Dot Connectors

Sometimes I end up on the phone with people that I may never directly work with, in a conversation that could last 20 or 30 minutes, merely connecting them with other networks or individuals that could be a better fit, or solution to their initial reason for reaching out. Often, our conversations and meetings lead to a future relationship that proves to be valuable to both of us. But I am learning that no connection, meeting, introductory email or phone call is EVER a waste of time....it is a DOT that we will connect eventually to something else.

A few years ago I had the privilege of meeting an amazing woman who started an apparel company to benefit non-profits all across the US. I saw her shirts at a local festival, and went back excited about the prospect of the possibility of having shirts made for Soles4Souls. This actually happened, and in the process, Ruth and I built a relationship from the start...mass production of t-shirts or not, we developed that connection.

She is now building her brand and moving to Nashville, and it is so exciting for her! Our friendship is growing, and each time she is in town, we have dinner. When she was in town over a month ago, she was telling me of an upcoming visit to Jerusalem to see her daughter and family, and I mentioned that Soles4Souls had recently partnered with an orphanage there to distribute shoes. She suggested that I "connect" her and the Orphanage Director, and I sent an introductory email. As providence would have it, the shoes arrived on Easter Sunday..about a week before she arrived, and Ruth ended up staying just minutes from the orphanage.

She was able to go and meet the sweet boys, see their shoes, and capture their thankfulness, energy and excitement! She sent pictures of her visit, and was so touched by the experience. In a later meeting with the Orphanage Director, Ruth discovered through connecting the dots of relatives and friends, that HER OWN UNCLE was responsible for installing the air conditioner units in the orphanage she visited! They had a plaque in his honor, and Ruth was able to take photos of this, and share this experience with her Mom (that was HER BROTHER). Ruth got teary-eyed telling me, as I did too!

WHAT.. A.. SMALL.. WORLD..

The point of my story is simply a POINT....A DOT. We are dots, so WE NEED TO CONNECT, and WE WILL CONNECT IF WE LET OURSELVES! Every relationship, business contact, email....answer it, foster it, grow it, AT LEAST TO A POINT...you never know what may happen...it may not directly happen for you...but it was such an enormous blessing to be the line between those DOTS, all the way in Jerusalem, at an orphanage for neglected boys. An adult businesswoman from Chicago was able to see what her family accomplished in her homeland...all because of a DOT.

Pick up your pen and connect the dots, what are you waiting for?

The Miracle of Growing....

My Momma has a green thumb...or more like 10 green fingers, hands and arms. The woman can grow some beautiful flowers and plants, she just has a gift for making beauty grow out of little roots, castaway plants or tiny buds from Lowe's. It is really amazing to me.

And I have noticed that once in a while there is a plant that nothing seems to work on, and all her usual tricks of the trade just doesn't help the plant. It just doesn't grow the way she hoped it would.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is 1 Corinthians 3:7 "So neither is he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth". In the Message translation, it say that God is at the "center of the process" of making things grow.

As humans, we can put forth all of the effort we want, use our God given skills and gifts, and have intellect, knowledge and expertise, but if God's hand or favor is not in the growth of it...maybe that is one reason why it is not growing.
I know that statement could open up discussion and differences of opinion.....sometimes I really don't understand why God does what He does, or better yet, why we do what we do.

But this verse is also a comfort to me too. That the sole responsibility of something growing to its fullest potential is not entirely on my shoulders. I plant, and I water...but then God will come down to my situation and at the center of my process, grow it as He wants it to be grown. Sometimes it dies, or maybe it grows strong roots....it could flower for one season or every Spring, regardless, He will grow it in His own way for His Glory.

And there is always a story too, when my Momma and I walk around her garden. She has a story about each plant, and its process of growth, or why it didn't grow and what worked and what didn't. And she uses each experience to make her a better gardener. And every plant she has, she pours everything into it she knows to do...because thats what you do when you plant a seed.

Those Watching Over Us...

"To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life. But to feel the affection that comes from those whom we do not know, from those unknown to us, who are watching over our sleep and solitude, over our dangers and our weaknesses-that is something still greater and more beautiful because it widens the boundaries of our being, and unites all living things" Pablo Neruda

I love this quote, I found it MONTHS ago, and took a picture of it from the magazine I found it in, because I didn't want to mistype it at all. Directly being loved by someone we recognize (family, friends, etc) is a powerful force....but giving and receiving love to and from those unknown to us is powerful. It is as though we cannot accept it, we don't know what to do with it. And as we give it, it feels very different from directly giving love to those we know personally. I see it a lot with my role at Soles4Souls, hearing the stories of feedback from our partners as they describe people's response to receiving a new pair of shoes. People are taken aback that someone wants to provide them with something they need, and YET...there is no connection between them other than being two humans.

As a believer, I love this because it directly parallels how it feels when God loves us....I am overwhelmed, often wait for it to be taken away (because it is just too good to be true), and then I am just in awe that Someone so big would love me. And I feel mysteriously closer to Him through that.

I read this quote too, and I think of all of the "caregivers" of our world-the soldiers watching over us, policemen, firemen, teachers and yes, I realize that in this great, big world we are interconnected....through love. And that makes me just say wow. Thats the best word I can find for it right now.

What I Learned in Tuscaloosa

The tornadoes came and left their marks behind....and in a matter of hours we were hard at work at Soles4Souls trying to get items of need to the victims of the horrible storms that pummeled the South. I started to google shelters in the Tuscaloosa area and learned that the University of Alabama was an emergency shelter. The very first person I got on the phone was a sweet voice that belonged to Judy and she was glad to see shoes coming her way for the students and individuals that lost everything. In one day, we had items on the way to Cullman and Tuscaloosa via Soles4Souls staffers and our partners at Cross Point Church.
And on Friday, April 29th, I headed down to Tuscaloosa myself. I had connected with Judy again, and wanted to survey the needs firsthand. Saturday morning I met her on a peaceful road right outside of town and followed her into utter devastation. Her husband is the pastor of a small church of about 200-300 people in the Cottondale area. We pulled up to a church that had severe roof damage, no electricity and power lines down all around it. But inside, there was an army of men, women and children mobilizing supplies, making meals and supporting each other.
Judy and I loaded up the Soles4Souls-mobile with food, toilet paper and cold water and began to drive around neighborhoods and deliver items...I was not prepared for what I witnessed. I have seen damage by floods and hurricanes, I have seen Haiti, with its chaos and overturned buildings still in shambles. This was unlike anything I have ever seen. Entire neighborhoods wiped clean...people walking around just picking up whatever scraps of their life they could identify. Strangers cutting through limbs and trees to clear streets so that people could get out. Foundations with homes that are no longer there....just a concrete slab. Trees popped in two like toothpicks....it was surreal, heartbreaking and breathtaking...

But it was also one of the moments in life that ground me, and how thankful I am for the moments....When I realize all that matters is what we give in this life, not what we take. And again I was reminded of how grateful I am for my job with this amazing organization full of people that are passionate about changing lives. Thankful for people like Judy, that through providence answered my call and invited me to join her and the congregation of Fleetwood Baptist as they served hurting individuals all day long. MINDFUL of the fact that every meeting, every email, every phone call is a chance to truly MAKE A DIFFERENCE.