Broken

Every morning the boy filled the cart with the stones that he needed to move from the side of the Farm House, to the back of the Farm. He had been hired and given $50 to move to the rocks by the farmer because everyone knew what a good worker the boy was. After a few days working, the farmer decided to check up on the boy, because he knew he was working long hours and see his progress. The Farmer came around the side of the Farm House and saw that the boy still had a long way to go. Looking to the back of the Farm he saw the boy coming back up from taking his last load of rocks to the back of the Farm. What he saw shocked him. The boy was pushing the worst looking cart the Farmer had ever seen. Where the wheels were supposed to be, were only rims, the two handles were different sizes, the wood sides were cracked and broken in many places. As soon as the boy reached the old Farmer, he smiled and told the Farmer he would be done as soon as possible, but it was taking a little longer then he thought it would. The Farmer instead of being happy that the job was getting done at all, said to the boy, look at your cart boy. The rims are missing tires, the handles are broken and different sizes, the sides of your cart are cracked and broken in many places, why are you using such a horrible broken cart, isn't that making this job impossibly hard. The boy looked at the cart and did admit that it was much harder having to push the cart with no tires, he said that it did take him awhile to get used to pushing the cart with the handles being different sizes and admitted that he would often have to stop and pick up rocks that he had dropped from the cart due to the broken sides. Exactly said the Farmer, so why do you use it? The boy looked puzzled, but said honestly, sir it was all I had.

How about you, what have you been doing to "Make the Change" in your little part of the world this year? Do you feel like the boy, joyful just to help with what you have, or are you feeling like the farmer, "why am I having to use this broken down cart that makes everything impossibly hard??? I know how hard it can be to make a difference; I know how hard it can be to push a cart that is so broken that it barely moves. However, sometimes, if a broken down cart is all we have and someone needs a pile of rocks moved, we need to move it for them and just be honest with them and say, yes it may not look like much, hey maybe I don't look like much, but honestly "it is all I have". Can anyone ask more? You'll never regret helping!!! Spring is here and the warm weather will soon be on us and we will soon be out and about more often. Use the opportunity to find a way to use whatever you have and "Make the Change"!!!

