If you've never seen the movie, "Pay it Forward" you ought to because it's a MUST see. It has some very inspirational challenges within its two-hour body of work. One of the main characters is a young child by the name of Trevor who comes up with a grand idea for an elementary school class project. Trevor's plan is a charitable pyramid scheme based on good deeds rather than profit. He calls his plan "Pay it Forward", which means the recipient of a favor does a favor for a third party rather than paying the favor back. Trevor does a favor for three people, asking each of those people to do a favor for three others and so on....
Yesterday our family went to Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines to partake in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It was indeed a great day with beautiful music, connection with friends and a beautiful candlelight conclusion. But it was the message in between it all, that connected most with me.
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| See the Light, Can You find the Dove? |
Pastor Housholder's central theme was being the "light in the darkness". Look around you and there are plenty of reasons to be sarcastic, angry, hurt, afraid....anything negative you want to think about. Sure you probably have every right to feel the way you do...for just one second. Let's just get straight to the point. Look around you again. Look for the light that shines around you. If you've lost a family member, your job, your house, your health....it might be hard to see that light. Just keep looking. In that search you'll find the good that exists, the people who love you and just maybe the reason you were put on this earth. Soak that in. Keep doing that, soaking all the light you can. Now, take that good that you've realized and be the "light" for someone else. Pay it forward, again, and again and again....go way past that 3 person thing.
Several years ago, there was an elderly lady that went by the name of Granny Dot. She was the "light" to thousands upon thousands of military men and women. Not just at Christmas time, but the whole year round. Her story came to light, no pun intended, to a bigger degree this past Veterans Day. I thought I'd keep it in my back pocket until today and share it with you. The interview is a little long, but to me, it epitomizes the message from Trevor and Pastor Housholder. Enjoy the interview.....Merry Christmas to all and BE A LIGHT FOR AND TO SOMEONE.
YGG,
John
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