“Today is your day to live and serve others. For tomorrow may never come in this life.” —Illens Dort
In June of 2015, I was in the Dominican Republic with International Aid Serving Kids, a nonprofit organization that focuses on health care and vocational training for people who live in abject poverty in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We had a wonderful week serving together.
On the last day of service, Friday, June 12, I received a text from my wife informing me that our oldest son, Bedford, was in the hospital in intensive care. She explained that he had collapsed while he was in the gym and had to be brought back to life. Luckily for him, he had a friend who was there who started CPR. There was also a doctor in the Gym that worked on him. They also called the paramedic team.
They had to use extensive resuscitation technique to revive him several times while he was in the ambulance. When he got to the hospital and regained consciousness he was wondering where he was and how he got there. He did not recall any of the activity that took place. His ribs were extremely sore due to the extreme pressure they had to apply to get his heart to start beating again.
He is now doing extremely well. He often joked about the fact that he had a new birth. He celebrates two birthdays—the day he was born and the day he was revived. You may know someone who is dear to you who has left this mortal probation in a “clin d’oeil” (twinkling of an eye). When that happens we often wish we had taken time to let them know how much loved them.
There are opportunities all around us to serve others. We don’t need to travel far. All we need to do is to open our heart and mind and seize the moment. We can serve at home, in our community, and at work. Wherever there are people, there is an opportunity to serve. Serving our fellowmen gives us an opportunity to show gratituce for the blessings of being alive.
Please take a moment to share with us a time when you had received help from someone and the impact it had on you. Or you can share a moment when you had taken time to rescue someone and how that service had blessed you and that person.
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Thank you for your time!!! Illens Dort