3 Points to Ponder
- “I made a covenant to serve the people of Haiti in 2000 and saw the vision for Many Hands in 2005. But, the organization didn’t form till 2008 and I didn’t go full-time until 2011. I’m so grateful for those 11 years of personal growth, as I would have killed the dream if I pursued it right away. If you are struggling, are you ready to hold the vision God has given to you or do you need time to strengthen your hands?”
- “At some point, one has to take a leap of faith in pursuing God’s vision. But, it typically isn’t a blind leap. God has been working in your story from the beginning, shortening the leap, even if you don’t see it. Is it time for you to go all-in?”
- “Dreams are like soap bubbles in the bathtub – super fragile. And not all are worth pursuing. But, a select few are worth pursuing and when yours comes, treat it like gold, as it is truly precious. If we are lucky, we get a clear dream or two in a lifetime. How are you treating your dream?”
2 Quotes to Share
“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” -Plato
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
1 Story of Impact
I’ve just returned from a week-long trip to Haiti, meeting with our leadership staff and planning our 1, 3, and 5-year goals. Future planning has always been easy for me, as I have an innate ability to live in the future. But, as I was walking around campus, I was struck by beginnings. We grow a lot of food. Like, A LOT. It is amazing to see the campus transformation from barren ground into a green paradise of trees, fields, gardens, and structures. All this green has a beginning. One of our shade greenhouses is designated for the sole purpose of being a starter home for all kinds of plants. You see, many of the plants can’t get going enough on their own to overcome the elements and therefore die. They need the protection and concentrated attention of the gardener in the shade house to hit a certain size and then be transplanted to their final destination to produce to their fullest. This mirrors our lives when God-given dreams come to us. For most of us, when a dream is given, it is too fragile to survive the elements in the early stages. It needs cover to grow stronger, with much attention from the gardener. Then, when it is ready to become all that it was intended to be, the dream needs to be moved to the open. To be shared and planted in new ground. Many times, we are either too eager to start the dream before it is ready, effectively killing the dream, or too afraid to leave the shade house, stifling the growth. With your God-given dream, where are you at in the life cycle? Do you need to put it in the protection and attention of the shade house? Or release it into the open to fully produce?
