I really like the motto that we use at the 100 Club of Arizona. “Standing behind the men and women who stand behind the badge.” Not because it is catchy or because it is the very best branding that has ever come along. I like it because it is true and I like it because it is what caring people do. In the simplest of terms for me, I like it because of the word “stand.”
We all go through difficult times. Life is messy. It can be filled with pain and disappointment. No person is immune to the frustration and heartache that comes with living. It is just a fact of life. I have had my fair share of difficult periods in life. Some of them I brought upon myself. Most of them just happened. But I have survived them all up to this point. Not necessarily because I am that strong of a person or that dedicated or disciplined. I have made it through the difficult times up to this point because of …. well, because of “stand.”
I had a football coach in my school days who said to us over and over. “In this game you will get knocked on your backside. It will happen a lot. Here is what I want you to do. Every time you get knocked on your backside …. Stand! Just stand. And every time you see one of your teammates get knocked on their backside, go help them up and stand there with them. You will be a whole lot better if you stand together.”
There is a passage of Scripture that has come to mean a lot to me over the years of my life. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “… a cord of three strands is not easily broken.” I am here today because of friends who have stood beside me, behind me, in front of me and with me in the difficult times. They stand with me and I stand with them. Together we are better and stronger.
I’d like to think that our law enforcement personnel and first responders are stronger because of the 100 Club of Arizona. In fact, I do think that is true. “Standing behind the men and women who stand behind the badge.” Will you stand with us to make the 100 Club of Arizona stronger for them?
By: Danny Dodson
100 Club’s Chaplain Program
