It's never easy but then again....

When life hits you with a curve ball it can really catch you off guard but then again that's life. The amazing thing is whether you can learn from it, can you adapt to the trials, the heartaches, the broken dreams and pick yourself up and keep swinging until you hit that ball. When I suffered my stroke 7 years ago it became very clear that this was a curve ball and that I had to not only pick myself up but learn to read, write, walk and talk and then swing that bat! There were many, many tears, lots of frustration, people misunderstanding me and sadly enough some would value me as less than who I was. I was still me, inside the shell there was the same person who is and was Ernie. I still loved to laugh though at many times it was silent, I still loved to smile though it was crooked, I still loved to hug though it was often done with little or no strength at all; the real me was still alive and thriving. My life was being blown by the wind and it didn't help that most of me had become ashes. There is this deep part of me that says "God is there, it may seem distant but He's right there" and I took that whisper and I made it echo through the valley of my tears. I wasn't going to let this break me and crush who I was. I was going to pick up the pieces and with Gods help I was going to be a mosaic picture of faith, hope and love. Suffering has this unique way of stripping you of all your weight and putting a mirror in front of you and saying "Is this who you are?!" Well this was and is who I am, someone who refuses to quit, to give up, to simply end my story with failure and by Gods grace it will be so much more than I could have ever imagined.

By Ernie Kasper