Heroes

Heroes
By: Danielle Abigail Maxwell

Hero. It is a word that comes to mind when you think of Abe Lincoln, Christ, and fireman risking their lives everyday to save children and pets from burning buildings. In Webster’s dictionary, hero is defined as "a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities, model or ideal". But to me, hero can be an ordinary person that has impacted my life, changed how I think, and turn me in a different direction. Myspace has a place where you can post who your heroes are. Have you ever taken advantage of that? I know I have. You can find me on myspace (Michael’s Sara is my screen name), become my friend, and look at my profile; then you'll find a variety of heroes on my list. A few are: Jeremy Camp, Kathy Parish, BJ Higgins, Christ, and this school's own Ricky Barbosa. You may think my list a bit… odd, but they all have changed me, impacted me in some way.

Jeremy Camp, by his words, his music, and his testimony has made me think that no matter where we are in life, Jesus will meet us there. We could have lost someone close and he will meet us there, where we are broken and in depression (all depends on who you are).

I learned to praise God in the bad times and the good from BJ Higgins. Don't know that name? You might not. BJ Higgins was a 15-year old boy who loved God with all his heart. Witnessed to countless people in Peru in two years. Loved his family. After the summer of 2005 came to a close, BJ got sick. From what? you might ask. The Bubonic Plague. Yes. During his month and a half fight, 6 continents out of 7 were praying for him. His family impacted the lives of the nurses in the Indianapolis Children's Hospital in Indiana. But sadly, 5 days before BJ's 16th b-day, he passed away. Most of you reading this are either past 16, are 16, or are about to become 16. You've outlived BJ. But the greatest thing about this is that he is still leading others to Christ. His family published a book called I Would Die For You this past January. It goes along with the song I Would Die For You by MercyMe. I happen to have both sitting in my room. I have read the book over 3 times, and I still can't fathom the life of BJ Higgins. He is a hero to me because of his testimony. I didn't even know him!

Another one is a family friend. Kathy Parish has been a mother to me since I was a baby. When I was young, I would go to her house a mile down the road and spend the day playing with her youngest son, Ryan. I went to church with her family. I practically became the whole families adopted daughter. I still am today! I think my best friends in the world are her twin daughters, Emily and Sara. I credit Kathy Parish with part of the reason why I am a child of God right now. I went to church; I lived in an Adventist family my whole life. I was surrounded by Christians. And after a calling from my fav Pastor of the day, Pastor John Aiken, I accepted Christ and was baptized. I don't think I would have said yes had Kathy not been there to gently show me who Christ was just by her actions and how kind she was to me, taking care of me when my parents were at work, my sister in school.

My last hero would have to be our own Ricky Barbosa. Oh? You might all be wondering what is wrong with me. You might all want to say "What is wrong with you??? You don't even know him! You're just the new kid to the school!" Ah, I may be new, but there are reasons some people can't even understand why Ricky might be a hero to me. I notice people’s actions. I listen to their words. Then I see if their words match their actions. Someone told me once that I can't trust what I see of Ricky. I think I've proved that person wrong when I say that watching Ricky be who his every day, his actions match his words. I prefer to take notice of what I see, not what others tell me. Ricky has made me look at things in a new light. Like BJ, I can still be a normal kid, but live for God. I'm still learning, and I know I will stumble, but as I'm also learning in Romans class, God won't leave us. We can't be perfect. So whatever we do, we won't be perfect in it, but we will have tried, and done our best. I may not know Ricky very well, but I didn't know BJ at all in the first place. My heroes are ones that impact me, not always ones that I know real well, or understand.

We all impact each other in some way, rather by our actions, our words, just who we are. We can call everyone a hero. But heroes can be anyone, anybody special to us. Or just because. Who are your heroes?