My Hero…

I love the show hero’s,  I haven’t watched it in a while, but the reason I love it, is it allows you to imagine what if i had this super power or that one, what would it be like.  I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid I was just like my six year old, She would love to be able to fly, I used to have dreams about flying.

Hero’s are great, they are bigger than life, and stronger than steal.  More courageous than a lion.  Real life hero’s although they don’t have supernatural powers, still seem bigger than us, more alive, more bright, and sharp.  It gives us this feeling that hero’s are people born to be hero’s.

lets think about it though when we think of a hero its about what they do. Usually what they do, anyone could do if they just made the choice to do it.  My hero for today, is my daughter Taylor.  She is 13 and an inspiring young lady.  She is right now in Mexico, working at orphanages, going to the dumps where people live, speaking to crowds of people about hope and faith.  She is inspiring, what makes her my hero, is something she said to me early this morning.  She said, “Dad i will never resist helping other people, I will never resist doing what God wants me to, even if it stretches me, because I know that what I do matters, and If I don’t do it, it keep others from the help they need.”

Yep, my hero, man I love that kid.  You should listen to your kids now and then, they might teach you something.

David-

Did You Change the World today….part 2

I met an educator today that is changing the world. As I have said before my wife is an educator and I am a Pastor, so our lives are great, we find ourselves in the path of need all the time, and get the opportunity to change our world one individual at a time, which is usually how it works. Never underestimate the power of one or few to bring real change. One of my favorite quotes is…

“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

I also Love Proverbs 31:8-9 (MSG)

“Speak up for the people who have no voice,
for the rights of all the down-and-outers.
Speak out for justice!
Stand up for the poor and destitute!”

Its important that those who can speak out, those who can help, do. If we don’t who will. There are those who can’t speak up for themselves or stand up for themselves, and even if they did they would not be seen or heard. We as teachers, have that responsability, because in my mind the most injustice in the world finds its focus on children or the young, and it is our responsability to teach, train and help them learn and grow, to partner with their parents to build a strong foundation for their future.

I connected with a young lady today that is doing just that. She is an assistant principal in one of our local middle schools (Del Crest Middle School, Midwest City, Ok). This particular school has a fairly impoverished population and she knew that a lot of her kids would be home alone over spring break, she wasn’t sure what they were going to eat, or if they would get breakfast and lunch, and she knew that most of them would be home that whole time by themselves and the idle time spent can easily turn into trouble. So She created a program where they could come to school over spring break. There were a certain number of Kids invited and then a certain number of students above that who could sign up to be a part.

She Invited some of her students who were struggling academically and this afforded them an opportunity to ask a lot of questions and get great tutoring, becuase the ratio was about one teacher to ten students.

She had 90 students show up and attend all week. She told me that it has been incredible. She and 10 other teachers gave up their spring break to be there for these kids. We played a small part by providing breakfast and lunch one of the days for everyone.

Wow! As I spoke to her I could see the fire in her eyes, she had great expectations for these students, and she got the results she expected. What a great thought, what a great educator to think beyond the norm, to think at the level of the students need, and how it intersects with the teachers dream. I am so impressed, and I will support her and work with this school as much as we can to be a help to someone who is changing her world today.

Inspired

David