My mom. For not giving up when the doctors told her to. For continuing to fight through the pain and suffering of cancer, not for herself, but for her children. I miss you Mom.
My friend Ford is a different kind of selfless. He is brilliant (like in a serious intellectual sort of way). He is a classically trained violinist. He is ridiculously funny and talented with writing and video production. He’s a great husband and father and friend. He’s an all around “I do everything right” kind of guy.
All the while he is the most humble, giving, loving person that I know. He has every right (in an earthly sense)to be arrogant… but he isn’t.
My wife. 9 months pregnant and she’s still running our church’s students discipleship program, driving into Detroit every day and working face to face with the students.
My mother. She cared at bedside day and night for my cancer-stricken brother until the day he went to heaven, and was simultaneously encouraging me through my first pregnancy. If there is earthly sainthood, she exemplifies it.
My MaDear (grandmother) who loved me like no other. I miss her each and every day. Because of her I was able to witness the love of God and how amazing he is. She deposited seeds in my life that have taken root, bloomed and helped me through.
My friend Lisa Hammond. She is a mom of 3. She stands on the lookout for moms who need help. She’ll call me out of the blue to see if I can use a meal that day or if she can watch my kids so I can run errands. She helps even when its going to mean carting my 3 kids along with hers on her own errand. She is amazing.
My dad…..on crutches for over 12 years, still claiming God’s healing. When my brother was in the hospital for three months, after a neraly fatal car accident, my dad stayed every single night. He slept on the hard floor of the waiting room when Jonathan, my brother was in ICU. He fasted the whole month Jonathan was in ICU – water & juice only. His life since then has been turned upside down taking care of and loving on my 28 year old brother….all while remainng as Senior Pastor of a local church. He’s the definition of selfless….at 6 years old my dad was my hero……at 26 years old He still is!
My Father In Law! He was born in a work camp in Siberia. He lived in an adoption home for 2 years. He has had 2 open heart surgeries. He and his wife fled Poland in 1968 for religious freedom while people threw rocks at them. He was born Jewish, but he and his wife are Messianic (Jews for Jesus) and he has this incredible FAITH about him. This is VERY controversial in the Jewish faith. He goes to temple on Saturdays (Messianic) and he goes to North Point on Sundays. He is our rock! He has recently been diagnosed with Cancer and despite everything he has been through in life, he thanks God for every day he is alive. He doesn’t feel sorry for himself and tries hard to make you feel comfortable about his condition. His motto is “God is GOOD!”. His joy is contagious to everyone around him and he makes it a point to connect with each person he comes in contact with. He asks people their name and makes them feel special. He would give the clothes off his back for anyone in his family and has done so many times without trying to teach you a lesson. When I hear people talk about selflessness…I think of my wonderful “other dad”, Ed!
Jackie, a leader in our youth ministry. I’ve only been serving with her for a year and a half (which is like 10 years in youth ministry lol) and she’s been a great challenge for me to serve God better in the way I serve his kids. She’s a great reminder for me that everything points back to making life easier/better for someone else, and ultimately to Jesus.
I have a hand full of people. My Dad and Mum, started a church, and school (where they covered over 50% of the kids costs + set quite a few to College) 3000 miles away from their support systems and life. Held others when their own son died, walked me through horrible illness’, then my mum walked all of us thru my father’s death. All the while both of them praised God in the midst of wonderful time and hard times. Then there are my friends who rescue child soldiers, they are amazing, crazy, and wonderful, really blessed to know them and work with them.
What a great question… Probably my friend Beverly. She is our church’s vocal director and a worship leader, and her life is spent on serving her husband, kids, and grandkids, as well as the worship ministry, and pretty much anyone she comes in contact with. She is a Christ-like picture of servitude and I am constantly inspired to be less selfish when I see her example.
God This craziness of giving your only Son to die for the sins of others, of people who haven’t *even* been born yet, boggles my mind. I don’t have any children yet, but I am currently baby-sitting my parent’s dog. Sure, he barks ferociously at anything that moves and thinks it’s playtime at 2am. But would I give him up so that a man or woman wouldn’t be homeless anymore? Honestly, not likely.
