When I look at them I see smiles and laughter. Sometimes I see jealously and anger. Sometimes I see that they are up to no good. At other times I see something deep in their hearts that I am unable to decipher.

But I always see them. I see past the window dressing of their skin and hair and facial features. I see past physical handicaps and a troubled past.

I see the person that they are. I see the person that they are becoming.

And I love them.

II.

Have you ever had that experience where you have seen something a hundred times, but suddenly and unexpectedly, you see it differently? As if seeing it for the very first time?

Maybe it was a book. Maybe it was a song whose lyrics you understood for the first time. Maybe it was a building or a park.

Maybe it was a person. but you finally saw them, the person inside, instead of only seeing what they look like.

We make judgments based on what we see. I’m not sure we could stop if we wanted to. What we see is a good place to start. It is often our first sense that is stimulated when we experience something or someone new.

But too often we stop there. We see food we don’t like, and so we don’t try it. We see an experience that frightens us, so we we don’t take the first step. We see people that we don’t like how they look, and so we never get to know them.

photo by oddharmonic

III.

Two of my children look different than me. They are Asian, specifically Chinese. And to the Chinese they look different from each other. It amuses us when we are asked if they are brother and sister because they do not look alike to us. They were born in completely different parts of the country.

Each of them has a special need that further makes them different from us. My son has a surgical scar. His difference is hidden by his clothes.

But my daughter has cerebral palsy. Her differences are visible all of the time. When she walks, it is different. When she speaks, it is different. When she eats, it is different. When she runs, it is different.

She couldn’t hide her differences if she wanted.

Right now she doesn’t notice, but one day she will and I bet she will do everything she can to hide them. To avoid being labeled.

IV.

I recently watched a video of two orphans in Ethiopia.

They were brothers and sisters and lost their parents to HIV. A disease that is treatable. Unless you happen to have been born in a country that is too poor to have the medicine available to everyone who needs them.

Now ages 14 and 11 they are orphans. They are alone in a world that has no place for them. A cold, dark, tough world.

The video is an opportunity for you to get to know them. It begins with the boy. He states his name. And then his age. And the person behind the camera asks if he is HIV positive. He states no. His face filled with a hopeful, expectant smile. He believes that somewhere on the other side of this camera is a mom and dad who want him.

And then his sister is asked the same. Her name. Her age. She anxiously smiles as well. And then the other question. Are you HIV positive?

Yes.

And tears fill her eyes. She fights to hold them back. She wants to be pretty. She wants someone to see her and love her. But as she admits that she has this dreaded disease, she realizes that she is different. She is positive. And she is less desirable. She is untouchable. She is unwanted.

Her words are few, but you can feel the question she is asking. Who could ever love me?

V.

We give people labels to try and help us make sense of the world.

Black and white.
Conservative and liberal.
Foreign and native.
Republican and Democrat.
Chrisitian and Buddhist.
Protestant and Catholic.
Gay and straight.
Healthy and special needs.
HIV negative and HIV positive.

Our labels give us a reference to make decisions about who people are without needing to know them. The labels tell us how to interact. They tell us about the differences. They tell us whether or not we believe someone should be a friend or a foe.

But they do not tell us anything about them.

VI.

When I first met my children, they carried many labels. Orphans. Special needs. Chinese. Abandoned.

Now that I have known them for 9 months they only carry one label. My children.

Traveling down this road at some point I have stopped noticing their differences. I have stopped seeing the labels that we used to describe them before we met them.

And now all I see is them.

They are beautiful. They are wonderful. They are full of imagination. They are full of wonder. They possess fears. They are full of dreams.

When I look at them all I see is their heart.

And they are worth whatever it has taken and will take to know them. They are my son and daughter. And I am their father. None of our differences will ever stand between us.

Their labels conquered by love.

You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I thought John was exaggerating when he called it Garbage City.

I never imagined in my saddest dreams what I saw that day in Guadalajara.

