Sunday Morning: Do What you Can

Okay, you’ve heard me talk about how everyone has a purpose and I truly believe they do. Like I said, otherwise we would never have came into this world. But sometimes we don’t know what to do, or we think, “I can’t really do anything because I don’t have what it takes, money, a group of friends, the proper tools . . .” whatever we’re wanting to do, we can name stuff that we don’t have, but . . . what if we thought of things we do have . .

Wherever we are, however old we are, whatever we’re doing, we can do something. -Finding Purpose

Mary’s Fairy Garden

Get a piece of paper or your phone and write down five people that you admire. People that truly do their best with whatever they do, people that don’t let “what they don’t have” stand in their way. Someone that I admire is my cousin, Mary Loewen. She wanted to start her own “fairy garden”–she doesn’t call it this, but I do. Because it looks pretty like a fairy garden and the thing about this garden is, it’s in the middle of the desert. My cousin and her family live far south where people don’t really focus on pretty gardens, after all they live a desert. But that doesn’t stop Mary. She dreams big, she dreams beautiful and does whatever and however to make that garden come to life.

A few years ago she, with her mom’s help, planted fruit trees and almond trees; last year they made their own white wooden fence around it; this year so far they made beautiful flower patches with rocks they collected from the fields. . . by hand. She planted flowers, bushes and grapevines in the garden. She told me, after the grapevines fully cover their stand she wants to put a table and chairs underneath–like a fairy garden, right? And before all this she wants to plant grass and make walking trails and all sorts. But get this, last week she made her own fountain/bird bath. And she did this with supplies she found around the house. No, she doesn’t go pour water into the fountain/bird bath, it’s an actual fountain. She put a water pump underneath so it will automatically refill.

If she can make an oasis come to life in a desert, with stuff she collected around the house, on the fields, think of what you can do. Sure she had to put some money into it and she will most likely have to put a little more into it, but she does it a way that works for her. She doesn’t think of everything she doesn’t have, she thinks of everything she does have. And she builds up with that amount. She does what she can, with what she has.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might . . . Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV

Life Goes Beyond

Okay so I just mentioned some of the simple stuff. Now don’t get me wrong, thinking about what you do have and not about what you don’t have applies to life at home, life at school, basically everywhere and everything. And with this said, we know that thinking about what you do have goes beyond school and home.

I once saw a video where someone shared his testimony and he laid in bed while doing so, because he was paralyzed up to his shoulders. And later in the video he demonstrated what he did every day. I don’t remember what exactly he did, but I remember he worked on a computer. They positioned the laptop on a table by his head, then they put pencils in his mouth and he typed away. Very fast too! Remember, his hands were paralyzed, yet he went on about how busy he was.

This man was not downhearted with what he couldn’t do; he was high-spirited about what he could do. He did what he could and he did it beautifully. And not just this man, there are plenty other people who dont let “what they don’t have” stand in their way. Like Bethany Hamilton and Nick Vujicic. They are both incredible people who work with what they do have and don’t let what they don’t have stand in their way.

Bethany Hamilton is an american professional surfer. She lost her left arm in a shark attack many years ago, but she made a remarkable return and like we know, she’s now a professional surfer. Nick Vujicic is a christian evangelist and motivational speaker. He was born without legs or arms, but he swims, he writes, he draws, he plays drums! Now he does this all in his own way, not like we do. It’s so unique and interesting. I’m almost sure you’ve heard of these people before; they’re remarkable people to learn from. And I bet you’ve heard of others or you know them personally.

So you see, how other people focus on what they do have and not what they don’t have; they do what they can, no matter where they’re at or what they’re circumstance is. Now, pick up your paper where you wrote down the people you admire and write what you admire about them, then write down how you can learn from them. God puts incredible people in the world who we can learn from.

When we focus on the things that we can and not what we can’t do, we can do so much! We have to to believe that whatever we do; that when we do what we can, we will make a difference. Because we can and will, if–lets look at what we can do, and do what we can.