Do something!

There is something cool about how “small” technology has made our world. A few years back I had the privilege of performing a marriage ceremony for a great couple, but prior to their wedding, they lived in different countries and their pre-marital counseling was going to be a challenge. Thanks to technology we could Skype our weekly sessions while one of them lived in Israel, one lived in Pennsylvania and I was living in Oregon at the time. Technology shrunk the distance instantly. This morning I pulled up global information on my morning news feed. I watched a video from the Middle East, saw pictures from a friend in Amsterdam and read an article from a friend in the Ukraine. 15 years ago, that info was not a mouse click away, but today it’s instantaneous. In a moment we can be caught up in the beauty of this world, in the happenings of friends and family and in the special events that connect our lives.

And in the next instant we can be made aware of the broken world in which we live.

The smallness of our world has also brought to light some of the horrors of the global community. Everyday we read of the spread of terror across the globe. Everyday we read about the plight of people living without healthy food or clean drinking water. Everyday we are bombarded with political scandals, partisan half-truths and stories of the tragic loss of life. Every day we can see the best and the worst this world has to offer.

Prior to the explosion of social media, I honestly think ignorance was welcomed by many of us when it came to matters of global crisis. In one sense, it was just harder to get information. Unless you read about African poverty in a magazine or newspaper article, or saw a news special on TV about deplorable drinking water in Central America, the issue just wasn’t front and center. I remember in the early 90s when “We are the World” was a popular song, trying to bring awareness to some global issues that most of us were happily ignorant about!

Today, the access to knowledge about these problems forces a choice on us: We can choose to respond and do something, or we can choose to actively do nothing. But now we know, and pleading ignorance is no longer an option.

* Our friends Andy and Jodie were so moved by the problem of poor drinking water, they organized their church’s annual Christmas gift-drive to help villages dig fresh water wells. Two (or three?) times Andy led trips to the villages where they helped dig the wells and then celebrate with the villagers who had fresh water in their village for the first time, ever!

* My friend Justin was appalled by the human slavery issue, so he set out to learn more. Not only is it problematic in other countries, it’s disgusting reach is present here in the U.S., too. He reached out to civic leaders, has been invited to meetings and is making a difference.

* Two young ladies in Portland, Oregon, got passionate about helping the homeless in their community. What started as a few gift bags for homeless sign-holders on the corner, turned into a global movement called, “H2O: Help to Others.”

* In my home town, Salem, Oregon, a high school student was so moved by a study that revealed that homeless teenagers perform significantly better in school when they have new clothes they’re not embarrassed to wear, so this teenager decided to launch a campaign to raise awareness. They sold shirts that had a simple motto printed on them: “Give a Shirt”. Following the Tom’s shoe model, for every “Give a Shirt” purchased, a free shirt was given to a homeless teen.

The examples could go on and on, but the point is simple: when you know what could be done, and when your heart has been moved to do something, are you willing to get involved? The book of James reminds us that it’s not enough to be aware and simply do nothing. And while we can’t help in all the problem areas we become aware of, we can certainly get involved in one...or two!

My wife had her heart touched by the issue of sex trafficking, and so in June, she will be taking a 10-day trip to Thailand to help the women, young girls and children that are caught up in this perverse slavery. Learn more about her trip here, where you can also offer to support her in prayer and in finances.

Living the Overboard life requires an active response to the movement of God in our lives. Is there an area of your life where you feel compelled by God to act, but you haven’t taken the first step yet? Are you looking at the massive nature of a problem and unsure of where to start? Let me assure you, most issues can’t be solved by one person taking action, but a big dent can be made when many of us link arms and choose to move the same direction. Take the first step (learn more, attend a meeting, send an email, donate time/money to an organization already doing the work, take an exploration trip, contact a local civic leader, etc...) and see where the adventure ends!

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!

