Little Hero Big GOD

By Steven Tad Damron

Most of us as children fantasize about being Heroes. Can you remember when you pretended your bike ride down the street was some unselfish act of Heroism for the betterment of all mankind? Remember when you had to give your tennis shoes a test run before you gave your Mom the go ahead to buy them? They had to make you run faster, right? As kids we buy comic books, and action figures, and pretend to be Heroes. I don’t believe we have to pretend. I believe we are born to be Heroes. I believe every man woman and child has the ability to make mankind better. You don’t have to fly or have supernatural powers to make a difference in someone’s life. You don’t have to have a cape to make someone smile, and I believe a smile in a crowded room can be seen around the world, if we all share it. When I was a kid I wanted desperately to be a hero, and when I crashed my bicycle or struck out at the plate, I was my worst critic. Little Hero Big GOD starts out jumping bikes, playing in the creek, and dreaming big. If you remember climbing trees or chucking rocks, and playing hide and seek past dark, then you know the time period of the book. We all crash and make mistakes, and that is profoundly good, if we use those life experiences to help others do better. Little Hero Big GOD reflects on life and reveals there are Heroes all around us. My Mom told me I would be a hero even when I doubted myself and she reminded me that God had work for me to do. We all have work to do. We all can make a difference in the world. Help someone across the street, or say something nice to a stranger. Start out small. Stop believing you can’t make a difference. Please don’t be afraid to be a Hero in someone’s life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steven Tad Damron
• Release date: Mar 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465853547

Steven Tad Damron

MY NAME IS Steven Tad Damron. I probably should write this in the third person, and really pour on the praise, but I was raised humble and would like to stay that way. I wasn’t born in West Virginia, but thank God, I was raised in Ikes Fork around the southern coal fields of WV. In that small mining community, that strangers would rather not see or drive through in a hurry, I have seen the best in humanity. I was raised during labor strikes and hard times, and have never failed to see Ikes Fork people make sure that their neighbors had food and their kids had Christmas gifts. I am a Baileysville High School graduate, and can still remember my teachers, who considered moral values more important than popularity contests. I attended college at Marshall University, briefly, before I realized it was too expensive for me at the time. So I went to work. I’ve been a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none, which is fine, considering I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I do know... I want to be a good Dad and raise a family with integrity, honor, and compassion. I love my wife and kids, God and country. I am blessed.

Book preview

Little Hero

Big GOD

by

Steven Tad Damron

Copyright 2012 Steven Tad Damron

Smashwords Edition

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Digital edition by: GoPublished

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1. Sunshine in the Holler

Chapter 2. The Dirt Road to Greatness

Chapter 3. The Jump

Chapter 4. Mom’s Best Friend

Chapter 5. Good Grief

Chapter 6. Heroes Drink Kool-Aid

Chapter 7. The Chariot of Fire

Chapter 8. Who Needs Brakes?

Chapter 9. Amazing Grace

Chapter 10. Hero? You’re a Girl!

Chapter 11. I’m No Moses

Chapter 12. Some Hero I Am

Chapter 13. The Boy in the Middle

Chapter 14. Remember the Words in Red

Chapter 15. Somewhere Along the Way

Chapter 16. I Know Now

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Foreword

My wife, Jen, asked me to write a book for my son, Brier, before he was even born. Funny thing is… I’m not a writer. I’m a coal truck driver, and a miner, and… and...

With a load of coal in my truck, I started talking to God and taking a deep look at my life. With the great responsibility of being a Daddy soon approaching, I knew my son needed a Hero. What I realized is that I’m the man for the job. Every failure, crash, bruise, and bang has prepared me to help my son not make the same mistakes I made.

We are all born to be Heroes, we just don’t know it. We all have Heroes around us; we just don’t take the time to see them for who they really are. Your Grandma may have worn a dress and an apron in every memory you have of her, but when she gave you a big kiss, or knelt down to help you wash behind your ears, or told you about her life growing up… her apron was her cape. The neighbor down the road who decided to give up his evenings to start a little league, simply to give the community kids a better place to play; the drunk who quit drinking to be a coach, and mentored countless kids to do better in their lives. The parents who packed their cars with kids to take to the pool, or skating, or to vacation bible school: They are all Heroes.

Do I think we can be Heroes to everyone around us? Of course not... we are all so unique. The words of encouragement that I think are so perfect may not even be listened to at the time. That’s where you come in. You may have the perfect thing to say. That’s why they make chocolate and vanilla. That’s why MUSIC is different. A million people can see the same painting and not one will see it the same. God loves that about us.

Between work and diaper changes there wasn’t a lot of time to write Brier’s book, but when I did finish it I was proud to give the Staples copy to Jen for Christmas. The book, the baby, and my reflections on life, have me daydreaming and smiling more and more these days. I thought I was writing a book just for my son, but the more I laugh about playing in the creek, the more I want others to laugh about their childhood adventures.

Jen told me I had to share it… I had to help people stroll down memory lane. It may not inspire millions, but it might come at the perfect time for those who forgot their childhood, their Heroes, or when they dared to dream BIG.

Three days after Christmas, I was laid off from the mines. This was scary, terrible, and divinely perfect, because somewhere along the way, Little Hero Big GOD has become more than a book to me. I want it to be a movement. Let me explain…

I started researching on how to publish and promote a book and soon realized that I didn’t have a Facebook page or a webpage. I was way behind the curve, but when we launched our Little Hero Big GOD Facebook page, I knew, instantly, that the page is not about promoting the book but a place for all of us to celebrate kids being kids. Laughter is the best medicine. A smile in a crowded airport can brighten the atmosphere. An encouraging word causes a ripple in the pond, often bigger than we think.

I believe we can promote random acts of kindness, kids being kids, and celebrate our parents, teachers, and others who are heroes in our lives. Facebook and the internet make the world a small place. People have personal pages to share amazing photos of their adventures with family and friends.

Let me encourage you to visit Little Hero Facebook page or LittleHeroBigGod.com, and post pictures of kids being kids, or the heroes in your life. Encourage random acts of kindness; there is Enough Negativity in the world. As long as it is good and uplifting, or will make someone smile, post your picture… It may create a ripple of smiles a continent away.

I know any day the mines