The Cripple who Ran.

Floyd and Glenn Cunningham were a normal pair of brothers in 1910's Kansas. Glenn was five years younger than Floyd, but that did little to hamper their love for each other.
They went to school in a small schoolhouse several miles from their home and would usually arrive early in order to light the stove for the teacher. All they had to do was put in the provided fuel and strike a match.

Then came the day that someone mistook a can of gasoline for kerosene.
The blast of flame that followed enveloped Floyd completely. Glenn was farther away, yet was still injured, and even more so when he tried to go back to rescue his brother. But it was too late. Floyd was dead and Glenn's legs had been completely mutilated by the fire.

Doctors urged his parents to authorize them to amputate the legs, but they refused.

And Glenn surprised them all.

Despite having lost all the toes on his left foot and the skin on his legs, he refused to be a cripple. A firm Christian, he focused on one particular verse regarding his handicap and used it as inspiration to continue living, and work his hardest, not to stand again, but to run.

Now Glenn Cunningham is remembered for competing in two series of Olympics, breaking world records for running speeds, and being voted 'the most popular athlete' by those in the Olympics with him.

He was known by two names on the track: "Bad legs" and "The Kansas Ironman"

Monday Morning Quote

If you think your problems are too big...

Beethoven wrote twelve pieces of music while deaf,
David was from the lowest of the lowest tribe of Israel,
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Amy Van Dyken, and Jerome Bettis are asthmatic,
Johnny Depp and Chris Evans have anxiety,
Sarah (Abraham's wife) was infertile,
Albert Einstein was dyslexic,
Martin Scorsese has OCD,
Jim Abbott has only one hand,
Orlando Bloom and Henry Winkler are dyslexic,
Harrison Ford has depression,
Jacob was the second-born,
Several of Ed Asner's grandchildren are autistic,
Bethany Hamilton has only one arm,
C. S. Lewis had bad relationships,
James Earl Jones stutters,
Michael Phelps has ADHD,
Curtis Pride is deaf,
Mozart's father was abusive,
Oprah was raped as a child,
Christopher Reeve is paralyzed from the neck up,
Harriet Tubman had seizures,
Stevie Wonder is blind,
Robert Downy Jr. was a drug addict,
Princess Diana nearly committed suicide,
Moses couldn't speak well and had temper issues,
Sylvester Stallone's son Seargeoh is autistic,
Carol Burnett was raised mainly by her grandmother,
Michael Bay, Mother Teresa and Maya Angelou were adopted,
Kate Winslet and Jennifer Lawrence were bullied in school,
Leah (Jacob's wife) was considered worthless,
J. R. R. Tolkien mumbled,
Richard Armitage is shy,
Sebastian Stan immigrated as a child,
Abraham Lincoln had little formal education and lost his son...

.... what was that about you being alone? :)

Kyle's Story

This isn't my story, nor am I closely affiliated with it, but it is awesome.
And I too was once thinking the same thing as Kyle. But God has a way of bringing the right people and situations along. For me, it was a youth orchestra. For Kyle, a kid who decided to help him pick up his books.

Top Five Family Matters Moments

Family Matters was a family TV series, sort of like Leave it to Beaver, but it wasn't the story of a perfect little family with their sporadic misadventures involving foolish choices. It was the story of a police officer who felt the need to impress his supervisors and set high standards for his children to reach; his wife, who struggled to keep the household together while allowing those in it to make mistakes and learn from them; her sister, whose husband passed away, leaving her with an infant boy to raise; the officer's mother, a veteran of the great depression who had to raise all four of her sons alone; the officer's three children, a somewhat slow-witted son, a sassy teenage daughter, and a younger daughter who imitates her sister in every way. And then their neighbor, Steve Urkel, scientist, romantic, pursuer of impossible goals, and loyal friend to those he loves.

(Clockwise, left to right: Laura (Winslow), Rachel (Crawford), little Richie (Crawford), Eddie (Winslow), Steve (Urkel), Carl (Winslow), Harriet, Judy, Estelle (Mother Winslow))

This is my list of my top five favorite Family Matters, that you may or may not know, but I hope they brighten your day :)

5. Mother Winslow's library story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSeCdSPTBzo

4. Eddie saves Steve.

After Steve comes to the Winslow's house to raid their refrigerator for food, the kids find out that Steve hasn't been able to eat lunch for days because of a bully. Steve hires Eddie on to be his bodyguard, and the bully is not seen for the entire day. But the moment Eddie leaves, Bull Wesson the bully shows up, demanding his money. At that moment, Steve decides that he's had enough. The result of his resistance is a fight with Bull after school. When Eddie finds out, he is given the option of helping Steve or not. After all, it's Steve's fight, and it's only a little lunch money.
On the day of the fight, small, scrawny Steve prepares himself to die at the hands of 6' 2" Bull.
Then Eddie shows up and discourages Bull from hurting Steve. Bull agrees, passing his fist towards Eddie. With one punch, Eddie gets Bull crawling out of the cafeteria with his tail between his legs.
Just in time for Carl to show up to help.

