Friday, December 10, 2010

December 9: God is Good... All the Time!




Heaveno!

Quick thought.  My faith is like God's love.  Permanent.  Unconditional.  That means, regardless of the events on Earth, I will always have faith that there is a reason I cannot see from my little ant hill.  More than a reason yet, a hidden opportunity - A GEM - that is hiding inside each moment and event.  This is the most useful way for me to look out at the world and try to make any sense of it.

Another quick thought:  Wouldn't it be a shame is Mozart, Shakespeare, or Einstein never bothered to share their world with us because "plenty of others were already doing "it," whatever "it" was?  Don't worry. You're not the first and you won't be the last to share themselves with the world.  But, you are the ONLY ONE who can share YOUR self... your unique ability, your unique experience, your unique perspective...

... so share it share it share it share it SHARE IT.  As Jane says (to paraphrase), SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS.  You never know when your message will fall on the fertile fields of possibility in another's mind.

When I was in Phoenix at the EB Gathering, my good, good friend, Joe Polish attended.  I told Joe, "I have a powerful story and a message, but I need help getting it out there." That's when Joe invited me to his 25K Group.  I shared my story there, and James Malinchak invited me to his event in LA, which I am attending these next 4 days.  This morning, I learned/was reminded of some very powerful points when giving a talk of any length by James.  James is a MASTER speaker.  Tonight, I was a speaker at the UC Irvine Cancer Survivor Holiday Dinner.  I took some of what James taught this morning and retooled my presentation.  I rehearsed it over and over in the car in rush hour traffic from LAX to The Doubletree in Orange.

I don't think I have EVER hit a presentation out of the park like I did tonight.  Within 1 minute, I had 300 people STOP eating their desserts, stop talking, even the hotel staff got extra quiet.  You could hear a PIN DROP, the ballroom was so quiet.

Long story short, the director of development who manages MAJOR GIFTS (it actually reads that on her card!) came up to me like a freight train after the event and told me," My mom was a concert pianist who played in old folks' homes once a week.  Tim, YOU are my passion!  We are going to GET you funding for this (music therapy) program!"  For those of you that don't know, my funding for my music therapy program runs out at the end of this month.

Whatever your message is, folks, keep preaching it.  Keep sharing it, KEEP SHOUTING IT, keep whispering it.  You never know in what set of ears your message is going to land and take root.

I just got up from being PASSED OUT in bed from a l-o-n-g day, but I KNEW I couldn't let the night come and go without being with you.  Your messages of support keep me reaching for the stars every day, and my messages on here seem to be of value to you as well.  Thank you ALL for ALL the great comments of support!  They literally re-energized me and gave me the focus and drive to be pumping out this entry at 1:34 am when I have to be up in 3.5 hours.  Don't worry.  I'll be okay.  I have you in my heart, and coffee in my mug!  LOL.

Everywhere I turn, I see blessings.  Bella's blessings.  I don't know what we did to deserve her, but we continue to be humbled, flattered, and complimented that she chose us to share her story of FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE.  It's such a good story, it just needs to get told again and again and again.

And it will be.

God night.

35 comments:

  1. Love it. All of it. All of you!

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  2. Hey Ringgolds,

    Thinking of you all, all the time and wont stop praying for your strength. God bless and love you all.

    Beautiful photo I miss Bella dear so much!!

    Donné Sunny South Africa :)

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  3. That's the best picture EVER!

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  4. AWESOME PICTURE!!!!!!!! So excited for you and the help this conference will be. So happy to hear last night went SUPER!

    Tina

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  5. I love this pictures. Many kisses for you all, never forgetting Bella in Heaven.


    Carla, Luxembourg

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  6. Hi Tim: I love, love, love that picture of your beautiful girls. Thanks for the update, we really do appreciate all you do for us. You are in our hearts too.
    Still missing Bella. Take care!! Love you guys. Love and Peace Leah's Nana

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  7. It's becoming ever more evident that this is all part of what God's plan was for Bella. And aren't we ALL learning from her? Hugs to ALL of you!

    Carol in Ohio

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  8. Love it. Your post was so energizing to read this morning! So excited to read about how well things went. And of course, I love the picture of Bella, Ali, and Ang. Just gorgeous. Thanks for sharing - will be thinking of you all today (and every day :)

    :)Kim in Durham

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  9. So happy for you! What a gift that was for you last night!

