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something i'm learning about myself...

in three days i will be done with the after school part of my involvement with bird street.  it feels like it's been a long year but it's also gone by so fast.  and i think i'll miss it in a way.  or at least i will certainly miss some of the kids i've been able to get to know over the year.

on thursday we had our year end party and awards ceremony.  i wanted to do something fun that the kids would enjoy, but also something that would speak into their lives.  who knows how much impact a green certificate with some words on it can have in a kids life, but i really felt like this was something we needed to do.

they loved the awards ceremony even if they didn't completely "get" it.  for each of them i created a certificate for something they accomplished or contributed during the year (everything from excellence in math to best laugh).  but then i also tried to connect their accomplishment to something they want to do in the future (for example the student who won the leadership award wants to be a teacher, so i tried to help her see how those go together).

i think this is a big part of who i am.  i really enjoy the opportunities i get to cast some vision into people's lives and help them see what could be.  whether it is a kid in an urban school, a college student, someone in our community group, my wife...i want to be the kind of person who cultivates vision and passion and not someone who squashes it.

andy stanley writes in visioneering: "what would happen if you were to begin speaking to people's potential rather than their performance."  there is somewhat of a fine line here...some people would say that its wrong or irresponsible to tell a kid they can be whatever they want to be.  but i think i would rather error on the side of speaking to people's potential.  and with the kids in my program it feels even more important to be "irresponsible" because not many people in their lives will be.

i guess what i am trying to say is that other people can speak to performance...i'm learning that my role is to speak to potential.