I didn’t know much Spanish, but I knew we just entered the landfill. The towering heaps of trash seemed to stretch to the sky. And the stench was overpowering.

But I was still confused why we were here.

“John, did you say we are going to minister to kids? Where are they?”

“Just wait a few minutes, Chris, and you will understand.”

photo by Wolfgang Sterneck

We turned left and drove another five minutes. Turned right and drove a few hundred feet, then another left. That’s when my heart broke.

On the corner of the street was what I can only describe as a lean-to made of garbage. A refrigerator door turned on its side formed the base of one wall, with various boxes and trash heaped on top. A large cardboard box formed the roof. The other wall was just junk. There was no door.

A women, probably sixty years old, was shuffling along the road with a deep limp. When she saw our cars, she smiled a toothless grin and sped up her hobbling. She yelled something in Spanish down the road, initially it seemed to nobody.

Within thirty seconds we had to stop our vehicles. We were surrounded by children of all ages. Giggles and laughter and smiles on every single kid, even though their clothes wouldn’t even qualify as rags in our country.

I started to cry, right there in the car. John placed a strong hand on my shoulder. “Welcome to Garbage City, Chris. This is what it means to be poor. Time to get out and show Jesus now. Come on!”

John got out first. “HOOOOOLLLLLAAA!” he shouted as he opened his arms wide.

“Holllllaaa!!!” The crowd of children shouted back. Three kids were already climbing on John: one on his left arm, another on his legs, and a third climbing on his back.

I held back in the car for a moment. Paralyzed by fear.

What if I have nothing to offer these kids?

What if they don’t like me?

What do I say, since we can’t talk?

What if they make me sick?

The last question brought me up short. What if they make me sick? Whew, my selfishness hit me like a punch to the gut and took my breath away. Wow, I traveled all the way to Guadalajara to share the message of Jesus, and here I was stifled by fear of illness.

Lord, forgive me, I prayed as I opened the car door.

I was enveloped by kids large and small as soon as I got out. I am particularly tall at 6’7”, and I became a massive curiosity, like a bearded lady at the circus. We laughed. We played. We connected, without needing a common spoken language.

John gathered the crowd of children and we gave out groceries for every family. Enough for a few days at least. Then we sang a few simple worship songs with the kids in Spanish. John shared a simple Gospel message and was met with a surprise. The shuffling old lady raised her hand and accepted Jesus that day. She told John her heart found healing because we played with the children, rather than shying away from their filth. We showed her Jesus, she said.

My heart was forever changed by visiting Garbage City. I still struggle with selfishness today, but it’s different now. I know what poverty looks like, and I know the power of investing in the lives of people, even if they are filthy.

Everyone is created in the image of God and is worth loving.

When was the last time you touched poverty? How did it change you?

You can leave a comment by clicking here.

We had poured over every square inch. Every word had been read and then re-read. Like a detective, we were searching for hidden clues. A little bit of information that to help us uncover something hidden.

Two different doctors had looked over the medical information, most of which was lacking. We plotted and charted head circumference and weight, looking for trends. We knew everything about the boy that a piece of paper could tell us.

The only thing left to do was make a decision.

photo by Orin Zebest

I.

I called a friend, a former pastor, someone I trusted. It was Friday and we had to make our minds up by Monday. I was only asking him to pray, but he gave me something more. He told me he knew what God wanted me to do.

“We are looking at a file.. We have the weekend to decide, and I was hoping you would pray for us so we would know God’s will for us. We want to know God’s calling on our lives. You know, is this the right child for our family.”

I had pulled out the proper lingo. Pray. God’s will. Calling. If you have ever stepped within 100 yards of a Bible study, you’ve heard the same phrases.

“I know what God wants you to do,” he responded.

“Really?” I asked. “What does he want?”

“He wants you to say yes.”

II.

