Teaching and Learning

Until a couple of years ago, I used to look at people who worked in service-type jobs -- both faith-based and otherwise -- with envy. I would tell each and every one of them that it must be great to do something that really makes a difference.

Well, I've come to realize that what I do makes a difference. Like this past weekend when our organization hosted a leadership conference for college student-athletes. The kids filled out a paper assessment that, in the words of the assessment because I couldn't say it this intelligently, "provides insight on an individual's unique behavioral styles and how those styles affect the way the individual communicates with others." We also invited nationally known guest speakers to speak on the subjects of diversity, the academic/athletic balance and values-based leadership. And we bowled!!!

So, yeah, I do make a difference in people's lives, but the beauty of events like these for me is that they teach me a whole bunch, too. It is like Job wrote in chapter 32:

 ⁷ I thought, 'Age should speak;
       advanced years should teach wisdom.'
 ⁸ But it is the spirit in a man,
       the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
 ⁹ It is not only the old who are wise,
       not only the aged who understand what is right.

Thank you, God, for the lessons we learn from the young and old; from the gifted speaker and the teenager. And thanks for the gifts that sometimes take awhile to discern ... like a job where you make a difference.