My mother in law, miss stella. I have never met someone with a servant’s heart as big and boundless as hers. Her heart, actions and words have never been anything but encouraging, edifying, and filled with love.
My mother-in-law, Grace. Countless times she and my father-in-law came to help with our terminally ill daughter. The week Carmen died, she volunteered to sit with Carmen one night so that we could get some sleep. I told her to wake me up at 1:00am so that she could go to bed. At 6:00am she woke us up, only because Carmen’s stats were going down. She sat up all night long with Carmen, giving her morphine and Ativan every hour. When I told her that she should have woken me so that she could sleep, she said, “This is my granddaughter. I wanted to do this.” I love my mother-in-law!
My youth leader, Brandon. He’s always there for the students and is always working hard to serve us. If something needs to be done, he’s doing it. He’s a great example. I hope I can exemplify his selflessness!
Barbara Conti. She is in her 50′s, her sons are grown, her husband is successful, she could just sit at home watching TV or go get pedicures and shop but instead she spends her free time at the Baton Rouge Dream Center transporting former/current prostitutes, homeless women, the poor, addicts, etc, to and from Doctors appointments, the free clothing boutique at the Dream Center, classes, church, etc. And she never complains. She has been serving the poor and needy of the inner city at the Dream Center since 2006 and she is pure sunshine! To know her is to fall madly in love with her spirit. I want to be like her one day.
most likely a tie between my mom and my dad.
Dad opted out of a management track to go into teaching in the late 70′s. Since then he has devoted his life to teaching kids with learning disabilities and loving them to Christ. If you spend more than 2 minutes with my dad you know you are LOVED and accepted just the way you are.
Oh, did I mention he has chronic back pain? He can’t lift more than 10 pounds but is the first person to sign up to help someone when they need help moving because “I can go and encourage the people who can do the lifting” and “someone has to make a run for pizza.”
Oh and have I mentioned I have not ONCE seen him angry? in the 24 years I lived at home I never heard him raise his voice or sin by being angry (and lets just say I was not the easiest daughter to raise.) If he was not pleased with us kids we knew it by his calm correction and loving discipline.
My mom went to nursing school when we were in elementary school so she could make more money which would allow dad to teach at a christian school and provide a financial base for us all.
She currently is a nurse to kids who have cancer and their families. it takes a SAINT to do that. She rejoices when they are healed and she mourns when they pass away the entire time LOVING them and their families.
She got a call a month ago from a lady whom she hadn’t seen since high school with news that this lady’s nephew was at a local hospital with war wounds from iraq and wasn’t eating well…overnight my mom organized for this guy to get enough homemade meals for as long as he was in the hospital.
If there is a need she finds a way to meet it.
It is the God’s grace that I have been given the parents that I have been given. May the Lord give me strength to walk as they have.
I would have to say Veronica. She cleans and washes dishes at the restaurant that I work at. She does this 6 days a week. 6 days a week at some point in the evening we turn into a full on bar so you could imagine the mess in the morning. It’s just nasty. After she cleans she becomes the lunchtime dishwasher. She does this 5 days a week. Everyday when she finishes her shift, her daughter rolls on in riding in her wheel chair because she has cerebral palsy. Veronica takes care of her daughter and her (Veronica’s) common law husband (jerkface) the rest of the time. This woman is selfless.
RAIN IT DOWN
her name is day carr.
she is a mother of six.
grandmother of two.
a beautiful example of Christ.
a friend.
i am blessed.
My mom. For not giving up when the doctors told her to. For continuing to fight through the pain and suffering of cancer, not for herself, but for her children. I miss you Mom.
My friend Ford is a different kind of selfless. He is brilliant (like in a serious intellectual sort of way). He is a classically trained violinist. He is ridiculously funny and talented with writing and video production. He’s a great husband and father and friend. He’s an all around “I do everything right” kind of guy.
All the while he is the most humble, giving, loving person that I know. He has every right (in an earthly sense)to be arrogant… but he isn’t.
My wife because she has constantly given up her dreams for me and our family.
My wife. She is always putting herself before everyone else. She totally shares and shows the true love God intended.
