Sometimes Your Special Belongings Weren’t Meant to be Yours

Today was primarily a cleaning day. Not of my house, but my classroom. Seriously… you’d think a teacher’s job could be easily conquered and finished right after school’s out, right? Wrong! I’m still not done.

Anyways, I was looking for some cleaning clothing to wear, and decided on jeans and this brown shirt my husband gave me awhile back. On it states, “One Classroom At A Time.” The shirt is actually from a group with a mission of building classrooms in foreign countries, particularly those that have low support of female education, as well as low education ratings overall. It got me thinking about a shirt I once had…

During Christmas Break of my grade 12 year, my sister and I, as well as our youth group went on a mission trip to Peru. We were going to complete a church project, as well as sightsee a little while we were there. We spent months packing little gifts to give to the locals, fundraising, and creating a team name/logo. We called ourselves TYMES (Today’s Youth Missionaries of Edmonton South), and we were fortunate to have a graphic designer as one of our leaders who created these fantastic shirts. It was the only time that name would be used.

Of course we were all very fond of our shirts and took them with us to Peru. We loved our time working on the church and playing with the local children. In fact, we may have gotten in trouble for playing too much… But these kids were the happiest kids. They lived in cardboard lean-tos, knowing they could be kicked off the land at any time. And for the whole community of cardboard living spaces, the children had one ball. That’s it. No extra toys, just one ball. I couldn’t believe it. Rows and rows and rows of these cardboard things, so many children, and one ball. Even the sand had garbage and feces and hair mixed in with it, but these kids still smiled. Wow… that took me a few steps back… You really have no idea how lucky you are until you see firsthand what a third world environment is truly like.

The last day came of our time in this area. The church was completed, and we were attending the very first service with the locals. Of course, our neighbourhood children were there too, sitting on our laps, and just happy for a secure shelter over their heads. Saying goodbye to them was hard. They worked with us, sang with us, played with us, and even taught us a little Spanish. Thankfully, we were able to create big smiles with stickers, pencils, notebooks, lollipops, and little toys. But what really mattered was the extra we decided to give.

I don’t remember who started it, but I’m thinking it wasn’t me. Somebody in our group gave his/her shirt to one of the kids. As I said before, a shirt we were fond of, that would never be printed again. But I knew in that moment, that as special as that shirt was to me, it would mean so much more to these children. Yes, because they were poor and a new, good quality shirt would be wonderful to them, but also because they would always be able to remember the people who came and brought them gifts, even though we had no idea who they were.

It was then that I realized the truth: Everything in this world shall pass. God tells us so. We won’t be taking that shirt to Heaven. I won’t be taking my diamond rings to Heaven. Everything in this life will not be going to Heaven (objects… let me clarify!), but for the time we are here, we can make the most of what we have. Sometimes it will hurt out pride, absolutely. Sometimes, we may never get another chance at whatever item we give away. Sometimes, it may not even change a person’s life like we may have thought it would, but we can only do the best we can with what we have and what we know.

I don’t know if giving my shirt away made a world of difference in the child’s life. I have no idea. But I do know that at that moment, the smile and laughter and hugs I got in return were all that I needed to know for sure my shirt was going to the right place.

How Hard Are You Willing To Work For It?

I absolutely love this picture:

What is the significance of this picture you might ask? Well, diamonds, those expensive things we get in jewelry took many, many years to grow. They grew because of the pressure demands under the soil. Soil, which is basically nothing, waste to us, with much pressure, makes a diamond, something so expensive and so desired.

What about your goals in life? You may think as even I have thought, “I’m nothing. I can’t really do it. I’m not like those people. I’ll never look that way. I’m not good enough. I’m not smart enough for that.” It’s a trap, a downward spiral that will keep you from getting where you’d like to be. Why not try harder. Work harder. Ask these people that seem to be successful. I can almost guarantee that at least 90% of the successful people didn’t get to where they are without some hard work. Now that isn’t to say that some people inherited part of their success, or came to be one of those people that were at the right place at the right time, but many of the people who started with nothing just like the dirt, and came out successful just like the diamond put in a lot of hard work just like the years of pressure.

The real question is: How hard are you willing to work for it? How much effort are you willing to put into it?

Something that I’ve learned about creating a great body, the kind I have in my mind, is I have to be willing to work for it. That means watching my food, avoiding the cheat foods, and putting my best effort into my workouts. If you don’t want to exercise and would rather eat fast food than cook food at home to save time, you are going to get that same quality back. How hard are you willing to work for that body you want?

Or what about working a business? I work two businesses that I completely love the products. I would never work a business on products I don’t believe in. But if I really want to profit from these businesses, I have to put the work into them. If I don’t talk to people and don’t advertise, how are people ever supposed to buy from me? I’ve got to put the work in for it ever to get any productivity.

So take a moment, think of the things you’re working on, the goals that you have. And ask yourself: “How hard am I willing to work for it?”