DESTINED FOR GREATNESS!

Look who I found at my favorite thrift store recently!

Franklin D. Roosevelt our 32nd President!

He was leaning against a table and I wasn't sure it was him.  But of course I got out my trusty IPhone and Googled pictures of him, and sure it enough, it was old Franklin, himself!  Now perhaps that isn't quite so exciting to some of you, but if you remember I had polio as a child, and so did Franklin. This instantly qualifies him as a hero of mine, (even though some of things in his personal life were not what they should be).  He was the commander in chief in some of the toughest years in our American history!  He took office during the great depression and helped get people back to work with the Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Recovery Administration.  Then in his third term, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and World War II was launched.  He helped develop the strategy for several invasions, including D-Day.  He did all this, while struggling with the exhaustion of polio and trying to maintain the appearance of strength from a wheel chair. One of the things that you might not know about him, he was a C student when he attended Harvard, just an average person.  I just had to buy the picture and will hang it in my spare bedroom to remind me, "that when I want to give up, or give in, God can still use an average person like me and do something great!"

Then as I was out vintage record shopping with my grandson, (No, I don't spend all my time doing this, but it is pretty cheap entertainment!) there on a $1.00 bookself was a book about this woman:

 

Florence Nightingale "Nurse To The World"

I remember reading about her as a child, but wanted to refresh myself on her story. This woman came from a very wealthy family and grew up in England.  Her claim to fame is bringing cleanliness, order and humane care to the sick and wounded during wartime.  She also is responsible for opening up the field of nursing.  She turned down marriage, and an easy social life in order to make a difference in the suffering of humanity. She did this with much opposition from her mother and sister.   She was known as "the lady with the lamp" for she would roam the halls of the night in order to check on the men she was caring for, and her patients adored her for her care.

 Longfellow wrote a poem about her that said:

                        

                            "Lo! in that hour of misery

                            A lady with a lamp I see

                            Pass through the glimmering gloom,,

                            And lit from room to room.

                            And slow, as in a dream of bliss,

                            The speechless sufferer turns to kiss

                            Her shadow, as it falls

                            Upon the darkening walls.

Isn't it amazing how God can take one person's life and change even history itself with it?  If in doubt, think about David who God used to kill a giant with a stone!  About a Jewish girl named Esther, who because of her willingness to put it all on the line, help save an entire nation from destruction.  About a young girl named Mary, who said, " May it be to me as you have said." (Luke 1:38)

Yep, I am keeping these two reminders for the future, for all it takes, is a willingness to be used, strength from God to accomplish the task, and a humble vessel that He can fill up!  Didn't know that you were going to get such a history lesson today, did you?