Sunday, May 26, 2013

3 Lessons from the Potty

While I learn from books, teachings/sermons and conversations, many lessons come from real life events, moments when you experience an event and then realize it has application to a greater truth. One such lesson came for me yesterday.

Potty talk.

We had been talking about potty training for a while but had never really committed to the challenge. On Thursday, Polly finally decided that it was time to commit. After Genevieve's nap, we began the concerted effort to potty train Genevieve. This meant putting her in underwear instead of diapers. For the remainder of Thursday, Genevieve didn't tell us when she needed to use the potty and experienced accident after accident. The whole day Friday brought more of the same. The potty remained unused

Neither Polly nor I were instilled with confidence that Genevieve was going to use the potty any time soon. While we knew that it wouldn't likely happen overnight, we were hoping for progress. It was feeling a little hopeless. Then Saturday came.

Genevieve told us each time she needed to potty when she was wearing her underwear and used the potty each time. What a difference a day made! I know there will be more accidents to come and that we still have a ways to go in this journey, but Saturday brought hope!

The truth is that we knew she would eventually use the potty all by herself. But it took her actually doing it to bring hope. Up to that point, we were simply acting in faith. Here are 3 lessons this taught me:

You need to take that step of faith.

The positive results of Saturday would not have happened unless we finally took a leap of faith and put Genevieve in her underwear. Most things we are wanting and waiting for will not happen until we first step out and take action.

Today's results don't dictate tomorrow's results.

Although things seemed hopeless on Friday, we knew that it was only a day and a half and that the positive results would come. She was going to use the potty eventually. It would have been unreasonable for us to quit based on Friday's results. Tony Palow, pastor at Assembly of God in North Providence, RI had a great quote in his sermon today. He said, "We often give up instead of press in." That's true in many areas. When we're ready to give up, that's the time to press in.

Momentum is important.

There is a lot be said about the power of momentum. Positive results start multiplying quickly. It's exponential in growth. Some call this the snowball effect. What starts as a little snowball gets big rather quickly with a little momentum. And the bigger it gets, the more momentum there is. It's a great cycle.

The application.

We began raising our budget for Costa Rica last April. Over the first 9 months, we raised 17%. It would have been easy to be discouraged. But we knew the results of the first 9 months didn't dictate what would happen in the months to follow. Sure enough, 2013 kicked off with our best month yet. In fact, from January through April, we raised an additional 25%. The snowball was rolling.

Recently, with an eye toward leaving for Costa Rica in August of this year, we kicked off the 100 Days Campaign. We knew that we would need the 100 day period starting May 8 to far surpass our fundraising to that point. With over half our budget to raise, we recognized the need for a big miracle. We took the step of faith and pressed in. Things have started off strongly. After 18 days, we had already raised an additional 11% in new commitments. If we keep up that pace, we will be leaving on our target date.

So, we need to keep pressing in and keep that momentum going. Would you consider helping to keep that snowball rolling? A monthly commitment of any amount will do exactly that. You can set that up at http://s1.ag.org/brown or by clicking the "Partnering with Us" link above.

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