    God IS Good...all the time...

    Love the pic, too

    Donna in NJ

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  10. Blessings Tim!

    I can FEEL the energy coming from you! I'm ecstatic to hear that others felt that energy too...and will be in positions to help you with YOUR dreams! I feel so blessed to have "known" Miss Bella, and to be a part of this community.

    I wanted to share one of the small things I am doing to help raise awareness about EB. I am purchasing several of "Bella's Blessings" to send to some family and friends. Inside the cover, I will write a short message about how Bella has touched my life. And since I want people to share their book, and not file it away on a shelf when they finish reading it, I thought of writing the following as well:

    "This book is not comfortable sitting on a shelf. It craves the human touch...it longs to be held. Please give it to another when you have finished reading...and share Bella's Blessings".

    Love and blessings again to you, and Ang and Ali...always!

    PS...Love. Love. Love today's picture :)

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  11. Awesome... good job. You are such an inspiration, thank you.

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  12. Hi Tim,

    I haven't written in a while -- I now fall into the lurker status -- but I have been reading and praying daily.

    Bella has changed the way I look at the world, my relationships and most importantly, my children. My 16-month-old, Reid, took a dive off his Mr. Potato Head car onto the driveway and came away with a scraped face. As I was applying ointment to his sores and worrying about infection it hit me like a ton of bricks -- this is a daily concern (though on a much larger scale) for parents of EB kids. I immediately said a prayer thanking God for Reid's healthy skin and asked Him to continue to hold those children with EB in His loving arms.

    While reading about Bella's fight in the hospital I was absolutely in awe of her strength. She was my little butterfly warrior. She continues her fight through you and Angelique to help find a cure. I wish she was still with us but I rejoice that she is now playing, pain free, in Heaven.

    The reason I came out of lurker-dom this morning is I received an email on my work computer. It was talking about holiday gift giving. (I work for a large, public company headquartered in New York City.) I passively read through the email while chomping through my bowl of Shredded Wheat (I work from home -- what a blessing!). But what stopped me mid-chomp was that they are looking for suggestions for charitable organizations to donate money to this holiday season. Last year they donated $25,000 each to four charities in the countries we are most active in (U.S., Sweden, U.K. and China).

    I want P.U.C.K. to receive that money this year. So with my Shredded Wheat getting super soggy in the bowl next to me -- I started writing to you. Submissions need to be in by Dec. 16th. I think a note from a father of a child with EB would be very impactful so I was hoping you could help me write my submission. Please shoot me an email to laidlawka@yahoo.com and we can discuss the criteria and I can forward you the company email with info.

    I am sure I received the same email last year but quickly deleted it. This year though, through Bella, it stopped me in my tracks. I want this money for Bella. I want this money to help work miracles. I want this money to help stop EB from taking another butterfly warrior from his/her loved ones.

    Love and hugs and LOTS of prayers,
    Kelly in Tampa, FL

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  13. Great job!! I hope your funding gets continued. Love that pic of Ang and the girls.

    Best,
    Cara

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  14. Congratulations!! Rock on!

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  15. What a beautiful picture! Your ladies are all beautiful! :) Thanks for sharing again. I am so glad God is blessing you in a mighty way. Praying for you all.

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  16. What a beautiful picture of the 3 most beautiful people in your life ( Bella, Ang & Ali ) it shows the love they have and give . You are so lucky an so blessed. Great Job. Hope the funding gets continued. You are such a gift and an inspiration to all. Keep up the good work. You Rock. This is God's Plan that you are creating and following thru with. He loves all of you and knows the wonderful things you are doing for the EB kids ( butterflies ). You are all in our thoughts and prayers and Baby Bella holds a special place in our hearts.

    Hugs, Love and many, many prayers.

