The Power of Influence

Let me tell you about my friend Emily. She is 80 years young this month and full of life. She is a writer of music and poems, an artist, and a musician who also teaches and plays keyboard in our church. Most importantly, she has a light surrounding her face that draws you to her and makes her an absolute joy to be around.

I met Emily a couple of years ago when my husband and I changed churches(big one to small one)and we were intrigued by her because she was playing keyboard with a church band (guitars and drums and singers) and their music was contemporary. I thought to myself, "I want to get to know her". "She has to be a very interesting person". Many months later, I joined the Praise Team and got to know Miss Emily, as she is so fondly referred to in our church. I found her to be very encouraging and extremely flexible. She could keep a smile even when the music leader wants her to transpose a song during rehearsal or change the tempo. This kind of stuff would send a lot of musicians out the door. But not Miss Emily. Anyway, I had not sang in church or in any public forum in many years and was a little nervous at the first few rehearsals. Emily told me that I had a pretty voice and she wanted to hear me sing more. That was a word I needed to hear. Because of her encouragement I continued to sing.

I also observed Emily in other ministry settings and noticed how well she related and encouraged everyone who was in her path. I could she how much she loves God and therefore loves everyone else making her the most precious person I have met in a long time. More time passed and the Women's Ministry asked me to help start a mentoring program. Through many weeks of study/training with a group of 11 women, I got to know Emily even deeper and asked her to be my mentor. Her response was priceless. She said "What for?". I chuckled to myself and thought, "I wish I was so humble". I shared with Emily that I needed her to share with me her secret. "What secret", she said with a puzzled look on her face. I told her that with all she has to do in a day (a wife, church web-master, keyboard player, piano teacher, and managing the church prayer chain, how does she still find time for her painting and writing? Her energy is amazing. But to be honest, I just wanted her influence in my life. She agreed to mentor me and we have grown to be very dear friends.

We had lunch yesterday to celebrate her 80th birthday (June 16th was the day), and I saw my opportunity to share with Emily what I have learned from her.
#1) Never let go of your inner child.
#2) Believe the best in people even when they let you down.
We got interrupted by an over-zealous waiter so I didn't get to finish, so here are the other 3 key learning's.
#3) Serve others and you will always have joy - even in the hard times.
#4) Take risks. Use your talents and skills to bless others. Stop thinking "I am not good enough". I need that lesson cause I lean toward the perfectest side....eek.
#5) Have a creative outlet and make time for it. God gave you talents and even if He is your only audience....well, that is why you were given the talent to begin with. To give it back to Him.

Thank you Miss Emily! You are a treasure and I love you dearly! Happy Birthday and may God grant you many more.

Relevent in the Real World

I experienced what true relevence is recently while on a business trip to Houston. As part of our annual "team-building" event, our group of about 100 people, were instructed to play a game of grocery scavenger hunt. We received a list of items which were each given so many points, were told we had to spend exactly $500, and get the most points to win a prize. We are a group of salespeople....so we know how to compete to win. We were assigned teams of 6-8 and were handed a newspaper filled with coupons, the cash, and the point list. We were dropped of at a local Kroger and the game began. Oh yea, we had to get the job done in less than an hour. Whew.

My team finished in 50 mins, spent $498. and had accumulated a huge amount of points because we were excellent shoppers, or so I thought. The competition was stronger than us and we did not win. HOWEVER, the blessing we received from our hard work meant more to us than winning the event and the prize! Allow me to describe:
We hauled about 5 grocery carts of food and staples to the second floor of the Double Tree Hotel in downtown Houston and were assigned a table where we placed our goods and the receipt for our work. Out General Manager then got everyone's attention (keep in mind there are at least 10 teams of 6-8). He shared with us that this exercise was to provide food for charity...we figured that out.....but guess what? Our purchases were for specific families of single-mom households that had been chosen by the local chapter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, AND these families were at the hotel AND we would get to meet them and their children and bless them with our $500. worth of food. Oh my goodness, we couldn't have prepared ourselves for the blessing we were about to receive. One by one each Mom and her children came in holding posters they had decorated for us, identifying themselves via our team name. The children ran over to the tables and squealed with delight at all the food. At first they didn't know why they were invited to this event, but when we told them that this food was theirs to take come, well, they squealed and cried. A 12 yr old grabbed her Momma's hand and said "Now I can have a birthday Mommy". You see, they had no food at home and no where to get money from to buy any. The food stamps ran out and because Mom had been busy working, she didn't get the paper filled out to get the renewal. It had already been 3 weeks. So the little 12yr old didn't get a birthday of anykind and not much food to eat either for nearly 3 weeks. We visited with her Mom and she said she had just got a new job as a laundry lady for a nursing home and she almost didn't get to come tonight. She is so excited about this job because it is the best job she has ever had. Then she began to cry, saying "thank you so much", and I saw her bow her head and thank God as well. Then several of the men began opening up their wallets and giving these Mom's some cash to help out with other needs. Lots of tears were flowing by all.

I went away with a new vision of what relevence really means. I asked myself, what am I doing to make someone else's life better? Someone I do not know. Yes, I give regularly to my church and to various charities, but I want to do more. We all must do more. We have to get out of our church buildings and be Jesus to people without judging them and their mistakes. (More on that subject in a later post.) Let's get our hands dirty and do what we need to be doing to help someone who cannot help themselves. It's more than writing and sending a check. It's doing the work as well. A good question to ask yourself is, "How many people do I know outside my group of church friends". Is the answer is none, get out and get involved. At the very least, contact your local non-profits and volunteer. It will change your life!