Broken Love

We just celebrated the Easter Season and for me each Easter Season is a chance for me to review Christ's life on this earth and see the reason that I chose this life. When I look at Christ's life I see three things and for this post we will look at those things, because at least to me these three things are why this page exists and why I chose to live this life.
1st thing I see is Christ's way of looking at people:
Most everyone looked at Christ as someone who could provide something for them, or who could take something away from them. The ones who wanted something from Him would crowd Him with their requests and pressure Him to give them what they desired, never relenting, never giving Him any peace. The one's who thought He would take away their power and influence, they consistently pressured Him with questions and tried to trick Him all the time into saying or doing something that they could arrest Him or Kill Him for. However, whenever Christ looked at people, He saw people who just needed something that they didn't even know they needed. He always looked past the questions, past the motives and into the heart of the person and always tried to give them the answers and things that they really needed. He never tired of teaching, giving and answering the people who came to Him. Not to say He didn't get frustrated at times, but His frustration was not at the people themselves really, it was because He wanted so badly to give them a peace and an understanding that they were just not ready to or willing to understand at the time. It's so easy for us to get frustrated with people who are always asking for things from us, or people who always seem to try and get us into trouble. However, do we ever really look at these people and try to find out what they really are needing? Do we ever wonder why they keep coming to us? Do we ever look at them as opportunities, rather than nuisances.
2nd thing I see is Christ's impartiality:
One of the things that really attracted me to Christ was His impartiality when it came to picking His disciples and with who He helped. So many of us stick to the people who are just like us. We feel more comfortable only with like minded and socially equal people. Since I have always been on the fringe of normal and a little odd, the people who chose to befriend me had to learn to accept me for my oddness and normal side. When I saw how Christ accepted all people, even those who were at first strongly against Him, it made me feel like Christianity was exactly what I was looking for. It was a religion that accepted all people and weren't just looking for those who were "just" like themselves. I found a place to finally fit in, even with all my flaws and oddities. It's a great feeling to find people who are willing to just like you, for who you are. To be able to be yourself and know that you will be accepted. Jesus always let his disciples be themselves and accepted them for who they were. It didn't mean that they didn't have disagreements or conflicts, what it meant was that even when there were disagreements or conflicts, they were never in danger of losing His Love, Friendship or Commitment. Are we willing to do this with our friends. Do we seek out only people who are like us or who are on equal social standing? Or do we give everyone a chance to get into our inner circle and accept those who are different from us?
The 3rd thing I see in Christ:
This last thing I see hit me hard between the eyes and that is His unfailing Love for all people. A lot of bad things have happened in my life, I have met a lot of pretty bad people. However, to read and truly try and understand what Jesus went through just prior to the Cross and then the actual Cross itself, the weight of His few last words on earth cut me to the core of my being. He could have easily been angry, He could have cursed all those who were there, but the three things He did would show Love on a totally different level then I had ever seen or understood to be possible. The first thing was He ministered to a criminal and promised that criminal, that He would join Jesus in Paradise. This criminal admitted that what he had done and the reason he was there on the cross was deserved, but Jesus saw his change of heart, he saw the truth of repentance in his words and instead of worrying about His own problems, His own pain, He chose to give peace to a repentant soul. The next thing He did was to ask that God forgive all the people who had beaten Jesus, spit on Him, pulled out His beard, hurled curses at Him, nailed Him to a Cross, cast lot's for His clothing and humiliated Him with a crown of thorns. How could He find the depth of Love it would take at such a time, near death, in pain and agony that can't be explained, to yell out for God to forgive them!!! The third thing was, He was committed to finishing the plan that God had for Him and that was a plan of redemption for us all. He willingly gave His life for us all. He endured all this pain, torture and humiliation for us. This was the ultimate act of Love. No greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. The only greater love I've seen, is the Cross, where Christ laid down His life not only for His friends, but also for those who hated Him. Do we find this kind of depth of Love for people. Do we love those people who frustrate us, hurt us, get on our last nerve? What I loved about Christ and Christianity that came through Christ, is that it gives that kind of love to it's followers and it's followers are called to give it back as well!!!
So why did I call this post Broken Love? The reason is because after reviewing Christ's love this Easter Season, I find myself asking all those questions at the end of each of those sections and finding myself lacking. I read article after article from churches that seem to have lost their connection to the three things above. They choose to pick out certain people, like Homosexuals, women who have abortions, drug dealers, prostitutes and they attack them, they call them names and they resist allowing them into their churches. They call them abominations and it breaks my heart!!! If you look up the word abomination in the bible, you will see that all sin is called abomination. It says in the bible that no liar will enter into the kingdom of God. We the Church however, choose to ignore the places in the bible that relate to us. We choose to ignore those sin's that we commit to easily, like lying, sex, anger, using God's name in vain. We miss the point totally when it comes to sin. Jesus understood that to Make the Change in a person's life, to give them peace, to capture the heart of anyone, you must be willing to do all of the three above things. Anyone who has chosen to walk the path of Christianity, must also walk the path of unconditional love. A depth of love that seems to be broken in many places today.
So are we ready to "Make the Change" in our little part of the world? If we want to have any chance, we must not start with a broken love, filled with our past's, our conditions, our bias. We must be willing to have a complete love, one that is open to differences, inconveniences and one that is open to understanding and to look through the outward and into the heart of a person!!! I love my choice to follow Christ and my choice to try and spread His love into my little part of the world. Whatever your reason for reading my posts, or being a part of this page, take at least this away, people need more love!!!