    Myrna & Dwight CA

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  17. Congratulations, Tim!!! Love hearing your news ~ Blessings =) Kat

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  18. Well done Tim! What great opportunity you had to talk about music therapy! And I'm sure all these experiences help you with your EB goal.
    I love baking and a friend ask me for a cake and she wants to pay me so I decided I'll put that money towards my EB reserch funding. Hope I'll get more orders!
    Have a nice weekend.
    Lots of love,
    Mariana,UK

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  19. I LOVED your post! So happy for you. Terri

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  20. We are so happy (and proud) for you!! What an awesome thing to have happen at just the right time! BLESSING!
    Love the pic of all the girls. Brought a big smile to my face.
    Praying for continued awesome-ness at your seminar!
    Love you guys,
    The Vanderbooms

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  21. Tim,
    I finally made it to my computer first thing in the morning and have a minute to read your blog. You are so talented at boosting ME everyday that I can only imagine how talented you are in your music therapy and speaking. Well, I don't have to imagine how talented you are in those areas because I have had the pleasure of hearing you perform your music and have seen you speak and you blow me away. This is Gods talent that he has bestowed upon you. I'm sure it's just one of the MANY reasons Bella chose you, Ang, and Ali as her family. The way you talk about your love for Bella brings me to tears every day/night when I read your blog. You literally bring me to tears just with your words because that is how much I can feel your love for her. That is amazing!! I'm really looking forward to getting your book for Christmas. I told my husband that is the ONE thing I wanted since we are so poor this Christmas.

    I absolutely love, love, love todays picture of Bella, Ali, and Ang. That makes me smile and cry all at the same time. Beautiful!!

    Lots of Love,
    Amber, Craig, Malorie, and Liam
    The McLaughlin Family, CA

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  22. congrats! you ARE a great speaker, and your cause is a GOOD ONE! with a myriad of supporters!

    good for you and thanks for posting!

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  23. Good Job! What an inspiration to all you meet and all your blog readers the world is so lucky to have you in it. Keep up the good work.

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  24. Thank you for this post. I just spoke to over 500 kids at a junior high about the missuse of the R word. (Retarded) Sometimes it feels like it falls on dead ears, but I keep talking, keep spreading the word to end the word. I do it for my Alex. Thank you for this post! btw I used to play music to my belly for Alex, when he was in the nicu, and he is very passionate about music, classical music.

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  25. Great news! God always comes on scheduled time (though His time is not our time)! Even when we can't see Him working, He always has our best interests at heart.

    Love, love, love the picture of Bella laying on Mommy. Such sweet, sweet memories!

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  26. Way to go Tim. I will shout from the rooftops I will spread the word! EB will be cured.You are an inspiration to everyone you meet.

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  27. & all the time God is good! God Bless you guys!

    Tami

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  28. Wow! Looks like that Tim Awesome cape must have worked!

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  29. Wow- what a GREAT day! I was praying for you this AM that God would continue to restore you and use you mightily. Answered prayer for sure!

    Praying that you will rest well and have peace this weekend. Hugs to Ang and Ali too (what a sweet picture!)

    Love from TX,
    Laura (for Team A)

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  30. Dear Tim,
    Well done! Despite the pain you describe you keep fighting, fighting for what is important in life and I admire you so much for that.It is so sad that she is gone from you know but as you say, you will meet again and it will be sweet.

    Alexandra in Australia

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  31. Hello Ringgold Family!
    Thinking of you all, all of the time!

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  32. There are times I wonder...how can I miss someone I never met? Then I read or catch glimpses of other comments and someone else that I am sure never met Bella physically yet they miss her too. I thought maybe I was just an "odd" one and maybe I was the only one that didnt have the honor of ever meeting her yet I miss her. This came up in my conversation with Bella on the way home (yes I talk to her-every single day) ...I miss hearing about her day, what is happening with her. I miss who she was. Her strength. Then I began to wonder if she would know me in heaven...would she come and say hi? I sure hope so.

    A new favorite picture of your three beautiful ladies.

    Way to go on your presentation. I will be praying you get your funding.

    Sending my love to all and sweet kisses to Ali. Are you sick of me saying this yet? :)

    Denise WI

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  33. You are awesome! Such exciting news. God works in amazing ways! So happy for you tonight! Your love for God is contagious - love it! We are SO blessed to have the privilege of following your journey through Bella. Tim, THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing!
    ~Jodie

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  34. We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey. `~ Kenji Miyasawa

    It's what you said and what you are doing!

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