We make decisions on a daily basis. And some of these choices can have tremendous impact in our lives like buying a new house or quitting a job or choosing to marry.

But these decisions, though they seem incredibly important in the moment, have little consequence outside of themselves. They do matter today. But some day they won’t. We tend to over-inflate their importance for one reason. The outcomes affect our comfort.

I believe that God does care about the little things in our lives, because he cares for us. Like feeding the sparrows, he is in the details of our lives. But the decisions we worry may not be the ones he wants us to worry about.

Some day it won’t matter.

It won’t matter what car you drove or which church you attended. It won’t matter whether or not that friend was inconsiderate and chose to misunderstand you. It won’t matter if you went on the trip to Europe or saved your money instead. It won’t matter if you get the one job you’ve wanted for a long time or a different one.

We worry. We fret. We pray. But to what end?

III.

There are some decisions that you can make that will matter beyond your short life, and these are the choices that truly matter.

What does God want you to do with your life?

He wants you to love him. And he wants you to love people.

This is his will for you. This is your calling. This is your purpose.

These are the two most important choices you can make.

IV.

When I asked my friend to pray my language was predictable, but my words were lies.

I was really scared to death. Afraid of what wasn’t mentioned in the file. Afraid of committing, not because I didn’t want to make a decicions, but because I knew it was something that couldn’t be undone. I wanted to know exactly who this kid was. I wanted to know how it would change my life if I said yes. I wanted to know how my story would end.

I didn’t need my friend to pray about what decision I should make. He was right, we both already knew.

I needed him to pray that I would love God and love people. Specifically that I would love this boy enough to let go of everything that was preventing me from saying yes..

V.

I read an article recently that discussed the person God uses. How does he accomplish great things in his kingdom?

He doesn’t use the wealthy. He doesn’t use the strong. He doesn’t use the wise.

God uses the willing.

He uses those who raise their hand and volunteer to take on somebody else’s problems. He uses the person who steps out of comfort and into impossibility for the good of others. God uses the person who sees beyond the here and now, and grabs onto something bigger than this life.

God uses the person who loves him. The person who loves people. And the person who does stuff.

How do you become one of the willing? You say yes.

VI.

I could have said no. It was a choice for me to make. I could have said no before we started. I could have said no at looking at his file. I could have said no after seeing his file.

I could have come up with a million different pious reasons why God didn’t want me to do it. But I thank God I didn’t.

What was at stake wasn’t the boy that became our son. God didn’t need me to show up to give this boy a family. God didn’t need my health insurance to get him the medical care he needed more than the file indicated. God could do all of that without me.

What was really at stake was my being a part of it all.

You don’t limit God when you say no. What he chooses to accomplish does not hinge on your decision.

What you do limit is your participation in the coming of his kingdom here and now. You limit experiencing him making all things new. You limit how much of the life-giving water Jesus offered the woman at the well that you drink.

Do you know what God wants you to do?

You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Your life is a vapor.

Even though I consider myself young, I am developing a sense of what she means.

photo by Gustavo Duran

My oldest son is now 13. It feels like he was born yesterday.

I finished my medical training and started practice 4 years ago. I remember when I was only starting the first of 4 years of medical school, 5 years of residency and 1 year of fellowship. An eternity that has long since passed.

I graduated from high school 17 years ago. Enough said.

Life is short. It is a truth that is too easy to ignore.

When we accept or become aware of a truth, it gives us a framework on how to make better decisions for our lives.

Tomorrow We Die

When I think about the brevity of life it leads me to 2 possible responses.

One is to have the best possible time. Eat. Drink. And be merry, for tomorrow we die.

Make choices that promote my sense of happiness and well being. Avoid the hard stuff of life as much as I can.

From this perspective it makes sense to buy the biggest house possible. Because I would enjoy that. It makes sense to buy the expensive 2 seater sports car. Because that would be fun. It makes sense to spend as much money on clothes as it takes. Because I might as well look good while being merry.

