Danny Gokey/AP
After losing his 27 year old wife Sophia just 4 weeks before his initial auditions to a long-term heart condition - Danny Gokey's performance of the song "Hero" tonight on American Idol was the best of the night. After his peformance, Ryan Seacrest asked him "What images did you have in your head when you sang that song?" and Danny Gokey replied with a message of hope:
You know, I just picture people coming out of rough situations I have to be honest. I just picture people just rising above and knowing that there is a future ahead of them no matter how bad the stuff can be in their life.
The messages he shares with us remind us that we are all in this together - whether we have suffered loss of a loved one, loss of a job or suffer in other ways.
Prior to auditioning for American Idol, Danny started a foundation called Sophia's Heart. From their website:
In her passing, the mission began to develop her legacy, and to share the heart she possessed, through a living continual demonstration of her love.
Sophia desired to be the mother of a large family. Although this was never realized in her lifetime, the love she had for children could not cease from existing. Through the vision of her husband, Daniel, he felt the pressing to pass along the heart they both felt for children. In this, he realizes that the amount of children that will be reached through this vision will be larger than they ever imagined.
Through uniting people, organizations, companies, and receiving charitable donations, Sophia's Heart Foundation aims to reach out and touch the hearts of children from ages 0 through 18. The uniting factor among these children will be the need for restoration in various areas of their lives.
Other messages of hope from Danny as written on the website:
I’m an advocate of protecting the heart. Your heart is your real set of eyes. What I mean by that is that if your heart has become evil through seeds of anger and hate, you will interpret life and every person’s actions through those negative eyes. A person might come shake your hand and compliment you at work, and your heart might analyze what they have done as having some kind of hidden motive or agenda. You might spend countless hours wondering why they’re out to get you. On the other hand, if you have a pure heart you would shake your co-workers hand, accept their compliment and be touched by their kindness.
I strongly urge you to examine your life, release and let go once and for all those things that have held you back. It could be a harmful self-image, disappointments, setbacks, wrong relationships or anything else that hold you in the pit of your past and keeps you from embracing your present and future. Become like a child and don't let your heart hang on to those things, but let it always bounce back with new hopes and second chances. The best is yet to come for you! Believe it, it’s yours for the taking!
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