RAY BLANKENSHIP

"Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall." - Ray Bradbury

Muhammad Ali, who once said of himself, "I am the greatest" no doubt had his own fears. He said, "He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

One summer morning as Ray Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window, and saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared into. He dashed out, and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the foundering child. Then he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. Ray surfaced and was able to grab the child's arm. They tumbled end over end. Within about three feet of the yawning culvert, Ray's free hand felt something--possibly a rock-- protruding from one bank. He clung desperately, but the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away.
"If I can just hang on until help comes," he thought. By the time rescuers arrived, Blankenship had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock. On April 12, 1989, Ray was awarded the Coast Guard's Silver Lifesaving Medal. The award is fitting, for this selfless person was at even greater risk to himself than most people knew. Ray can't swim.

Beloved, it isn't what we don't know how to do that limits us, but what we aren't courageous enough to do. It takes courage, not skill to break through sometimes. Ray couldn't swim, yet see what he did. Don't dwell on your inabilities, but on your strengths. There aren't limits anywhere, except those we create in our minds. You can!

Let us pray: Father, I receive courage today in Jesus name.

WISDOM NUGGET: Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." - KJV