My deceased grandmother…lived her faith like no other I have known.
My wife. 9 months pregnant and she’s still running our church’s students discipleship program, driving into Detroit every day and working face to face with the students.
My mother. She cared at bedside day and night for my cancer-stricken brother until the day he went to heaven, and was simultaneously encouraging me through my first pregnancy. If there is earthly sainthood, she exemplifies it.
My MaDear (grandmother) who loved me like no other. I miss her each and every day. Because of her I was able to witness the love of God and how amazing he is. She deposited seeds in my life that have taken root, bloomed and helped me through.
My Momma <3
My friend Lisa Hammond. She is a mom of 3. She stands on the lookout for moms who need help. She’ll call me out of the blue to see if I can use a meal that day or if she can watch my kids so I can run errands. She helps even when its going to mean carting my 3 kids along with hers on her own errand. She is amazing.
My dad…..on crutches for over 12 years, still claiming God’s healing. When my brother was in the hospital for three months, after a neraly fatal car accident, my dad stayed every single night. He slept on the hard floor of the waiting room when Jonathan, my brother was in ICU. He fasted the whole month Jonathan was in ICU – water & juice only. His life since then has been turned upside down taking care of and loving on my 28 year old brother….all while remainng as Senior Pastor of a local church. He’s the definition of selfless….at 6 years old my dad was my hero……at 26 years old He still is!
My Father In Law! He was born in a work camp in Siberia. He lived in an adoption home for 2 years. He has had 2 open heart surgeries. He and his wife fled Poland in 1968 for religious freedom while people threw rocks at them. He was born Jewish, but he and his wife are Messianic (Jews for Jesus) and he has this incredible FAITH about him. This is VERY controversial in the Jewish faith. He goes to temple on Saturdays (Messianic) and he goes to North Point on Sundays. He is our rock! He has recently been diagnosed with Cancer and despite everything he has been through in life, he thanks God for every day he is alive. He doesn’t feel sorry for himself and tries hard to make you feel comfortable about his condition. His motto is “God is GOOD!”. His joy is contagious to everyone around him and he makes it a point to connect with each person he comes in contact with. He asks people their name and makes them feel special. He would give the clothes off his back for anyone in his family and has done so many times without trying to teach you a lesson. When I hear people talk about selflessness…I think of my wonderful “other dad”, Ed!
Jackie, a leader in our youth ministry. I’ve only been serving with her for a year and a half (which is like 10 years in youth ministry lol) and she’s been a great challenge for me to serve God better in the way I serve his kids. She’s a great reminder for me that everything points back to making life easier/better for someone else, and ultimately to Jesus.
I have a hand full of people. My Dad and Mum, started a church, and school (where they covered over 50% of the kids costs + set quite a few to College) 3000 miles away from their support systems and life. Held others when their own son died, walked me through horrible illness’, then my mum walked all of us thru my father’s death. All the while both of them praised God in the midst of wonderful time and hard times. Then there are my friends who rescue child soldiers, they are amazing, crazy, and wonderful, really blessed to know them and work with them.
My mom.
My abuelita. Definitely.
my wife, stacy.
Interesting to not that out of 18 comments so far that there are only 3 men mentioned. Just interesting, that’s all.
Probably my dad. He never did anything for himself throughout my childhood and was always at every soccer game and school play.
He was home every night, showed us the value of working hard and pitching in around the house.
My Husband! Best person I have ever known…Hero #2.
Women who become pregnant through rape, but choose NOT to end the life God created. To me, that defines selfless.
My biological mother.
Aged 16, her body wracked by childhood arthritis since 8, she carried me to term against her family’s wishes and gave me up for adoption.
Her words: “I want him to have a family who can care for him the way he deserves. I can’t.”
She died when I was 11, at age 27. I owe my life today to her bravery and strength (and wisdom and hope).
May God bless her.
– d.
My wife.
She won’t spend a dime on herself.
She insists on doing all the cleaning, laundry, diaper changes, feeding kids..
She works works full time
She’s never complained about any of the above.
Man, I look like a jerk based on this comment.