From this perspective it would make sense to not take any unnecessary risks with life. To avoid vulnerability and pain. To avoid the possibility life would end prematurely. To avoid being hurt either physically or emotionally. Because life is short and it doesn’t make sense to waste time.

From this perspective it makes sense to hang onto our own lives as long as we can, because tomorrow we lose everything.

Today We Live

The other option is to realize that life isn’t something we can hang on to.

Like trying to hold onto water or sand, no matter how much we struggle, it all slips through our fingers.

Preserving our lives is fruitless because one day, we can’t preserve it any longer. Trying to always stay safe doesn’t work, because one day something will destroy us. Hanging on to right now doesn’t work because soon, right now will be gone, like a vapor.

And from this perspective we can find the freedom to give our lives away. To stop worrying about what how much it will cost us to do work that matters for the good of other.

When we start letting go of our life, we gain the freedom to truly live. (Tweet that.)

Life is About Making Trades

If our time here is limited, then however we choose to spend it is a trade off.

When we choose to do one thing, we lose the opportunity to do another. When we choose to spend our time on one purpose, we lose that time, making it harder for us to live for a different purpose.

And if you think about us, most of us are making decisions as if we believe we will live forever. We save. We protect. We do less. We rest.

We are afraid of being hurt. We are afraid of feeling pain and sadness. We are afraid of being vulnerable.

We keep most of our lives for ourselves, holding back what we could give to others. We live for tomorrow even though there isn’t one.

Today is an Opportunity

Giving our lives away isn’t about God loving us or a reward or salvation. I believe that God loves us no matter what we do.

If whether or not God chose to love me depended on my actions, I would be lost. If his love for me depended on whether or not I have enough belief or faith, then there is no hope for me. I don’t believe the right things. My faith is weak.

But he loves us in spite of our weaknesses and mistakes and choices. He loves us in spite of how we choose to spend our lives.

But our life is his gift to us. It is an opportunity. To live for something more. To do something bigger. To give away for the good of others.

God gives all of us the freedom to choose what we do with it.

Does life seem short to you? Have you ever given any of your life away?

You can leave a comment by clicking here.

And sometimes love runs.

Do you remember that school in Northern Uganda I told you about several months ago? Restore Leadership Academy?

The one run by Bob Goff and filled with kids that are going to shape the future of Uganda? The one restoring hope to so many that wouldn’t have it otherwise?

Well, they need some more classrooms.

My friend, Ally Vesterfelt, who I introduced you to Friday, is celebrating her 30th birthday by raising money to build those kids another classroom.

And she needs our help.

Ally is organizing a remote 5K where all of the proceeds will benefit Restore Leadership Academy and help them build another classroom.

Kids get smarter. You get exercise. The very definition of win-win.

What You Can Do

1. Sign up for the event here. The entry fee is $35.

2. Invite everyone.  It takes $30,000 to build one of these classrooms. If 1,000 people sign up, that classroom is as good as built. We need your help to get to 1,000. Share it on Facebook. Share it on Twitter. Tell everyone you know.

Tell them so you don’t have to run alone. Tell them so that we can get this classroom built. Tell them because it’s more fun to do stuff with friends.

3. Then on May 25 run 3.1 miles. Ally lives in Minnesota and I’m pretty sure they still have snow on the ground in May, so instead of organizing an actual race there, she is asking that you run wherever you are.

It can be outside or inside. It can be in a park or in the woods. It can be on a treadmill or on a sidewalk. Your choice.

And if running isn’t your thing, you can walk or ride a bike. Also your choice.

And if running and walking and cycling aren’t your thing, you can sign up anyways and pretend like you ran. You still get the t-shirt. You still help these kids.

I promise, I won’t tell anybody.

One of the classrooms being built at Restore taken at my visit there in March.

Free Books

To show his appreciation for your help, Bob has offered to give away books. I will randomly select 5 people to receive a free copy of Love Does.