The Broken Vase

A young man drove to his grandpa's house after the memorial service. He and his grandfather were very close and it was given to him to clean out the house his grandfather had lived in for 55 years. After spending several days packing up his belongings he was in the attic and found a box with the word "Potential" written on the top of it. When the young man opened the box he found 50 broken pieces of what looked like something of Chinese make. The young man donated most all of the boxes to charities, but kept the box that said potential and took it home with him. He decided to see if he could put the pieces back together and see what it was. So he researched the best adhesive to use and began to put the pieces back together one by one. It took the young man several weeks to figure out which pieces went together and how they went together but he finally finished and when he did, what he had, was one of the most beautiful vases the young man had ever seen. The pieces had fit back together so well that all that showed was a small thin line where the pieces went together, but the way they fit, the design actually made with vase look really cool. The young man displayed his vase right on his table where all could see it and everyone told him how beautiful the vase was and he always had beautiful freshly cut flowers in the vase. He had never understood why his grandfather had put those pieces in that box and wrote that word "Potential", but now as he looked at his beautiful vase, and remembered all the compliments he had received on it, he knew what his grandfather knew about those pieces of broken vase. If someone just took the time to research what would work best to put them back together, and then spent the hours carefully working the pieces back into their rightful place, the vase could be beautiful and useful again.

The young man began to think about how people are much the same. So many of us have so much potential, but are often broken by life's circumstances. All we need is someone to invest the time to figure out what it is that would help put us back together and we would become beautiful productive people again. So what about you, do you know any broken people in your life, do you know people who could use your time and investment, do you know people who have potential? If so, would you be willing to "Make the Change" in their life? I hope so, I hope that all who read this story can find a way to see the beauty in those who have been broken and hurt by this world and can learn how to invest your time, energy and efforts in putting them back together and becoming the change in their life's!!!

The World Was Not Worthy of Them

Make the Change Mission is all about each of us realizing that we have the power to change our relationships, our neighborhoods, our communities, our cities, our states, our country and our world. Not through amazing feats of miraculous miracles. Not through large sums of generous donations. Not through amazing feats of talented marketing, but through our actions, our words, our deeds and our faith.

I read a verse of scripture this week that completely threw me for a loop. Scripture has a tendency to do that so many times in my life, which is why I continue to study it. However, this scripture hit me because it made me realize that each of us can in God's eyes be worthy of His trust and his praise. It also reminded me, that we can be more then just "Sinner's saved by Grace". I hear so many people use that as an excuse to live unproductive lives for God. I also hear a lot of people say, hey I'm just human not God. This verse changed all that for me, it confirmed something that I have believed for along time and that is this. We are capable of living lives that are worthy of God's notice, trust and praise. We are also capable of resisting that which would hurt our reputations and our characters. Is it easy ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! But what is!!! I hope that when I finally leave this world, this will be said of me, maybe not by those who knew me, but it would be nice, but by God when I finally get to meet Him face to face. I hope that through my actions, my words, my deeds and my faith, I will be found worthy of this statement, as so many have been before me. I am sure your wondering what in the world it could be that he found. This is it:

Hebrews 11:38 "the world was not worthy of them." WHAT only seven words, well that's not the whole verse, but that is what hit me smack dab in the face. If you read the whole chapter, it is the chapter that speaks of those people who had faith in God and through that faith stayed true to that belief even in horrifying circumstances and stayed true through amazing miracles. In the end however, they were held in such a high place that the writer actually said "the world was not worthy of them". I have never looked at myself or those I serve with as those kind of people. I have always been taught to be humble and not look to that kind of fame or esteem. However, shouldn't I pray that God would look at my life and would be able to say after my death, "the world was not worthy of him".

It also got me thinking that so many times, I look for the approval of my peers or those I serve with, those in the world I think of how they view me. This verse has showed me that those who stayed true to God, who stayed true to their faith, they weren't loved by the world, they weren't appreciated by those who they ministered to, but they were loved and appreciated by God!!! So, the next time you are struggling, you are wondering why me God, you feel that no one understands, you just don't feel like making the change. Remember this verse and remember, that we are not working for a prize that we will leave behind when we are buried, but are working for treasures that moth and rust can not touch and will last far after your life on earth is done!!! Don't ever forget how important you are to God and His plan. He designed you, created you, formed you, gave you the talents, skills, personalities and even the quirks, in order to help you in the mission that is your life journey. You matter, you effect people, you effect relationships, you effect this world. You have the chance to make the change and do it by choice, not by chance or accident. Start today!!!

