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Hey everyone. Thanks for flipping the page this way and deciding to stay put right here on my log. Things have been going great this month. School is winding down, and I am incredibly excited about graduating. I’m going to be a Tar Heel in Chapel Hill next year. (Sorry to all the State and Duke fans out there.)

Anyway, Mom is doing well. She came home at the end of April. She was at Forsyth Hospital in Winston-Salem for 47 days where she was treated for acute myeloid leukemia. Things haven’t been easy, but with wonderful friends, thousands of prayers, God’s grace, and the support of the greatest county in North Carolina, my family has been able to make it through this storm. Words cannot describe how truly grateful my family and I are.

Isn’t it peculiar how things tend to work out? One minute, I’m just a kid on a trip to Washington D.C. with the Rural Electric Youth Tour. The next minute, I’m giving a speech in front of thousands of people at the electric cooperatives’ annual meeting. One minute, I’m writing character analyses in English class. The next minute, I’m writing a monthly article for Carolina Country. One minute, I’m talking to mom about college in the kitchen. The next minute, I’m talking to mom about the horrible hospital food. One minute, I’m on my knees crying and asking God questions. The next minute, He is giving me answers.

Last month I wrote about the power of greed, and how some in this world are only concerned with themselves. It wasn’t long after that that God showed me there are those out there who feel the same way I do. He showed me that there are still those who are out there willing to lend a hand. On April 24 (right before last month’s magazine came out), friends and members of my community organized a benefit for my mother; I can’t even begin to tell you how touched my family and I were. People from all over the area were doing everything they possibly could to help my family in our time of need: ironing clothes, giving food, donating money. They were close family friends, co-workers, church members, and people who simply wanted to help. It was simply amazing.

On that night I realized that God had heard my thoughts. Maybe He subscribes to Carolina Country and reads my articles. He decided to show me that His work is still being done. My preacher always says, “Just leave it up to God. He’ll take care of it. If you dwell on it and worry about it, you can’t let Him work.” Being someone who worries, I honestly never gave it a try until then; it worked. I simply asked for His guidance and aid. Then, I left it up to Him.

One calm and clear day the following week, Mom, Dad and I were sitting in Dad’s pickup eating lunch in Wendy’s parking lot. We had finished up our burgers and were wondering where we could throw away our trash. Dad noticed a dumpster about 100 feet away, but the lid on it was closed. We were wondering if it was locked, and right then a powerful gust of wind came through and blew the lid open. We all just laughed. Maybe it just happened to be an unlikely coincidence, but to me, it seemed like God was answering more questions.

To all of you who prayed, donated money, gave food, helped with the benefit, aided in any way, and simply thought about me and my family, thank you! It was truly amazing to see the support and kindness my family received.

Jacob Brooks represented Blue Ridge Electric on the 2009 Youth Tour and was later elected the national spokesman for the electric cooperatives’ Youth Leadership Council. He and his family live in Alleghany County.

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