beamed up the hill to the cabin where you could hear her contagious laugh
and FEEL her joy. She stayed on that boat the entire day and no one could
have been happier than me to see her just as light and free as she could be.
There was nothing binding her....nothing to remind her that she couldn't do
something that she was dying on the inside to do. No pain, no wheelchair, no
one pushing her around. She was the same Debra that grew up running and
playing and being the first one to try something new...only she was able to
enjoy it even more.

The boat ride ended and the clouds closed in to bring a beautiful and
powerful rainstorm to close the most perfect day....but Miss Debra's smile
was unchanging.  We all gathered around her under the stairs that led up to
the river cabin and listened to her tell all about her adventure. She
laughed and squealed like a child as she recounted the feelings and sights
and proclaimed, "nothing could have made this day better....it is worth
it!!"

Miss Debra has been learning every day how to be free in her mind and heart
of the pain and limitations her illness brings. But on this particular day,
she was free from it all....she said so simply and with such personal
gratitude, "this day happened because you came."

Nothing could have assured me more!!  I will never forget that day and I
know many, including our beloved Miss Debra, would say the same. It was a
small thing. And it was SO big....