Welcome to ArmHolders

The Emails

April 11, 2009

Its 5 AM and I cannot sleep. Our house is full of the people I love and my heart is so full of joy and thanksgiving that I just had to get up and write. I felt compelled to thank my God for the blessings in my life. Yes, the blessings in my life. I could have lain on my back with my eyes closed and thanked God, but that is not what this is about. This is about a journey we are taking together, so I need to express myself with the written word. That means no more sleep this morning.

Why the joy? Did I say my house is full of people? Let me introduce our household. Bill is my brother-in-law. Yesterday Bill and Karin, my wife's sister, packed their 3 kids in the car and made the 20 plus hour road trip here to south Florida from Michigan nonstop. Then there is Jeff and Heather, my nephew and his wife. They also made the road trip from Michigan yesterday, nonstop. Then our kids; Cheri, Jenny, her husband Jim, and 5 grandkids, Julianna (8), Hunter (7), Ashton (6), Sydney (4), and Jimmy (2). The house is full....and I love it. Thus part of the reason for my overflowing heart this morning.

It is not easy to get a house full of people. Yes, these are not bad digs we are in, in Naples Florida over Easter, but I know all these people are not here because of Naples Florida. All the people in this house are here because they love me and want to show me, in a real physical, tangible way, that they care. And it shows. There is a story in the Old Testament where the Israelites were in battle and every time Moses would raise his arms the Israelites would be winning the fight, and when his arms would drop they would be losing the fight. So they got some arm holders. People who just held up the arms of Moses so they could win the fight. That's what I have. A house of arm holders. I have all of these people around me who came to just hold up my arms and help me win my fight.

So how do you get arm holders? That is not an easy question. I can tell you that most arm holders are booked in advance, way in advance. They are very important people who help win impossible battles. They are sought out by many. These arm holders are not easily indentified either. They come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Some are male, some female, and some are just 2 year old Jimmy's. No physical characteristics of an arm holder, you really need to see their heart to determine if they are a good arm holder. You need to hang out with them. Be their friend. I think the best way to find an arm holder is to be an arm holder.

So there is the reason I cannot sleep. My arm holding nephew Jefferson is snoring outside my door not knowing he just picked up my left arm. Billy, Nick, and Josh are holding up my right arm as they sleep. At 6:30 or so arm holder Julianna will wake, walk into my office and hug me for 15 minutes or so. She holds my arms up so high that I have finger prints on the 9 foot ceilings. Then my arm holders Jenny and Cheri will make breakfast for the gang, Chris my arm holder will make me my coffee, and my day will begin. All day long my arms will be held up today because sometimes it's just too hard to fight the fight without an arm holder. Try thinking about that in bed and see if you can sleep? And it gets better. My arm holder Wayne sent me that e mail yesterday I sent out. My arm holder Denise calls me almost every morning as does my arm holder JW. In fact I have arm holders all over the world just picking up my arms so I do not get tired. In the past 2 weeks I have received over 400 e mails from arm holders, many, many of which I do not know. If you are reading this e mail, you are most likely one of my arm holders, and may not even know it. But I know it. God knows it. I feel my arms being help up this morning.

Thank you my friends for listening to God and willing to be the arm holder of a simple man who is fighting a major battle.

Konrad