New Year!! Begginin o da en

Wow...this weekend has been a whirlwind of events. I went to the Fireantz Hockey game with the scout troop. While walking down the stairs to my seat, the portable step with handrail attached slipped out from underneath me causing me to fall and hit my head on the railing below. It was some of the worst pain that I have ever experienced. Most people would cite the fall itself as a reminder of how precious life is. I however, was reminded that life is precious in a different way. Ubuntu. No, not the Linux OS company that you are thinking about, rather the meaning of the word. You see, from the moment I hit my head, people surrounded me trying to help in any way possible. My initial reaction was to tell them to back off; that I needed some space to myself. But they wouldn't...the staff at the Crown, the Dr. on staff for the Fireantz, the EMS and Firefighters that were at the game (only by coincidence I'm sure...not) all kept telling me I needed to go to the hospital and get a CT scan to make sure nothing else was wrong. So I went...as soon as I got there, Brendan Miller (goes to our church...another coincidence) "happened" upon me and took me back to his wing of the ER. He made sure I was taken care of. Andrea had called Tom (Sr. Minister and a dear friend) and he brought "the colonel" (my new nickname for Kevin Smith) and they took care of coming to the hospital and then bringing our van. The CT scan turned out normal with no abnormalities or brain bleeds. The Dr. said that I was "lucky" I hit right on my ear because the cartilage is what saved my head by taking the brunt of the impact. After going home from the hospital in pain and going to bed, there were lots of people who were working behind the scenes to take care of everything in preparation for Sunday morning. Saturday afternoon, Dean (another guy who goes to the church and is involved with scouts) stopped by and said his family was taking care of dinner that evening. My wife also informed me that everyone had already planned for me not to be at church the next morning.  I can't tell you how hard it was for me to stay home on Sunday! It was difficult for me to let others take care of everything...but I obviously needed to grow! God taught me the reality of what life should and could be about. We exist to not only give to others but allow others the opportunity to give to us when needed. I was also trying to get caught up with my school work as  I had missed the deadline for my assignment. One video that was on our watch list was from an organization called the Global Oneness Project entitled simply: Ubuntu. Watch it here.
The word has, at its core, the meaning of "I am because you are"; it carries with it the idea "it takes a village to raise a child" and "everyone for the good of everyone". Even as I write this, I am still fighting through a headache and a stiff neck but I can assure you that I am not "stiff-necked" today. I am thankful to the generosity of everyone so that I could heal. I am thankful to God that He placed you all in my life. It has made one word manifest in my very being...and please know this applies to you: UBUNTU!