Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thankful for Brenden Foster, 11 year old angel opened eyes and hearts





11 year old Brenden Foster's dying wish, feed the homeless
Brenden Foster said he wants to be an angel so that he can help the homeless from Heaven. Get ready to cry for this sweet child when you watch this video. He's proof there are angels here on earth already. He's one of them.


This is the first post on this giving thanks day. Brenden Foster was the first wonderful story that came to mind. While some will read this story and think of how this child died at the age of eleven from Leukemia, they need to see how wonderful Brenden was and be thankful for him coming into this world as an earthly angel and for his Mom Wendy who gave him the love he needed so when it came time for his dying wish, he thought of others.

Brenden managed to care about people we so often find it so easy to avoid. The homeless people he saw, were not people to turn away from. They were people to turn to help. His unselfishness was a lesson to people around the world. This first post on Brenden brought in the most hits out of almost 5,000 posts on this blog. It received as of this posting 75 comments. Truly beautiful postings from people touched by his compassion.

Of all the stories I've posted on this year, Brenden's is was the most rewarding spiritually. Many conversations I've had over the years have come from people who see the world and what God has not done, children dying and suffering as innocents, crimes and acts of pure greed. I will remind them that those are the reason good people were created. They we sent into this world to offer kindness, mercy, gentleness and compassion. God cannot overrule freewill by His own rules but what He did was send into this world others who can show the love God has. How can anyone read about Brenden's story and not find love there? How can anyone read what his gesture changed for the forgotten and not see miracles?

Read the rest of the posts on Brenden but then click back on the link to this first post and read some of the comments there. They will help you to believe in miracles again.




11 year old Brenden Foster sees his dying wish come true
This is the third post on this little angel. He's only been here for 11 years and has already managed to change this nation and how we look at homeless people. To think this wonderful child could have asked for anything for himself and it would have been given, he asked that we take care of the homeless and feed them. There are angels among us!I was in the site for KOMO looking for an update and discovered this.Go to the Problem Solvers donation page and select "Brenden Foster Food Drive" from the donation options list.






Dying boy inspires goodwill in people near and farWatch the story By KOMO StaffWatch the story BOTHELL, Wash. -- An 11-year-old boy's dying wish to feed the homeless has taken on a life of its own, sparking a movement to help the hungry nationwide. Doctors gave Brenden Foster two weeks to live. His time was up last Wednesday. "I should be gone in a week or so," he said last Friday. On Monday, groggy and medicated, Brenden was having a rough day. "Tired," he said, visibly weak. "(You) need some more medicine," said his mother, Wendy Foster, stroking his head. Leukemia halted the young life of Brenden, who once dreamed of becoming a marine photographer. Brenden has relapsed for the last time.





Saturday, November 15, 2008

11 year old Brenden Foster: 'I could have done more'"
Brenden Foster: 'I could have done more' Watch the story The local boy whose dying wish to feed the homeless inspired thousands across the world has taken a turn for the worse. Brenden Foster is growing weaker. His body is failing, his skin yellowing. His mother is trying to decide on the wording for his grave marker. BOTHELL, Wash. -- The local boy whose dying wish to feed the homeless inspired thousands across the world has taken a turn for the worse. Brenden Foster is growing weaker, but his message is growing stronger. His body is failing, his skin yellowing. His mother is trying to decide on the wording for his grave marker. "B-Man is his nickname, or Mr. B. But most people call him B-Man," said Wendy Foster. The end is near, and Brenden has one question for God. "Why at so young an age? I could have done more. But if it has to be now, it has to be now," he said.




Friday, November 21, 2008

Angel to homeless, Brenden Foster died in his mom's arms
May the Good Lord comfort Wendy and Brenden's family. This little angel changed the world for the better.Brenden Foster: 'I had a great time'Brenden Foster, who inspired countless people around the world with his wish to feed the homeless, died early Friday in his mother's arms. He was 11. Read more »By Elisa Jaffe BOTHELL, Wash. -- The day I met Brenden Foster, I met an old soul in an 11 year old's body."I should be gone in a week or so," he said calmly.When I asked him what he thought were the best things in life, Brenden said, "Just having one."I didn't understand how this child, who was a year younger than my own son, could be so courageous facing death."It happens. It's natural," Brenden told me.

Today's blog posts devoted to giving thanks


For today there will be no posts on trauma or tragedy. I have the other 363 days of the year to do that because I don't plan on posting them on Christmas day either. I'm doing this because while it is so easy to find things to complain about, stories the media covers under the rule of "if it bleeds it leads" and tragedies around the world, it is often hard to find the hopeful stories. There are many I've found this year and I'll be re-posting them today.

I can't take credit for this idea. I was watching CNN and saw the promo for the Hero's night for broadcast tonight.


CNN HEROES
Tonight at 9 ET on CNN
Grammy winners Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys and John Legend perform for CNN Heroes


I thought of how wonderful it was they picked tonight to do this honor for wonderful people. Pop back in often today and read some of the stories that were covered this year on this blog. Then try to remember when your feast is over as you lay down in bed tonight to give thanks for what is good in your life but also what is good in this world.

Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare


International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
www.youtube.com/NamGuardianAngel
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

L.A. County mental health chief says he will try to rely less on police


Marvin J. Southard's office can't force crowded hospitals to accept its emergency patients, so it sends them to law enforcers who can. He tells county supervisors he's looking for other options.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
November 26, 2008
Los Angeles County's chief mental health official said Tuesday that he is working to reduce the number of times his staff forwards emergency assistance calls involving the mentally ill to police, a practice that has grown over the last year as fewer hospital beds have been available to treat such patients.

Marvin J. Southard, called before the Board of Supervisors after news reports highlighted the problem, told the board he is in talks with county health officials to find better options.

"This issue is really an issue of indigent care at the county hospitals," Southard told Supervisor Mike Antonovich during questioning. "We contract with private hospitals to provide indigent care, but there are some patients only county hospitals will accept."

Mental health workers have increasingly turned to law enforcement officials to handle emergency calls because hospitals are required by law to take emergency mental health patients transported by police. If a county mental health worker brings people in for treatment, facilities are not compelled to accept them.

As of last month, there were 2,562 beds available for mental health patients in Los Angeles County, records show, and only about 200 of them were at county hospitals, which are required to admit poor and uninsured patients.
click link for more

Disney worker dies from accident injuries

Disney worker dies from accident injuries
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
11:04 AM EST, November 26, 2008
An electrical power technician working for Walt Disney World has died from injuries sustained in a power maintenance accident earlier this month.

Douglas Howell, 54, of Rockledge, died earlier this week from injuries sustained in a Nov. 5 accident at a substation near the Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin Resort. The Orange County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were notified at the time of the accident and OSHA is investigating.

Non-combat death in Iraq


DoD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

1st Lt. William K. Jernigan, 35, of Doraville, Ga., died Nov. 24 in Baqubah, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
http://icasualties.org/oif/