To be eligible  to win I ask you to do 2 things. The most important is to sign up for the race. And I need you to tell others about it. Specifically I am asking that you share this post on Facebook and Twitter.

If you sign up, email me a copy of your receipt and you’ll be entered to win. (js@jeremystatton.com)

Why do this?

1. Because there are a bunch of kids who don’t have much except a little bit of hope for the future because of this school.

2. Because Bob Goff gives so much of himself away, this is a chance to give back to him.

3. Because when we love and we do stuff for people with people, it’s fun.

I hope you’ll join me.

To register for the Love Runs remote 5k click here. 

And if you are running it, encourage everyone else by telling us in the comments. The more people the better. Everyone is invited.

You can leave a comment by clicking here.

P.S. Don’t forget to sign up.

This is an article I published today with my friend Allison Vesterfelt. Ally survives the winters of Minnesota by writing, so she’s had plenty of practice. I invite you to visit her blog or follow her on Twitter because she is worth it. In the fall she will be releasing a new book titled Packing Light.

Or if you want to read the rest of my article click here.

…

I ignored one question as long as I could, but eventually it had to be answered.

“Why was I saying no?”

I wanted to believe it was because I was being practical. Four kids is enough, maybe even too much, for anybody. How would we even pay for college with that many? How could we have enough love to give to yet another child, much less time and energy? How would we pay for it? How could we take on the work of a special needs child?

But the real answers was simple. I didn’t want to do it because I knew it would suck.

photo by Kristina Alexanderson

The entire time I was disguising the real answer with distractions. The truth was I didn’t want to adopt because I knew it would be hard. I didn’t want to adopt because I wanted to preserve my own life and comfort and pleasure.

I was worried that as soon as I said yes, it would open a flood gate of doing more, of seeing the need of others and trying to help meet it. A pattern of saying yes.

And it did.

…

To read the rest of this article, click here.

…

His (Abraham’s) faith wasn’t measured by what he did when life was predictable and good. It wasn’t measured by how he acted when he was safe at home or attending synagogue. It wasn’t measured by what he did when life was comfortable.

He is called a man of faith because he did what God asked even when it wasn’t easy. Even when it was scary. Even when it seemed impossible. Even when it made no practice sense.

photo by Herr Olsen

God has never spoken to me directly like he did Abraham.

But he speaks to all of us in different ways.

• When we see someone in need, he speaks to us.
• When we hear stories of atrocity and suffering, he speaks to us.
• When we know there are people in other countries who don’t have clean water, he speaks to us.
• When we see the widow down the street struggling to clean out her gutters, he speaks to us.
• Whenever we see a dirty, hungry homeless person, he speaks to us.
• When we are told that there are 147 million orphans in the world, he speaks to us.

Why don’t we do this work? Because this kind of faith creates uncertainty in our lives.

It is easier to sit in church. It is easier to emphasize rules that show how well we are doing. It is easier to point our finger at those who don’t live up to our rules. It is easier to stay at home and keep our families safe and hold on to all of our stuff that creates a sense of predictability.

And we call that a life of faith.

…

To read more of this article, click here.

It doesn’t matter how right you are. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. It doesn’t matter how eloquent or beautiful you are. You can’t change people.

But you can choose to be somebody’s friend.

The kind of friendship that matters is about selfless, sacrificial love. And I believe that is the only thing it is about. Love.

Today we talk about you being that type of friend.

photo by Mani Babbar

1. Friendship means showing up.

We don’t make act like friends from the comfort of our living rooms or the privacy of our beds. We act like a friend when we go where our friends our. Friendship needs contact. Friendship needs seeing people and problems and needs first hand. Even when it is inconvenient. Especially when it could be dangerous and uncomfortable.

2. Friendship means radical acceptance.

No conditions. No termination clauses. Only open arms. As long as something stands between you and another your friendship is limited. There will always be a wall keeping distance between you. Radical acceptance means letting go of all of your expectations of another. True friends are friends no matter how you feel about how they choose to live or what they choose to do.