New Years Resolutions

New Years Eve, a day when everyone starts to put "The List" together. Oh you know what list I'm talking about, the list that always starts with I am gonna lose weight this year. I am gonna read my bible every morning this year. I am gonna walk everyday this year. I am gonna use that treadmill that has been in my basement for 10 years this year. Yes it's coming back to you now right, you remember, the New Years Resolutions List. Some people have already started to fill up my news feed with their list, most of which are listed above. This seems to be the time of year that we as people decide that we need to do what every good American does at this time of year and that is, make a list of what "I" am going to do to make "ME" better this year. I have seen lots and lots of creative things that will even help us remember the great things that have happened to "ME" this year. A creative person posted a picture of a large canning jar that had a note on it, that read "Starting January 1st write good things that happen to you on little pieces of paper: Surprise Gifts, Accomplished Goals, The Beauty of Nature, LOL Moments, Memories Worth Saving, Daily Blessings, then on December 31st open the Jar and read all the amazing things that happened to you in 2014!" I bet some of you are even writing that down because it's such a cool idea and it is. It's the American Way!!! Be all that you can be!!! Do all the cool things that you can do!!! Take all the cool adventures that you can take!!! Make your life as good for "YOU" as possible!!! Do you see a theme here? I do and I have for years now. News Years Day, has always been about "ME"!!! Well, several years ago, I was challenged to make life not so much about "ME" but more about "OTHERS"!!! So, I came up with this page and also a blog. For several years now, my News Years Resolution List has been made up of ways that I can help improve others lives. I have found it much more satisfying and much more worthy a goal, to spend my year helping others improve themselves, give others opportunities to check off a few of their Bucket List items. I have at times walked along side those that I have helped, others I have simply in the quietness of my room prayed for and written emails, Facebook posts and private messages, others I have labored for hours at my table, in my chair, making things that will help them through our winter months. The challenge I have for all of you, is this.......when you make out your New Years Resolutions this year, make at least two, that involve helping someone else improve themselves or their lives. Something that will "Make the Change" for them, that when they open their Jar December 31st, they will have at least two things to read, that were a result of your involvement in their lives. Happy New Years everyone, may this be the year that you "Make the Change" and find your Jar full December 31st!!!

Well last month was tough, Pneumonia, broken tail bone, lower spine crooked and disc's dying or dead, pain, fatigue, weakness and all around not so good feeling at all. However in order to "Make the Change", I can't let those things stop my mission, or make me lose focus on the goal and that goal for me, is finding ways to change peoples life's in my actions, my words, my deeds and my faith. Sometimes when illness or physical disabilities take away one part of my mission and stops me from fulfilling another part of my goal, I have to go to another part. I used to be so hung up on the physical aspect of my disability that it stopped me all together from "Making the Change" in my family, my friendships and my community. It nearly did me in, but when I remembered the whole mission, it includes things like "Words" and "Deeds" and "Faith". These things don't need to include the physical, but can be done sitting on my chair. Last month I found ways to "Make the Change" by making things for people, encouraging people who were needing a good word or a reminder of the blessing's in their life. Giving people Christ's love and another way I "Make the Change", is accepting help, encouragement and actions from the people who love me. It's hard sometimes to let people know that I need the very things that I try so hard to accomplish in my mission, but I do and last month I received that change and felt the prayers and read the words of encouragement and it made such a difference for me when I was feeling pretty down. So, even though in our life's there are many obstacles to our mission of "Making the Change", don't let them deter you from it, let them be catalysts to figuring out new ways of accomplishing your missions, not letting your weaknesses rule you, but make you stronger by figuring out ways that you never would have thought of if those weaknesses weren't there. Our circumstances can break us, or they can help to teach us a new way of thinking. Are you letting your circumstances stop you from your mission and your chance to "Make the Change" in your little part of the world. If so, remember the whole mission statement and know that there are many ways to "Make the Change", sometimes it just takes a little thought, determination and out of the box thinking. So use November to figure it out and while your figuring it out, go ahead and "Make the Change", it will only make you stronger and give you a strength you never knew you had!!!

