Start Something That Matters...181

So I know I have taken some time off from my blog.  I understand this is a big no no if you are wanting to build a loyal following, but I felt stuck.  For several weeks I have been reading some very good books.  It started with Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz.  Then I went to another Miller book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.  Both of those books moved me and I wouldn't say shook my faith but they had me questioning the way I was living out my faith.  Seemed to me like I was just paying lip service to a big part of Jesus' ministry.  Me and Jesus were fine but somehow I had forgotten the part about loving and serving others.

The next book I picked up was Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes.  He tells an amazing story.  From such a tiny upstart company, with an unproven business model and concept, he began something remarkable.  The book would be worth it just to hear his story of TOMS, but the book also details so many good stories of entrepreneurs, starting companies, and giving back to society.  I think the book does a good job of achieving the author's goal of inspiring the reader to get involved and begin taking steps to create a better world.

I don't know where all this will lead me but I think my attitude toward certain social and environmental issues has changed.  My wife and I have begun volunteering at an outreach program that helps underprivileged kids with homework and reading.  This next weekend we will help our church pack meals for Feed My Starving Children.  Please believe me when I say that I am not trying to pat myself on the back and make myself look like a saint.  I just feel like it's time to begin taking my focus off of me and begin looking at a world that needs shoes, love, food, fathers, generosity, mothers and Christ.  I know this is pretty deep for a Disney World blog but it's my new voice.

At one point in Blake's book he asks the question, "If you didn't have to worry about money, what would you do with your time?  What kind of work would you do? What causes would you serve?"  So the first two were easy for me to answer...I would go to Walt Disney World and I would work for WDW.  The third one was more difficult.  So my new goal is to try to figure out how to combine my love of the World with my new found compassion for the world.  When I discover that...watch out!!

Thanks for reading.