Blessings Meeting

“With the world so set on tearing itself apart, it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together.” – Medal of Honor recipient Desmond Doss

Another excellent Citrus County Blessings board of directors meeting. Blessings is currently serving nearly 2,000 students in public and private schools in Citrus County. Over 500 volunteers dedicate themselves to the work of Blessings. At today’s meeting, we had some excellent reports and information on the status and work of the organization. On the board of directors, we have student representatives from CRHS, CHS, LHS, and Seven River Christian School. These students presented information from their respective schools and provided insight into how we can continue to better serve the students.

U.S. Army Private First-Class Desmond T. Doss, receives the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Truman.

I was honored to be asked to share the meeting’s “Words of Wisdom” to open the meeting. This is an opportunity to share some inspirational words and stories ahead of the work of the board of directors. I shared the story of U.S. Army Private First-Class Desmond T. Doss, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient for his heroic actions during World War II. Doss distinguished himself in the Battle of Okinawa by saving 75 men carrying them individually to safety. Each man he carried, he would pray while running through the battlefield among the bullets and explosions, asking God, “…give me the strength to save just one more”.

Doss later said, “With the world so set on tearing itself apart, it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together.”

Doss was a devote Christian who wanted to serve his country during WWII but due to his faith, he didn’t want to hurt anyone. He was allowed to be a U.S. Army uniformed unarmed frontline combat medic. Doss suffered a left arm fracture from a sniper’s bullet while being carried back to Allied lines and at one point he had seventeen pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body after a failed attempt at kicking a grenade away from him and his men. Doss’s story was the subject of the 2016 Oscar-winning film Hacksaw Ridge.

I had the pleasure of meeting Doss as a youth as he was well known in the churches, I grew up in and would come to share his story. His story was understandably an inspiration to many.

Each day as we in our community work together for our kids, I hear in my heart Doss’s words and pray, “…give me(us) the strength to save just one more”.

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