Welcome to the February 16th edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
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The Story of My Week.
Years ago, I heard someone say, “All you have to do to stand out is go into a place where everyone is doing the wrong thing and do the right thing instead.”
One of the practices I have created for myself is showing up early for any event I have been invited to.
Over the weekend, I was invited to a birthday celebration starting at 6 pm. I was there before the time and knocked at the door at 5:59 pm.
As it would turn out, everyone else decided to come later…the event did not start at 6 pm either.
Someone else had told me the day before, “It might be better for you to arrive at 6:30 pm. African time”
I can’t.
Why? It’s my nature to honour people who invite me to events by arriving at the time they asked me to.
I recall a friend of mine who had asked me to be his best man. Because of the distance from his family house (where he was coming from) to the church, we agreed to meet at the church.
Before they left the house, his mum was worried and wondered, “Are you sure your best man will be there?” He responded, “I am 100% sure he will be there early.”
He called me on their way to church to find out where I was. I was already in church waiting for him. I arrived much earlier than they anticipated.
He responded, “I knew it.”
That is the reputation I commit to keep.
Even if everyone else is not living up to arriving early.
Things I Learnt
1 - When God Encourages You: Over the past week, I have gotten two calls from people who have provided me with a unique view of how God encourages.
The first person is an old friend that I haven’t spoken to in a long while. He gave me a bit of catch-up stories on what has been going on in his world.
The summary was this - he was pursuing the unique path that God had called him to walk and even though it is not producing the “external results” that people ascribe to such acts of obedience, He was secure in God.
The second person is even more interesting. We were classmates during our undergraduate days but were never in the same circles. We were now in the same WhatsApp group for our class.
I had reached out to her to review my book last year as part of the review board I had, which she agreed to do.
At the beginning of the year, I had shared my New Year prayer with her. The prayer stumped her enough to send me a message asking if the word was from God to her.
She called me up during the week to know how I got it. Well, I told her that it was for me. I even printed, framed it and put it on my desk to remind myself of what I need to do this year.
Interestingly, she had also done the same thing…OK, she didn’t frame hers. She put it by her bed.
She told me a bit of her story and the faith transitions she has had to make.
Her story encouraged me.
Both of their stories encouraged me.
God encouraged me.
2 - Giving the Impossible Mission: I reached out to a group of 4 members of staff across 4 different teams.
Only one of them works in a team I cover.
I gave them an impossible mission.
The parameters were simple - develop a product that will sell at about 40% lower than the price we currently offer similar products without compromising the minimum margin the company has.
They could redesign a product from scratch within the boundaries of what I had set.
Why did I call it an impossible mission?
It requires deep thinking.
That is the impossibility of the mission.
Creating new possibilities is one thing that I am finding rare nowadays.
People find it easier to copy rather than invent.
It’s OK to copy if you can copy and innovate.
Ask Deepseek and ChatGPT.
I am looking forward to the results that this Impossible Mission Team will deliver.
Postscript
May you always be committed to doing the deep work required to achieve your Impossible Goal. Amen
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Tola - The Everyday Disciple
I help Christians like you who want to live intentional lives incorporate their faith into everyday life so they can make Christ-focused decisions in all areas of life and truly live to make an impact and make God happy.
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