Fighting a common enemy.

Nothing spurs fierce determination among neighbors and strangers like facing and fighting against a common enemy.

In our town, there is a young man, Drew Chesney, who has been diagnosed with leukemia. Drew is a ninth grader and full of hope and dreams. His announcement of the disease sent shockwaves through the junior high school and community. (Enter resolve and marshalling of resources and forces.) Some of Drew's classmates have turned to social media to create a movement that can only be described as..... WOW!!

Mifflin county schools have taken on an orange hue., You see, orange has become the symbol of unity among those who believe hope and action are to be treasured more than dispair and hand-wringing.

A celebration over this foe named cancer is taking place at my Alma Mater, Philipsburg Osceola High School. A young lady, Emily Whithead has been deemed free of cancer after several years of treatments, setbacks, and heartache. The other night, two wrestling teams who are considered bitter rivals met on the mat to join forces to defeat cancer....to the tune of $20,000! What occurred during the wrestling match took second seat to the overwhelming response from athletes and fans for the Whitehead Foundation.

Many defeated people walk by me everyday. Dispair is a way of life and not an exception. My heart vibrates when I can lift the spirit of one who is barely getting by. If I am dealing with setbacks or dispair myself, they are whisked away by an outward focus. There is no greater therapy I know than to have a purpose to do something positive.

Are you in a place of dispair? Stop! Listen to conversations around you. Look and identify someone in need. Invest your life into a bleak situation and turn frowns and sorrow into a time of resolve and celebration.

Changing dispair into hope is a byproduct of faith in Christ. He did it first. He calls us to imitate Him.