3. Friendship means participating in their life.

To be a friend you have to know a person. It means listening. It means studying. It means doing the hard work of knowing. You can’t know someone by knowing their address or their phone number or by seeing their picture on the internet. The only way to be a friend is to learn who they really are.

4. Friendship means giving sacrificially.

We give gifts at birthdays and Christmas, but rarely is it a sacrifice. Sacrifice by definition means that it hurts. You feel it. To give sacrificially you will have to let go of something. You give without expecting anything in return. Maybe something you own. Maybe your own comfort. Maybe your pride. Maybe your life.

5. Friendship means letting someone take advantage of you.

I hate being taken advantage of. But loving and being a friend requires making yourself vulnerable. When you radically accept people and give to them sacrificially, at some point they will hurt you. They will disappoint you. It is the nature of people. It is the way of the world. The question isn’t whether or not it will happen, but whether or not you will still love that person when it does happen.

6. Friendship means taking on problems that are not yours.

Our culture is littered with phrases like, “Not my problem,” or “That isn’t in my job description.” Being a friend means making someone else’s problems ours. It means doing the work for the good of someone else, especially when we don’t have to.

7. Friendship means committing to the long run.

Just because you show up and give and do the hard things doesn’t mean someone will return the friendship. All you can do is be this type of friend and then wait. It takes time and effort for a friendship to mature. It won’t happen over night. Their is no love at first sight. Their is only love after giving and giving over a long period of time.

Loving and being a friend isn’t about what you should or shouldn’t do. It is an opportunity. An chance to do more. A moment to make a difference.

Being a friend is hard. It demands letting go of the self and saying yes to someone else. It isn’t fun. Nobody will give you a medal for doing it.

But it is a choice any of us can make.

Have you known this type of friendship? 

You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I want to. I’m not satisfied with the way everything is. Yes, there is good, but far too often there isn’t.

The world can be a hard place. I hope you want, at least to some degree, to change the world too.

But we can’t.

photo by Va Sfak

The World Needs to Change

The desire to see the world change originates in what we see and experience and feel. All of us realize that not everything is as it should be. Something is missing. Something is lacking.

We have moments when the world does seem perfect. The smile and laugh of a baby. Holding hands with that special someone while walking through the woods at dusk. An acceptance letter of a desire long hoped for. An approving embrace from a father.

But then there are times when everything is wrong. The world is cruel and hard and cold. We hurt and we ache and we groan.

Our lives are a strange juxtaposition of beauty and pain.

For some, if the world doesn’t change soon, they won’t last much longer. Their bodies will give in to disease. Their energy will give in to hunger. Their hearts will give in to loneliness. Their souls will suffocate in despair..

For them it is not an issue of comfort or joy. It is not an issue of living their dreams or hoping for something a little bit better than what they have. It is an issue of life and death.

And their world needs to change desperately.

What We Really Mean

When we say we want to change the world, most of the time we mean we want to change other people.

When we describe what is wrong it is almost always involves somebody else. Those people over there who believe that. Or the group that supports that one thing. Or the people who keep doing the wrong stuff.

It is natural to assume that the way we see things and the way we lives our lives is right. And that everyone else is wrong. (The assumption of being right is another issue for another day.)

So we try to change them. We warn them with condemning words. We prophesy about their future, declaring what might happen if they don’t become what we want. We entice them with rewards. We threaten them with punishment.

But we can’t change them. We can’t make them see something they don’t. We can’t make them feel something we do. We can’t force someone to make different choices.

Perhaps we can cause short term change in their behavior, especially when we threaten them. But this isn’t change. It is fear.

The problem with trying to change people is that our focus rests on our goal, our belief, our opinion. And we forget about the person who gets in the way.

What Can We Do?

If we can’t change the world or the people in it, what can we do?