3. Steve defends Laura from racist jerks.

While reading a book she found, Laura discovers that African-Americans have contributed to America's history more than they are given credit for in the annual Black History Month studies. So she starts a campaign to instate a all-year curriculum of African-American history. She enlists Steve's help in collecting signatures, and a vast majority of the school is enthusiastic towards this idea. As the kids are preparing to leave school, Laura finds a note attached to her locker. The note says 'If you want Black history, go back to Africa'.
Without a moment's hesitation, Steve rips the note from Laura's hand and throws it on the ground.

2.

Carl confronts the Bad Cop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DRoTHnt5Fg
(Content not mine)

1. Laura gives Steve an 'A'.

In one of the episodes, Steve and Laura's class are studying how the family forms the basis of social interaction. The male and female students are paired up to be 'married' for a week so as to give an account of what the experience is like. And, contrary to all her wishes, Laura is paired up with Steve Urkel.
First off, to show Urkel's obsessive love:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST4YSoLyexs
(None of the content is mine, but it's just too extravagant for words)
Afterwards, in the classroom, each side of the couples must grade their partner. Steve inevitably gives Laura an 'A'. Then Laura stands up.
"Well, Steve Urkel is weird. And gross. And annoying. And you just want to slap him sometimes. But he really took care of me and wanted me to be happy. Steve, I'm giving you an 'A'."
*Steve leaps from his desk and throws himself at her feet* "You do love me!!!"

Why your Favorite Character is always Killed Off

Okay, just to warn you, I am a movie nerd. I watch movies, critique movies, look into the behind-the-scenes of the movies, analyze the movies, etc. And there is one theme that I find is often repeated (and when it's not, it's either because (A) it's a children's film (B) I don't like the character everyone else does) is that the favorite character DIES.

Example: Horatio Hornblower, episode 1.
For those of you who don't know (and I don't blame you if you don't), the Horatio Hornblower series centers around a young ship's officer named: you can guess. In the first episode, he is assigned to a ship that has been mulling in a port city for over a year. Along with him arrives a surly, tyrannical officer vying for the same promotion as Horatio. They fight, Horatio silently suffers, they fight some more, Horatio finally snaps and the antagonist challenges him to a fatal duel. As Horatio is below decks preparing himself, a fellow officer (who earlier saved Horatio from being beaten to death by the villain (it was awesome)) comes to give him some final advice. At the moment Horatio's back is turned, the officer knocks him unconscious and goes to the duel in his place.
And guess what?
He DIED.

At first I was stuck glaring at the screen and letting out words of agony, but after that I started to wonder: why do the favorite characters always die?

The answer might actually not be as heartless as we thought.
And the summary of this answer is: Phil Coulson

(Sorry if you haven't seen the Avengers, but this post centers upon a spoiler for that film so....
yeah, sorry)

Anyway, Phil Coulson could be said to be one of the most interesting humans in Marvel Cinematic History. He talks passive-aggressively to Tony Stark and yet helps with his science project (notably by picking up a piece of equipment that looks a lot like Cap's shield), he threatens Russian terrorists, chills with Natasha on the phone, he gets pumped up over Captain America, and he negotiates with Thor and Loki without breaking a sweat. He shows both the human side of humanity, having interests and enthusiasm, and the side we would like to have, being fearless and cool.
Then they killed him.
Now, that hurt. And of course Nick Fury only rubs it in by tossing his blood-stained, unsigned Captain America trading cards on the table in front of Steve. It's that final loss that gets the Avengers going, that get them organized and united, to stop the alien invasion and avenge Phil Coulson by beating the snot out of Loki.
But then Maria Hill points out that the trading cards were in Coulson's locker. And Nick Fury's response?
"They needed a push."

That's why all our favorite characters die. Because there is something about them that inspires us and the hero, some element they add to the effort, something that we don't fully recognize until they're gone. And when they're gone, we want them back. We want them back so bad, but we know there is no way they'll come back (except in Marvel films (unless you're Pietro)).
So what do we do?
We/the hero try to preserve their memory and honor them by being what they were, by actually becoming what we wanted to be but they were. And sometimes we don't notice until they're gone. Sometimes it takes tragedy to make us see what we're capable of.
Sometimes we need that push.

Shoutout to Awesome People!

Here is a compilation of some of the most amazing stories I have found on Pinterest, put here to inspire and encourage you throughout your day. :)
Enjoy!

(Sub-note: It could be possible that she actually had to hold the bottle to his lips. I mean, he might have been able to hold the bottle, but it is possible)

Applause is not enough. Love is.

(How come Beyonce is more famous?)

Bless that child!

(Sorry for the language implication :( )

(Man, those parentheses at the end look so wrong)

And bless this young man too!

This is amazing, not just because he counted the girls, but because he had no obligation to do it. If everyone who felt alone did this, no one would.

I don't know when this was, but does it really matter when more than the fact that it happened?

:'(

Hugs to Gavin!

(I'm working on this)

Bless this child as well!

Alright, I need to stop, I'm tearing up. Good day!