And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward –Matthew 10:42

Late last night I couldn’t sleep.  I had an Elvis song stuck in my head.  Playing on repeat.  Not a great start to an otherwise wonderful night’s sleep.  The song went something like this, “A little less conversation a little more action…”  Blah, Blah, Blah, I don’t remember the rest of the words.  Sorry.  Please forgive my voice, but you know what I’m talking about.  Hope it doesn’t keep you up tonight. 

Or maybe I do. 

Not because it’s a spectacular, well put together song, but because we need a lot less conversation and a whole lot more action.  Not action done for the sake of acting or for the sake of simply doing the right thing, but action done for the sake of loving people because we are called to passionately and compassionately love them.  The type of loving that has very little to do with us and everything to do with the simple act of just loving.  I tend to get caught up in the planning to love people and not in the going out and actually loving people.  I have a feeling I’m probably not alone.  Charles Lee of the !Deacamp has some inspiring words to say about acting in love and some great reasons why we, especially the church, should.

In light of being more actionable, here’s a video of a church that believes loving through our actions can be (and actually is) as simple as handing out a hot cup of cocoa on a cold winter morning.  Jesus said that was enough.  I tend to agree.  So, I joined them.  And so did Steven Shattuck of CMC MediaGroup in order to capture the adventure.  Enjoy.  Then go and love.

*As a follow up to this post, thanks to your enthusiastic voting and participation, this blog was voted 19th most popular blog in Indiana for 2009. Thank you very much for voting, for your continual readership, and for constantly challenging me to grow in every way. Your commitment means so much to me, and I am truly humbled that you continue to follow and support this effort. Thanks for journeying with me. I look forward to the many adventures ahead and to supporting many of you in the future. Thank you.*

There is a vivacious, growing community of people living in Indianapolis and all over Indiana, that attempts, every day, to impact people around them in a positive manner.  Whether it’s through their entrepreneurial business efforts, their musical abilities, their artistic creativity, or just their attitude towards life in general, they are there; living, working, playing and impacting people, desperately striving to help and serve others to the best of their abilities.  Many of these same people, including myself, also enjoy writing about their attempts, their lessons learned, their services, their friends in need, their faith, and their lives in general.

If you have a desire to support these people, including myself, in our efforts and our writings, vote for us by clicking here (no information required) and then selecting your favorite blogs: Indiana’s Top 50 Blogs.

Thank you very much for journeying with me and for your support.

Do you believe that persistence pays off?  

If you genuinely believe in a concept or a new way of doing something or a business venture or a song, do you also believe that if you are not immediately successful you will be eventually?  I believe persistence pays off.  I believe that taking advantage of positive, goal-guided opportunities is worth it both in the short-term and the long-term.  I believe that success, authentic success, is achieved drip-by-drip until eventually your container flows over.  What do you believe?  Do you think success should be immediate?  Do think it should require very little effort or sacrifice?

Jon McLaughlin is a musical artist.  He has a raspy, bluesy type of voice, and he plays the piano.  He’s from Anderson, Indiana, and last year he released an album entitled Indiana.  The album did alright.  Sales were nothing spectacular, but Jon didn’t give up.  He persisted.  He believed in his music.  He believed that he had something to offer, something that people needed.  He pursued opportunities, no matter how unimportant or even silly they initially seemed, in order to continue his path towards fulfilling his goals and dreams.  So, he sang a song for a Disney movie called Enchanted (kind of silly).  Nobody really watched it, yet his song got recognized.  Because he did that one song for Disney he was asked to be on the 80th anniversary of the Grammy awards show.  Big Time.  Drips were accumulating.  After that one appearance his Indiana album sales sky-rocketed.  Oh, excuse me.  I should have said that after performing thousands of times on hundreds of different stages all across the state of Indiana, his album sales sky-rocketed.  So called small opportunities lead to bigger and bigger ones which eventually lead to huge success.  After the Grammy’s his sales increased 1,514% on Amazon.  Overnight.  

Success comes to those who are willing to persist and adapt to the changing needs and desires of those directly around them.  Be a visionary.  See the opportunity in every situation.  By the way, check out Jon.  He’s a Hoosier like me so I hope that you enjoy his music or at least learn from his story.