Hope: 3 Powerful Strategies to Conquer Life’s Toughest Obstacles

June 23, 2024July 13, 2024Posted by Steve Blaising4 Comments

Would you still have hope if the greatest of all tragedies struck you down?

Katherine Wolf does even though, at age 26 to date (now 42), she has survived . . .

a catastrophic brain-stem stroke
paralysis throughout her body
numerous falls with broken bones
aneurysm surgery unrelated to her stroke
multiple vertebral artery dissections
ongoing neurological issues
hearing loss
blind in the left eye and double vision in the right eye

In spite of all this, she proclaims hope as she . . .

just published her third book, Treasures In The Dark
travels nationwide, speaking to thousands
sponsors a special-needs summer camp
opened a coffee shop staffed by special-needs folks

I heard her speak at a jam-packed Highland Park Presbyterian church service months ago. Her testimony has changed my life.

After reading her books and reflecting on what she says about hope, I see three proven relievers for overcoming despair.

Tags: Hope, Suffering

Cross this bridge and thrive over troubled waters

February 5, 2023February 5, 2023Posted by Steve Blaising6 Comments

Bridge Over Troubled Water, the celebrated song by Simon & Garfunkel, is a compass.

Whatever you’re trying to find, look for . . .

loyalty . . . I’m on your side
compassion . . . I will comfort you
encouragement . . . Sail on silver girl
vision . . . All your dreams are on their way
companionship . . . I’m sailing right behind

. . . and you will thrive over troubled water.

Untold millions recall the song’s August 1970 release as it inspires hope.

Last Christmas, our family watched the CBS special, Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon.

We found three treasures in what Stevie Wonder calls “one of the most beautiful songs ever written.”

Tags: Anxiety, Suffering

How a Top Gun Captain Converts Suffering Into Glory

July 10, 2022July 10, 2022Posted by Steve Blaising2 Comments

The movie, Top Gun Maverick, is second only to another Top Gun maverick, Captain Charles Plumb.

Top Gun F4 Phantom — F4 Phantom Jet/Reuters

About two decades before Tom Cruise catapulted into the silver screen, Charlie Plumb was trained by the late Sen. John McCain to fly the F4 Phantom Jet.

“Top Gun started by accident. My buddy and I were wandering down the pipeline and saw they had F9s, which we had already flown during training. We would save a little gas at the end of each flight and work our way up the coast of San Diego and wait for the F4 Phantoms to come by. Until one day, there was a note on the bulletin board for my buddy and me to report to our commanding officer immediately. He asked if it was us who followed an F4 Phantom through an entire loop with guns on them the entire time because he was in that F4. He asked us if we wanted to go out again tomorrow and fight them, and that is how the whole Top Gun school began.” Charlie Plumb

After 74 successful combat missions and just five days before the end of his military service, Plumb was shot down over Hanoi, Vietnam in 1967.

Captured and tortured, Charlie turned his suffering into a lifelong motivational message for success.

Tags: Suffering