Afraid of water

My Aunt Judy loves to tell this story about my childhood. I’ve heard her tell it to my wife, to my two oldest children, to my sister and once to one of my cousins. She tells it well, so I still laugh every time, but the basic gist goes something like this:  

One summer when we drove up from California to visit your family (Aunt Judy is my mom’s sister), we all went up to the river together. All day before we left, and all morning as we drove up, Joe kept saying, “Today I’m going to show you how I can put my face in the water!” He was so excited to show us how he could put his face in the water and when we finally got to the river, unpacked our lunch, we all headed down to the water. Joe didn’t get his head wet the whole day, he didn’t even get close to putting his face in the water!

I’m sure there was a good reason I didn’t put my head in the water. In fact, as I remember the day, the water was full of piranhas and other face-eating fish. I was protecting myself from having to live a life with one eye and no nose! Convenient how my aunt always forgets to tell that part of the story.

I don’t know what was wrong with me that day. I had all the equipment (complete with face mask and flippers), I had all the desire (my younger sister was already swimming like a fish), but something about the water just terrified me, and my face didn’t even get wet. All the desire in the world doesn’t mean squat if you don’t take action.

Is there anything in your life that you want to do really bad, but you have never actually taken action toward it? Maybe it’s a dream vacation? Maybe it’s a plan to visit church again? Maybe you want to work on your marriage, improve your parenting, learn a new skill or start saving money for the future? Whatever it is, just having desire will never be sufficient to help you make those wishes a reality.

Likewise, just knowing how to do something doesn’t bring that thing any closer to being a part of your life. You can read all the marriage books you want, knowing what to do won’t improve your marriage. Brian Klemmer’s book title says it best: “If How-To’s Were Enough, We’d All Be Skinny, Rich and Happy!”

Passion can motivate us and knowledge can guide our movements, but if we don’t act on what we know and feel, we’ll never make progress toward our goals.

This past January, I begin the process of really focusing on my health. I started tipping the scales at 215 pounds (I hadn’t weighed that much since I was 9 months old!) and my new job had me sitting on my rear end quite a bit. So I talked to my wife, figured out what I needed to do (she is an awesome health coach) and set some goals.

Strangely, two weeks later I still weighed 215 pounds, I was still lacking any kind of energy and I generally felt lousy. So strange, because I wanted to start working out. I knew what foods I needed to eat and what dietary changes I needed to make but after two weeks, nothing had changed!

That’s when coach Traci stepped in and started using small words and drawing pictures so I could understand -- it was time for me to start taking action. I had to change my morning routine, had to start adding a workout during the lunch break and she helped me make a few minor meal changes. Shortly after that, in some carrot-drug-induced state she tricked me into signing up for a 1/2 marathon. As a result, I had to start adding a running program to my workout, because before February 14th, 2014, I had never run for more than 20 straight minutes at any one time in my life!

After about 8 weeks, I was beginning to see results. My energy was up, my weight was down and the changes Traci was helping me make were sticking -- this wasn’t a fast and furious trend, I was actually starting to make it a lifestyle. Great USANA shakes in the morning, vitamins twice a day, workouts 3-4 times a week and extending my runs so that on two occasions now, I’ve run for over 35 minutes. In fact I’m writing this today from a hotel room in Ohio, where it’s 12:30am and I just completed a 20 minute-run to make sure I got my workout in for the day. While I still hate running, I am enjoying the consistent schedule.

The point is this: we’ve got to take action on the desires and knowledge that we have. Your health won’t change with a subscription to Weight Watchers. You won’t get suddenly lean and motivated by reading Runners World. Those are helpful tools, but without action, they will only seek to fool your house guests into believing you are health conscious.

Today, you’re probably not lacking desire for change. Today, you’re probably not even lacking in knowledge, at least, not in the beginning stages of whatever it is you’re after. Today, you need to take action. Today you need to move on what you already know and move toward your goals and dreams.

What actions will you take today?

5 down, 35 to go.

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!