February 13, 2009    

My Hero

Hero's - In life we have many heros that we look up too.  We look up to some because of a particulary sport they play and we would like to play like them.  Others because they are people who help others and we want to help others like them.  Maybe its business and your hero is a business expert that you would like to be like.  Their are many reasons we have heros and the common tread of all heros is we want to be like them.  We admire them and would like to have the impact for good that they have on us and the world.  Hero's are a good thing to have and I recommend all people to have a hero.

When it comes to picking a hero, make sure they are people who make the world a better place, not just for how much money they make or how well they entertain you or play a certain sport.  Hero's should be people of character and people who help others to make their lives better.  Parents are good heros to have because they make your life and your families life better. 

Their is nothing wrong with having heros because of what they do or make but they should be at the bottom of the list of reasons for picking a hero.  

On February 2 I lost the only hero I ever really had.  Today, February 13 I gave a eulogy at my hero's funeral before we buried her in Stockton California.  The hero I am talking about is my grandmother, Carol Elizabeth Sarraraz who besides Jesus Christ is the one person who was my biggest fan.  She has always believed in me.  She believed in me when I was two months old and my uncle Daniel found me at my mother's house crying all by myself and he brought me to my grandmother's house and she welcomed me with open arms.  She believed in me when I was three years old and my little brother Henry was a few months old and we were about to be adopted in texas because our parents got in some trouble but she sent my Uncle Pete to come and get me and my brother and bring us home to Stockton California to live with her.  I have always lived with my grandmother growing up.  Anything I have ever told her about my dreams and what I wanted to do in life, she always listened and supported me because she believed in me.  You see, hero's have a way of always showing and lettling you know that they believe in you.

My grandmother always believed in me and has always been my biggest fan.  She made my life a joy and I couldn't have asked for a better grandmother and hero.  There will not go another day in my natural life that I will not think about her.

Heros have much love to give.  She always loved all of my family in all circumstances.  She was their when my brother who has been in and out of prison for sometime needed someone to visit, she made time.  She was in her late 70's going to see my brother Henry in prison every weekend.  That is love in action because heros have and give love.  She was their for my uncle Pete who contracted Diabete's in his late 50's and needed to eat a certain diet to be healthy, she made him food everyday that she could and made sure he was following that diet and it probably has prolonged his life.  She gladly did it and that is showing love because heros aways find a way to show love.  Their are many more stories I could share about how my hero showed love to not only my family but to the people she crossed paths with in life. 

The Bible says Psalms 16:3 (The Living Bible), " I will make the godly in the land my heros."  If for no other reason you pick a hero is but for them being godly that is reason enough.  You see my hero grew up Catholic her whole life but never relly went to church until the day in 1991 that I shared what it means to follow Jesus Christ and she bowed her head before the Lord Jesus and made Him Lord of her life.  She went to church with me on Sunday's and got involved with a senior's Sunday School class.  She used to save pennies for the church because Pastor Craft shared about giving money to help missionaries in need.  My grandmother didn't have any money and was on social security for many years but she gave to further the work of the Lord on her watch.  She would pray for my family all the time and she would tell her children who were not following Jesus that they needed to go to church and follow Christ.  She left a godly legacy that myself and the rest of my family who have became believer's will carry on now.  Since my hero became a Christian in 1991, she has witnessed my Uncle Daniel, my cousin Pudge, my cousin Molly, my late aunt Angie come to know Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, and other's draw one step  closer to Christ.  This is all a result of God using her to further the Gospel in her family.

Lately, when I pray, I have prayed to God to tell my grandmother I said hi.  I don't know how that prayer lines up to what the Bible says about prayer but I like to believe Jesus hear's that prayer and tells my grandmother Carol that her grandson says hi.

My hero just celebrated her 85th birthday this past Christmas.  I use to always pray, if possible, God let my hero live to see me get married and see my first born be born.  God didn't grant that request because her time here on earth came to an end on February 2, 2009 and He wanted her to go home to her real home but I know that her memory will always be in my heart until I see her again in the Kingdom of God.  

If I am ever to have a little girl, I planned on naming her Anabellee but that changed recently because if I have a little girl, she will be named Carol Elizabeth after my hero because she was one of the godly of the land who more than met the criteria of being called a hero.


Be Blessed,


Joey