What a great question… Probably my friend Beverly. She is our church’s vocal director and a worship leader, and her life is spent on serving her husband, kids, and grandkids, as well as the worship ministry, and pretty much anyone she comes in contact with. She is a Christ-like picture of servitude and I am constantly inspired to be less selfish when I see her example.
God
This craziness of giving your only Son to die for the sins of others, of people who haven’t *even* been born yet, boggles my mind. I don’t have any children yet, but I am currently baby-sitting my parent’s dog. Sure, he barks ferociously at anything that moves and thinks it’s playtime at 2am. But would I give him up so that a man or woman wouldn’t be homeless anymore? Honestly, not likely.
My mother in law, miss stella. I have never met someone with a servant’s heart as big and boundless as hers. Her heart, actions and words have never been anything but encouraging, edifying, and filled with love.
My mother-in-law, Grace. Countless times she and my father-in-law came to help with our terminally ill daughter. The week Carmen died, she volunteered to sit with Carmen one night so that we could get some sleep. I told her to wake me up at 1:00am so that she could go to bed. At 6:00am she woke us up, only because Carmen’s stats were going down. She sat up all night long with Carmen, giving her morphine and Ativan every hour. When I told her that she should have woken me so that she could sleep, she said, “This is my granddaughter. I wanted to do this.” I love my mother-in-law!
My youth leader, Brandon. He’s always there for the students and is always working hard to serve us. If something needs to be done, he’s doing it. He’s a great example. I hope I can exemplify his selflessness!
Barbara Conti. She is in her 50′s, her sons are grown, her husband is successful, she could just sit at home watching TV or go get pedicures and shop but instead she spends her free time at the Baton Rouge Dream Center transporting former/current prostitutes, homeless women, the poor, addicts, etc, to and from Doctors appointments, the free clothing boutique at the Dream Center, classes, church, etc. And she never complains. She has been serving the poor and needy of the inner city at the Dream Center since 2006 and she is pure sunshine! To know her is to fall madly in love with her spirit. I want to be like her one day.
Here is one blog post I did about her… http://www.carolesmithturner.com/2010/02/jesus-walking-barbara-conti.html
most likely a tie between my mom and my dad.
Dad opted out of a management track to go into teaching in the late 70′s. Since then he has devoted his life to teaching kids with learning disabilities and loving them to Christ. If you spend more than 2 minutes with my dad you know you are LOVED and accepted just the way you are.
Oh, did I mention he has chronic back pain? He can’t lift more than 10 pounds but is the first person to sign up to help someone when they need help moving because “I can go and encourage the people who can do the lifting” and “someone has to make a run for pizza.”
Oh and have I mentioned I have not ONCE seen him angry? in the 24 years I lived at home I never heard him raise his voice or sin by being angry (and lets just say I was not the easiest daughter to raise.) If he was not pleased with us kids we knew it by his calm correction and loving discipline.
My mom went to nursing school when we were in elementary school so she could make more money which would allow dad to teach at a christian school and provide a financial base for us all.
She currently is a nurse to kids who have cancer and their families. it takes a SAINT to do that. She rejoices when they are healed and she mourns when they pass away the entire time LOVING them and their families.
She got a call a month ago from a lady whom she hadn’t seen since high school with news that this lady’s nephew was at a local hospital with war wounds from iraq and wasn’t eating well…overnight my mom organized for this guy to get enough homemade meals for as long as he was in the hospital.
If there is a need she finds a way to meet it.
It is the God’s grace that I have been given the parents that I have been given. May the Lord give me strength to walk as they have.
I would have to say Veronica. She cleans and washes dishes at the restaurant that I work at. She does this 6 days a week. 6 days a week at some point in the evening we turn into a full on bar so you could imagine the mess in the morning. It’s just nasty. After she cleans she becomes the lunchtime dishwasher. She does this 5 days a week. Everyday when she finishes her shift, her daughter rolls on in riding in her wheel chair because she has cerebral palsy. Veronica takes care of her daughter and her (Veronica’s) common law husband (jerkface) the rest of the time. This woman is selfless.
Hm, So i am happy with this however not entirely convinced, so i am going to research a touch more.