New Years

It's that time of the year when Make the Change Mission gets to look back at 2012 and see if I and we have kept on track with the goal of this Blog page and that is “finding ways to change people’s life’s in your actions, your words, your deeds and your faith." I truly believe that each one of us has the ability to change our homes, our families, our neighborhoods, our communities and our states. We don't have to be scholars, college graduates, all "A" students, politicians, community leaders or fairy tale hero's. If you are any of those, all the better!!! However, all we have to be is ourselves!!! The more that I find myself meeting people, the more I realize how important each of us are. We all have a unique opportunity to impact the people, the community, the neighborhoods, the families, the homes we live in. I am more and more convinced, that if each of us takes the time to put into practice the "motto" of this page and Make the Change, we will see more and more people, finding hope, joy, happiness and peace, in these troubled times. Each person you meet has a need, each need has a purpose and each purpose can create for us a path, a path that leads us down one road or another. We all want to believe that we don't need anyone else, we are raised from children to become "adults" and what does that mean? It means that we are able to go out on our own, make our own decisions and no longer "need" our parents or anyone else. This concept has lead us as adults to believe that if we need someone, than we are failing in what we have been taught our whole lives. This could not be farther from the truth. Yes, being an adult often means that we venture out on our own, we find our own way and we find our own lives, but never should it mean that we no longer "need" our family, our friends, even sometimes strangers that we have yet to meet. As human beings, we are relational beings and with that nature, comes the need to "need" others. So many people that I meet and talk with truly need someone to invest time in their life and invest in a relationship with them. I am amazed at how many people even though they have "a lot" of friends, feel so alone. Many of the most outgoing people, often find themselves sitting on the couch at night praying that they had someone that understood them, someone that they could tell everything to, but feeling like there is no one there for them. This past year has found me in so many places that I never would have been five years ago. With each new person I find, with each new project I take on, with each new opportunity I seek out, I find a person, a group, a community, waiting for me. It is so exciting to go out each day looking for the opportunity to serve and never being disappointed. This past year has found me helping to feed over 840 people that were hungry, it found me helping fund my son’s mission trip to Joplin MO. and watching him impact several families devastated by natural disasters and also seeing him and our youth leader grow a bond that has changed him in so many ways, all of them good. I have found myself at many houses helping to fix computers, build dream houses and many other odds and ends, not because I am strong, able bodied or even capable of building a house, because I am not, I am disabled, but I found ways in all those cases to help in whatever way I was able and I found in all those cases, people open to a crippled guy who could give them an hour or two of help and it made a difference, it helped, it created a friendship, a bond, a trust, that I was there for them and I found later, that those same people were there for me when I needed them!!! I found myself answering the call of an old client of mine that turned into me saving her life, because after meeting with her and talking with her I found that she was going to kill herself, but because of our "chance" meeting, because I was open to the principles of this page, she and my family connected and she didn't kill herself and she made it through another Christmas. I found myself working with my girls knitting hats for the homeless and hurting in Flint, 74 hats we made and my daughter and I were able to pass those hats out to over 60 people, knowing that they would at least have warm heads this winter. I found myself following a man home that had run out of gas and helping him out and seeing this big huge man holding his little girls hand, crying, hugging me, telling me how that help was an answer to his prayers. I found myself at our church, giving people a Christmas, who without our church would not have had Christmas, they received gifts that blew their minds. Hearing them tell me how blown away they were that they were getting the kind of gifts they were and how thankful they were. I found myself out in Flushing on Taste of the Trail, again with our church, handing out trail mix and meeting a group of guys that have impacted my life tremendously. They are the Greater Flint Muddler Minnows. I met them out on the trail and something told me to join their group, something that I have never done, EVER!!! I gave them my last $25 for membership fees and am now a member of their board, have become good friends with the president of the club and have been so blessed by him and the opportunities that I have had because of them. There were so many, many more experiences that I had that made 2012 an amazing year, not because I fulfilled my New Year’s resolutions, not because I was able to lose those 30 pounds that I was hoping for, not because my health improved, but because in 2012 I was able to find ways to change people’s life’s in my actions, my words, my deeds and my faith. My hope this year, is that all of us will strive to make that commitment, to use each day as an opportunity to Make the Change and therefore make a difference that will last beyond our resolutions!!! Happy New Year Everyone!!!