MIDLAND DISASTER RELIEF

Inside of all the ways that life is crazy and busy and shifting on a daily basis, imagine that your home or place of employment was washed out by major flooding and you lost some or everything you owned. Some of the residents of Midland, Michigan experienced just that and I was able to join the Midland disaster relief efforts.

Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Midland Disaster Relief- Dr Erica Peabody

The Michigan Association of Chiropractors put out an email a week ago asking for volunteers to offer their time and services to the disaster relief workers and also the residents that have been effected by the flooding. There is a tent set up at Calvary Baptist Church and School in Midland and volunteer chiropractors are going to be manning the tables there on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 12p-2p indefinitely. If you are in that area, please look for the burgundy tent that is set up and stop in to get your spine checked!

I have had a lot going on in my personal and business life but honestly that stuff never outweighs the LASTING PURPOSE that lives inside of me. Lasting Purpose is a principle that the chiropractic profession was based on and it means “To Give, To Love and to Serve out of our own sense of abundance.”

Many people have asked how I come up with the energy to donate my time like that, my own Lasting Purpose drives me to do it all.

I shared in a couple FACEBOOK LIVE videos a little bit about what is happening up in the Midland, Michigan area. It is truly devastating to know that our “neighbors” have not only dealt with the global pandemic that has been happening and sheltering in place due to executive orders, but also watched as severe flooding was heading their way and trying to rescue items from their homes prior to the damage.

Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Midland Disaster Relief - Dr Erica Peabody

Many of the homes and businesses will never be the same. There were disaster relief workers from all around the country there helping people restore some sense of order and assist in repairing and rebuilding their homes.

It is nice to be a helper and it is extra nice to help the helpers. It is nice to be of service to the community giving the chiropractic adjustment to allow for things inside of their bodies to settle and help them to integrate stresses. It is nice to be barefoot in the grass with my table, my hands, a smile on my face and a couple colleagues by my side helping others. It is truly the magic in this life.

Many have asked how they can help. If you are a chiropractor, grab your portable table and drive up to the tent and set it up and open up your heart. If you are a contractor, I am sure there is someone organizing efforts and so maybe contacting the Calvary Baptist Church would be a good place to start. If you just want to go up and help clean up, I am sure if you just showed up at the church, someone would take you onto their crew. I wish I had all the links to hand out to you and how to get involved. I honestly don’t have the personal bandwidth to find out much more information except I sought out my own way to help.

Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Midland Disaster Relief- Dr Erica Peabody

I have had so so many inquiries about this service mission I just wanted to share. I would encourage you to find some way, even if it isn’t up inside the Midland disaster relief work, to help people.

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. ” –Albert Schweitzer

THE SIMPLE THINGS

The joy in life is found in the simple things.  This past weekend I accompanied a girlfriend to a party on the lake. Besides my friend, I wasn’t going to know a single person at the party but it seems that when hanging out around the lake, everyone is so friendly that I was sure it was going to be a good time. Something Dr Erica Peabody - The simple things - Best chiropractor Fenton Michigan about the lake makes people happy. My understanding of the reason for the party was this couple got married and bought a house without telling anyone until it was over so this was a celebration of both of those things.

My assumption was correct and the party was a blast. The people were fun. The food was good. The house was beautiful. We stayed well into the night. Around 11pm were all chatting around a fire down by the water and Bob, the host of the party, arrived with a small cardboard box of stuff. It turns out that he had a bunch of Chinese lanterns.

Have you seen the movie “Tangled” the animated story of Rapunzel? Someone had recommended it to me so I watched it a few months back. Rapunzel finally had a day outside of the tower and her only goal was to go towards the lights. Every year, on her birthday, when she looked out the window in the evening, the sky would fill up Dr Erica Peabody - The Simple Things - Best Chiropractor Fenton Michigan with small lights. Though it was just an animated cartoon, the scene was really, really beautiful. She spent her free day in search of the source of those lights. Those lights were Chinese lanterns released from the people in the village. Fast forward to the happily-ever-after end of the movie is a beautiful scene filled with these lights, so beautiful I got a little choked up.

 

So you can imagine my delight when I realized that Bob had Chinese lanterns and that I was going to be able to light one and let it float up into the sky. I had no idea those lanterns existed in real life (though now that I googled it, I realize they are not THAT big of a deal) I don’t know if it is the fairytale-like scene that I am delighted by or what but it completely made my night to be able to light one off, actually it made my entire weekend! Its a really simple thing…but finding the joy in the simple things is what life is all about right? Have you found ridiculous joy in something so simple lately?