"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much!" -Helen Keller
Hope is something that we actively do every day. Whether it's for a new car, victory of our favorite team, or simply for the sun to shine in the morning, we hope. It is the very basis for life because without hope, there is no motivation, with no motivation there is no progression. Hope is the key that ignites our motivation and motivation is the gas pedal that leads us to better places. "Better places" can take on many different meanings for different people. One can search for better places in his/her relationship or search for a better place in the work force. One can seek a better place in his/her belief system or a better place to establish home.
As humans it is inherent in us to seek such better places because as children of God we've been sent to this earth to learn, to grow, and to progress. And as we do so, we do with hope.
Sadly there are many of our fellow children who lack hope. This lack is delivered by a train of disappointments and negative circumstances. Negative circumstances that they don't necessarily deserve but ones they've inherited in their time on this earth. One could easily ask how God could allow his children to live without hope but the answer to that is simple. He doesn't. Yes He sent us to this earth and yes He is all powerful. But he also gave us the gift to make our own choices and promises to respect that. He also blesses us with the knowledge and ability to help others so we may learn and grow together. With these gifts, those of us that have experienced hope everyday can choose to share that with our brothers and sisters who have either lost it along the way or have yet to experience its fruits.
This is something my sister and I HOPE to do this coming May with the beautiful children of Peru. These children have fallen victim to circumstances that they cannot control due to the poor choices of the people who were supposed to care for them. These children are sent to live in orphanages because their parents have chosen to live dangerous lifestyles surrounding alcohol and abuse or they have themselves have fallen victim to severe poverty.
These children are living in conditions that leave much to be desired, that is if the children had any knowledge or hope of better things that could be desired. With the volunteer program that we have joined we can do just that. We can serve in these orphanages and work directly with these children. While working with them we can show them the possibilities of a better place in life that comes with education and love. As we educate them they will learn skills that can help them lead a better life without poverty, abuse, neglect, or alcohol. And as we love them they can begin to feel what hope really is and begin to hope for better places themselves.
If you are one who hopes then I ask you sincerely to reflect on the quote at the top as well as the light that hope brings into your life. As you do this please consider helping us in bringing hope into the lives of the children in Cuzco, Peru. Though we we will be working with a small number of orphans in comparison their population of the world, it is profoundly better than helping none. And if only one is able to lead a better life with the hope we can bring him/her then all of our efforts will have been worth it.
Purchase your t-shirt at www.bonfirefunds.com/hope-for-peru and stand with us as God's representatives of hope. With every t-shirt purchase you will be helping us bring hope into the lives of children and pushing despair over the edge by funding our efforts to demonstrate love and bring education to these children. If we reach our goal of at least 100 shirts sold... I will symbolically push despair over the edge by facing a fear and participating in the highest bungee jump in South America!!
Help us push despair over the edge to make room for HOPE!!!
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
At Season's End
This past weekend I had the opportunity of working as a statistician for a regional basketball tournament. This is something I've been privileged to to do many times and it is something I enjoy immensely. I enjoy watching the different teams as they all come into the tournament with unique experiences, dynamics, and philosophies. I love observing the various coaching behaviors and how each coach's players respond to his or her methods of teaching and communication. I love getting to know each of the participants by way of their statistical patterns. But the two things I love and enjoy most of all are, first, seeing the varying levels of effort and heart put into the game by each individual player as they realize their season is near it's end, and second, the love and dedication that a good coach has for each of his players.
With his own set of experiences, skills, and motivations for playing the game, each player is uniquely his own. An individual brings an element to the tournament that only he can provide and within that element is hidden an exclusive goal shaped by their own personalities and values. These individual players combine their goals for a season with a team that they've chosen to participate in and represent. Some teams merge their individual goals with harmonious synergy, while others' merge as successfully as two negatively charged magnets. Even still, within the tournament itself each team comes together to fight for one ultimate goal. With the assorted elements of each player and team colliding in every match-up, each game has the potential to be, and many are, a battle to the final buzzer. Some fight honorably and fair while others leave a black mark on the name and colors they've chosen to represent.
After watching one spectacular competition after another I couldn't help but actively observe the habits, efforts, and attitudes of one particular player. This player is one whose reputation precedes him and one whose appearance deceives many. The roster would indicate that he is young man, arguably a kid still, though his features would appear to write a different story. Whenever he takes the court, opponents can be seen as visibly nervous for fear that they are facing a man not just a boy. He captivated the crowed with his physical stature but it was the great deal of effort he put into his personal and team goals in every match-up that earned their respect and admiration. His fair share of mistakes were made no doubt, but successes were also realized as he bounced back from each one with resounding fight.
