I’ll take a moment
shed another tear for you
not of sorrow
but joy
you are the world to me
now we make a difference
Introducing the Keziah Grace Foundation for Human Endeavour.
Most things that matter – begin with who, not what. There are the precious moments in our lives, where
things happen, events transpire, worlds are changed, differences made, all
because of who. For some time, I have been saying: ‘Relationships are “The
medium of all human endeavour”
Why do I say that – well, because it is true. Just
think about it on an elementary level. It doesn’t matter if the relationships
which resulted in you were really
bad, it still took some form of relationship to produce you. Not only that, but to get you
from birth to this moment reading this took
relationships. Sure, we may not know the person at the supermarket where we
buy our groceries, but in some way, there was a myriad of relationships that
conspired together to put a banana on your
counter for you to enjoy.
Relationships are those things which move exactly everything forward on this little ball
of dirt floating through space. Without relationships, without interaction,
without connection, we die. And it is this very place, this dark, cruel, juxtaposition
to life – death – where the Keziah
Grace Foundation for Human Endeavour finds its genesis.
Who is Keziah Grace?
The uncomfortable answer to that question is that we never
got to know, because two weeks before her due date, Keziah Grace was taken from
us. Every other time we had had been to Unit 25 in Red Deer, we arrived
together, anxious but excited, and left exhausted but so full of joy. This
time, Lynn went to get checked out alone, she arrived nervous and fearful, we
left exhausted, and so very empty.
Empty handed. Broken hearted. Our marriage was already
teetering on the brink. What would happen now? There were lonely nights. Angry
nights. Tear filled nights. Suicidal thoughts. So much pain. I needed to
recommit as a husband, she would have so very much to forgive. And what we
hoped would bring us together – little Keziah Grace, was gone.
What happened next, didn’t happen in an instant, but rather
over the course of years: the slow persistent deciding, that this would not be
how we ended. I sought professional help. And along side of us came a group of
people that would cup us in their hands and hold us together. Those first years
were a blur, still 3 kids to raise, business to run and a full life of stuff. Then
we got pregnant again. It felt like we held our breath for 9 full months. Still
our friends and family held us, cared for us, and loved us. And into this world
came a beautiful little girl – one of her middle names is Jacoba – a Hebrew
name which finds it origin in the name Jacob – which means: to take the place of. We can’t count
the number of times we have seen a glimmer in the eye of this little girl, or a
smirk, watched the way her wet hair curled… and wondered…. “To take the place
of”. How could anyone take the
place of another? And yet, she is our
youngest…
In the midst of all of this, I found a new openness to
learning, to creativity, and being. I found myself useful in the building of a
new identity, around the idea, of a Tribe. A tribe that helps you right when
you need it most, and holds on to you, cups you in its hands, doesn’t put up
with your shit – pushes you to personal transformation, and takes care of
you until you are ready to not just stand on your own but help others on their
journey. Positive Tribes, beget positive Tribes. This same Tribe continues
inspiring you, watching you, teaching you, asking great questions of you, and striving together
with until you begin reaching your potential, never ever leaving your side –
because your true Tribe never lets you go.
And into that space, came questions:
What could be?
Do all humans have potential?
How do we help find it?
How can resources best
be used?
Could we find human potential in crucible moments of
greatest need?
How could we raise the potential of the whole tribe?
What if we funded the Tribe, instead of the individual?
With training, can we raise the potential success of the
investment in the person?
Can the person in need get better, and their tribe?
All the pieces started to fit, things began to come
together. Someone mentioned again, that what we needed was a foundation. We
have a couple of ideas that we want to all come together in the same place: We
want to have a ton of FUN raising money, we wanted it to stay mostly in our
community, we want to help people in need reach their full potential, but we
think giving resources to a person isn’t the best way – we want to give
resources to a Tribe. Tribe-funding. And not just any tribe – your tribe, we
want you and your tribe at your best – so we don’t just want to fund, we want
to train, and we want to train to win!! Then my brother hearing all this, suggested the name Keziah.
And
tears flowed again...
I’ll take a moment
shed another tear for you
not of sorrow
but joy
you are the world to me
now we make a difference
~dad
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