Monday, March 26, 2012

A Little Bit More...

This past weekend I was trapped in a FedEx office for a few minutes, waiting for someone making an order, so I did what I normally do and looked around trying to kill time. While there I found a book that talked about the 212 difference.

The concept is pretty simple. It's how a tiny bit more can make all the difference in what we do. The title of the book is based around water. At 211 degrees Fahrenheit, you have hot water. At 212 degrees you have boiling water, you have steam, you have power. That tiny bit makes all the difference. The rest of the book pointed out different times in history where the difference between success and failure was a little more perseverance.

What was really amazing is I witnessed it firsthand later that night. We were at the Indiana State Percussion Finals, the last chance to win it all. Teams performed based on how they places the week before, so we knew in one division the home school was set to win their division. They didn't. Instead they came in third. By 0.125%. In that competition the margin between first and third was 1/8th of a point.

It's got me thinking about my faith and what I do. What if I pushed just a little bit more? What kind of a difference would it make if I read my Bible just a few more minutes a day, prayed a few more minutes, served just a little bit more? What if I applied that thinking to my ministry, to my marriage, even my hobbies? How often have people been on the cusp of success but they slack off or give up?

I don't know, if I had been told before a competition the difference between first and third would have been 0.125%, how much harder would I have practiced? Since I usually don't know that, I guess I'll just have to assume it and work hard all the time...

T

Monday, March 19, 2012

Fundraising

First, let me apologize for it being a few weeks for this blog. I honestly did try to get more up but for some reason I was not able to get into blogger for a while. But I'm back, yay...

This past weekend we did the 30 Hour Famine with our sr. high students. For much of the time leading up to it, I was thinking too much about it. For instance, how our idea of fundraising is skewed. If every American eligible to vote gave about $10 a month to feeding those in poverty, world hunger would be abolished in a year or two. But we don't give. We need a reason. So instead we have to have teenagers starve themselves. For some reason, that act allows people to more freely give money. Why not just give since it's the right thing to do and people need help?

Then there's the whole idea of getting students to do the Famine to raise money. To get people involved it has to be fun. That was really messing with my head last week. We make poverty "fun". Although part of that is a learning experience (which usually, if it's fun you learn more), we use activities to get a glimpse into what life would be like for someone in poverty. But I kept thinking about what it would be like if someone who had lived in poverty overseas were to come visit us doing the Famine. What would they think?

But there's the other side of this whole equation. The students who were there did great, little complaining about hunger (even during discussions on bacon and cheese), they raised their own awareness for what is going on in the world (the balloons are filled with food necessary for a balanced diet, frustrations abounded when they worked so hard to find things that had no nutritional value all the while trying to get food with physical disabilites), and a handful of students managed to raise money for those in need well into four figures (I won't have the totals until next week, some are still collecting money). So as odd as it is and my mind still tries to wrap around it, the good far outweighs the questions and I can't wait until we do it again! Thanks to everyone who supported us!

T