But it was in his final moment of competition that my attention was truly caught. I saw as pain and exhaustion set in at the realization that it was over. He had fought so hard and left every ounce of himself on the court. So when that whistle indicated his time was done, he had nothing left to cope with the impending uncertainty and disappointment. The tightly packed and captivated crowd watched as a player known for his composure buried his face in the drastically smaller shoulder of his leader and mentor, his coach. It was a sight to behold as a comical reminder of his physical maturity and as an endearing moment between a young boy and a coach who truly empathized with his every emotion; a coach who loved and comforted his boy at the season's end.
We've all been blessed with unique lives bundled with experiences that shape who we are and who we want to be. Each and every single one of us is a child of God with our own personal element to bring to this earth. We are molded as we go through various battles of this great tournament. In this life we are given opportunities to experience, we are given trials to overcome, and we are given the opportunity to fight for our goals. Some goals are exclusive to an individual while some are formed in a unit. As we all work towards our goals in life, both temporal and eternal, I think of the tournament boys and wonder, "which type of player am I?"
Am I one who soils the name I've chosen to represent by infecting others with my attitude? Am I one who leaves no mark at all because my fighting style is passive? Or am I like the one who gives everything until there is nothing left to give, fighting with gusto until that last buzzer rings?
It is my hope that we can and will all choose to be the latter. Though we may be small like a child or grown like a man, we are all children of God, our Heavenly Coach. It is also my belief and testimony that if we choose to be the one who fights with vigor every second on the clock, there will be one waiting for each of us, small and large alike, to crumble in His arms at the sound of the buzzer. One who knows us each by name. One who knows our habits, goals, and statistics as players in this great tournament. One who can truly empathize with the joys that follow each success and the sorrow tacked onto the end of a disappointment. One whose name we must consciously decide to emblazon our jersey with each day. If we leave everything we have on the court with His name on our backs, He will be there, like a coach for his boy to comfort us and tell us that all will be well at season's end.
With his own set of experiences, skills, and motivations for playing the game, each player is uniquely his own. An individual brings an element to the tournament that only he can provide and within that element is hidden an exclusive goal shaped by their own personalities and values. These individual players combine their goals for a season with a team that they've chosen to participate in and represent. Some teams merge their individual goals with harmonious synergy, while others' merge as successfully as two negatively charged magnets. Even still, within the tournament itself each team comes together to fight for one ultimate goal. With the assorted elements of each player and team colliding in every match-up, each game has the potential to be, and many are, a battle to the final buzzer. Some fight honorably and fair while others leave a black mark on the name and colors they've chosen to represent.
After watching one spectacular competition after another I couldn't help but actively observe the habits, efforts, and attitudes of one particular player. This player is one whose reputation precedes him and one whose appearance deceives many. The roster would indicate that he is young man, arguably a kid still, though his features would appear to write a different story. Whenever he takes the court, opponents can be seen as visibly nervous for fear that they are facing a man not just a boy. He captivated the crowed with his physical stature but it was the great deal of effort he put into his personal and team goals in every match-up that earned their respect and admiration. His fair share of mistakes were made no doubt, but successes were also realized as he bounced back from each one with resounding fight.
But it was in his final moment of competition that my attention was truly caught. I saw as pain and exhaustion set in at the realization that it was over. He had fought so hard and left every ounce of himself on the court. So when that whistle indicated his time was done, he had nothing left to cope with the impending uncertainty and disappointment. The tightly packed and captivated crowd watched as a player known for his composure buried his face in the drastically smaller shoulder of his leader and mentor, his coach. It was a sight to behold as a comical reminder of his physical maturity and as an endearing moment between a young boy and a coach who truly empathized with his every emotion; a coach who loved and comforted his boy at the season's end.
We've all been blessed with unique lives bundled with experiences that shape who we are and who we want to be. Each and every single one of us is a child of God with our own personal element to bring to this earth. We are molded as we go through various battles of this great tournament. In this life we are given opportunities to experience, we are given trials to overcome, and we are given the opportunity to fight for our goals. Some goals are exclusive to an individual while some are formed in a unit. As we all work towards our goals in life, both temporal and eternal, I think of the tournament boys and wonder, "which type of player am I?"
Am I one who soils the name I've chosen to represent by infecting others with my attitude? Am I one who leaves no mark at all because my fighting style is passive? Or am I like the one who gives everything until there is nothing left to give, fighting with gusto until that last buzzer rings?
It is my hope that we can and will all choose to be the latter. Though we may be small like a child or grown like a man, we are all children of God, our Heavenly Coach. It is also my belief and testimony that if we choose to be the one who fights with vigor every second on the clock, there will be one waiting for each of us, small and large alike, to crumble in His arms at the sound of the buzzer. One who knows us each by name. One who knows our habits, goals, and statistics as players in this great tournament. One who can truly empathize with the joys that follow each success and the sorrow tacked onto the end of a disappointment. One whose name we must consciously decide to emblazon our jersey with each day. If we leave everything we have on the court with His name on our backs, He will be there, like a coach for his boy to comfort us and tell us that all will be well at season's end.
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