Leading when it counts...

Growing up in the Midwest, there’s an unwritten rule, when a neighbor is in need, if tragedy strikes, you help however you can.  Tragedy causes a chain reaction of sorts, it throws lives into a tail spin but it also has a way of pulling people closer together.

It’s in these times of desperation, we turn to each other for hope, for answers or simply a shoulder to lean on.  It’s also during these times that Leaders rise to the occasion.  Whether they have the title or not, true leaders are the ones who leap into action to help, it might be a friend, a stranger, a preacher, or a teacher, the common thread is, they instinctively know something needs to be done and they do it.

Opening a church to devastated teens after the sudden loss of a friend, organizing a team of farmers to harvest the crops of a hospitalized neighbor, starting a fundraiser or teaching your 5th graders how to pay in forward to honor a lost friend.  As adults, our children need to see how important it is to help and to reach out to others who are in need or hurting.   To be a leader within your community doesn’t take grand gestures, sometimes it’s just the little things that add up to a lot. 

It’s easy to get lost in our own lives, the day to day is sometimes overwhelming, but at the end of the day what truly matters is we are present for each other, during the good times and bad.  We need to lift each other up and guide each other through this thing we call life.

This post is dedicated to Bobby, a young man who always had a smile and a kind word to share. 

#payitforwardforBob