QUARANTINE BLOG # 567

October 18, 2021

The QB comes to you this week from the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and Asheville River Cabins.  

As I write this AccuBon tells me it is 39 degrees outside, and that is brrrr cold!  But we brought clothes for the occasion.  The schedule this week includes the Great Smokey Mountain train ride, a trip to Black Mountain for some antiquing and wood-fired pizza, and hiking to 3 waterfalls.  If the schedule of publication is irregular, those are three reasons.

👉  This is incredible!  There are other adjectives to describe Zion Clark: entrepreneur, motivational speaker, actor, author and athlete to name a few.  But he’s added another new accolade to the list - record breaker. 

Before I tell you about the record, let me tell you that Zion was born with Caudal Regression Syndrome – born with no legs.  His birth mother couldn’t take care of him, and he was thrust into the foster care system.  

His bio on his website says, “Over the course of the next 16 years Zion moved numerous times and found himself in a variety of circumstances and environments...many of them unfavorable.  There were situations when Zion was mentally abused, physically bullied, and underfed...but he remained optimistic.”  And faith in God.

Two days before the time for Zion to be adopted ran out (he was 16) Kimberli Hawkins prayers were answered and she had a son and Zion had a mom.

Quoting from his bio again, “Being physically different from others didn’t help, but Zion used a positive mind set, gracious demeanor, and diligent study habits to make friends and excel academically.   Zion was introduced to the sport of wrestling while in elementary school, but initially didn’t fare very well...in fact, he didn’t win a match for several years.”

Eventually his wrestling technique improved and in his senior year, Zion finished the season 33-15 and was one match from qualifying for the D-I Ohio High School State Wrestling Championships.  He was recruited by several colleges to wrestle and chose to attend Kent State where he found success at the varsity level.

As a motivational speaker Zion urges others to “Be Greater Than” > ...the obstacles you face.  And that leads us to his world record and inclusion in the 2022 Guinness Book of World Records.

Listen to his story and watch him set the world record as the fastest man running on his hands.

👉  Some more reasons to smile – Sayings by Mac:

First, read the Mac-ism and then check the picture from December 2015 to understand the time frame.

Mac said, “Tate do you want to play I Spy?  Okay.  I spy something that starts with the letter H.  Do you see it?”  Then he would answer for Tate and tell him, “Good job, little buddy.”  And this went on for several minutes.

One more:

“Mama, what color did you have at your wedding?”  Navy blue.  “Did me and brother wear navy blue?”  No, you were still in heaven.  “I bet God put us in navy blue because he knew we were going to be your sons!”

**   Brian sent me a collection of Dennis the Menace comic strips.  If you’ve ever said something you didn’t want repeated and it was repeated, you will appreciate Dennis.

 👉  Here are 5 more state license plates.

👉  Today’s close is from Praying with the Psalms, by Eugene H. Peterson.

“And the Lord made his people very fruitful, and made them stronger than their foes” (Psalm 105:24).

The Egyptians looked on the ancient Israelites as slaves and demeaned them; the  Israelites understood themselves as servants of God and experienced deliverance.  The Romans looked on the early Christians as criminals and persecuted them; the Christians confessed themselves as sinners and found freedom in Christ.  Similar reversals of weakness and strength occur in every life of faith.

Prayer: O God, when I feel incapable of good and worthless for love, I will remember your words to St. Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made in weakness,” and I will take heart, even in Jesus Christ in whose name I pray.  Amen.

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