We change the one person who needs it the most. We change ourselves. We change how we interact with the world. We change what we do.

The only way anything in this world will change is if I buy into the idea that it starts with me. I committed a grammatical error and changed my writing perspective for that reason. I can’t change you and I don’t want to. I can only change me.

The one and only thing I can control in my life is myself.. I can control how I respond to circumstances. I can control how I view others. I can control how I treat them. I can choose to love.

We can’t change people, but we can choose to love them unconditionally. (Tweet that.)

Through love we gain influence. Through love earn respect by offering respect.  I don’t believe that anybody needs us to change them. What they need really need is a friend.

When we love, maybe people change, maybe they don’t. How they respond isn’t our problem. Even if they don’t choose to change themselves, we are better off for offering ourselves in this way.

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be? 

You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Eighty-five percent of our brains are water. A majority of the mass has little to do with anything. It just exists to allow the rest of your brain to function.

The other 15% keeps you alive and defines who you are.

Our lives are filled with the routine of life. Most of what we do makes very little difference in the type of story we are living. Routine decisions. The normalcy of a day. Habits, both good and bad.

But our lives are defined and remembered by the few magical moments that occur.

Remarkable experiences don’t just happen. They are a result of being intentional. We have to recognize them when they show up disguised and be ready grab onto them.

A blind man experienced a remarkable moment at a U2 concert last summer, and from watching him we can learn 3 different elements to creating these moments.

The Preparation

The show was over. U2 had played their last song, and were ready to exit. Before leaving, Bono, the lead singer, noticed a man towards the front holding a sign that read, “Blind guitar player, bring me up.”

Then the unthinkable happened. A man who showed up with a sign and a glimmer of hope found himself on stage.

The only word I can come up with is remarkable.

(If you are unable to view the video in your browser or email, click here.)

At first glance it may appear to be pure luck, but work went into making such a moment happen.

The first step was taken when this man learned to play guitar. When he took up lessons, it was not with the goal of having this moment.

He developed a skill even without the promise of greatness, but when the opportunity came, he was ready.

He then made a sign. Can you imagine the doubt that went through his mind?

This is stupid. The band will never notice. I’ll be just another idiot with a sign. I should go and listen like everybody else.

There was a dream, and he was passionate enough about his dream to try something that seemed unlikely if not absurd.

And it worked.

The Grace

Can you imagine how many people try to grab Bono’s attention everyday?

If it were me, I would stop noticing.  I would ignore everyone who tried to get close.

Yet Bono noticed.

The only way we can make a difference in someone’s life is to notice them. We have to take our gaze off of ourselves and our agenda for a least a moment and pay attention to everyone around us.

We have to notice our wives. We have to notice our kids. We have to notice our friends. We have to notice those who are in need.

And we have to be willing to help. To reach out. To give money. To lend a listening hear. To offer patience and understanding. To hand out smiles and gratitude.

It may seem like the only person who benefited most from this experience was the blind man. I bet, though, that it made Bono just as happy.

Being gracious makes our own stories better as well as those we help.

The Courage

No matter how much you practice, nothing can prepare you to play on stage with a musical icon while 40,000 people listen.

When Bono called out to the man, he had to have the courage to walk on stage and play.

I am sure he was nervous.  Probably scared. But when the voices entered his head telling him to sit down and shut up, he didn’t listen.

When his self screamed that he was not good enough, that this was dumb, that he was going to make a fool out of himself, he shoved it behind, and answered the call.

What if he hadn’t? What if he had decided that it was dumb idea and he should stay in his seat? The chance of a lifetime would have drifted away. Forever.

It makes me wonder how often I have missed out on incredible experiences simply because I lacked the courage to get up on the stage and sing.

Let’s make it our goal to be prepared.

Let’s show grace to others.

Let’s have the courage to pursue incredible moments.

Are you willing to answer the call? Tell us about your most remarkable experience and how it happened.