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Original Message:
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From: Moussa Bamba [log in to unmask]
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 09:07:52 -0500
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FW: Life
-----Original Message-----
From: Gina Edane
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 5:12 PM
To: Beth Kirchberg; Karla Purtell; Moussa Bamba; Phil Kitzer; Shar
Ballentine; Terre MacDonald; Wendi Dorn
Subject: FW: Life
-----Original Message-----
From: Shelly Fecht
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 3:50 PM
To: Amy Feller; Barb Crosby; Cammie Schreck; Christine Beilke; Gina Edane;
Holly Heiliger; Jenny Benson; Jessica Schroeder; Jill Cisler; John Eller;
John Mattern; Karen Hoth; Marge Barbian; Michelle Glimme; Peter Nasett;
Susan Barron-Toman; Tom Warwick
Subject: FW: Life
-----Original Message-----
From: Martin, Tina [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 2:50 PM
To: Ang; Diane Fecht; Dombrowski; Linda Stoddard; Michelle Abing; Michelle
Mettlach; Shelly Fecht; Deb & Joe Brugger (E-mail); Greg & Chris Stumpf
(E-mail); Teresa Goplin (E-mail); TomTaraPechan (E-mail)
Subject: Life
THIS MAY GIVE YOU THE CHILLS
People always say how mean kids can be, never how nice they can be.
This story will either make you cry, give you cold chills or just leave you
cold, but it puts life into perspective!
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled
children, the father of one of the school's students delivered a speech
that would never be forgotten by all that attended.
After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question.
"Everything God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son Shay cannot learn
things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children
do.
Where is God's plan reflected in my son?" The audience was stilled by the
query. The father continued. "I believe," the father answered, "that when
God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the
Divine Plan presents itself and it comes in the way people treat that
child."
Then, he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a
park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you
think they will let me play?" Shay's father knew that the boys would not
want him on their team. But the father understood that if his son were
allowed to play it
would give him much-needed sense of belonging. Shay's father approached one
of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked
around
for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own
hands and said, "We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth
inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in
the ninth inning." In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a
few runs but was still behind by three. At the top of the ninth inning,
Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield. Although no hits came his
way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be on the field, grinning from ear
to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the
ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases
loaded, the potential winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the
next at-bat. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture and give
away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat.
Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even
know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to
lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The
first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took
a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came
in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The
pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball
to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have ended
the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to
right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first, run to first." Never in his
life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline,
wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "run to second, run to second!" By
the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball. He
could have thrown the ball to the second baseman for a tag. But the right
fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions had been, so he threw the
ball high and far over the third baseman's head. Shay ran towards second
base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards
home.
As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him
in the direction of third base, and shouted, "run to third!" As Shay
rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay Run home!"
Shay ran home, stepped on home plate and was cheered as the hero for
hitting a "grand slam" and winning the game for his team.
"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,
"the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of the Divine Plan into this
world."
And now, a footnote to the story: We all send thousands of jokes through
e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages
regarding life choices, people think twice about sharing. The crude, vulgar
and sometimes the obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public
discussion of decency is too often suppressed in school and the workplace.
If you are thinking about forwarding this message, you are probably
thinking about which people on your address list aren't the "appropriate"
ones to receive this type of message.
The person who sent this to you believes that we can all make a difference.
We all have dozens of opportunities a day to help realize God's plan. So
many seemingly trivial interactions between people present us with a
choice; do we pass along a spark of the Divine-love that God gives to us
every day? Or do we pass up that opportunity and leave the world a bit
colder in the process?
You have two choices now:
1. Delete this.
2. Forward it to the people you care about. You know the choice I made
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