.png)
Each month I have the opportunity to go out and speak with students at our Lutheran grade schools during their theology class. I work through different themes over the course of the school year and I have the chance to talk about the theme, have some of our Valley ambassadors share, and usually engage the class in some sort of related game or activity. It is always fun to be at these schools and share with them during this time. The theme we are working through right now is the power of saying "Yes!" Too often we get caught in a rut in our lives. We get stuck in our routine and generally don't like that to change too much.
When we have our eyes open to new opportunities around us it can be a very powerful thing. The ability to say yes to the people we come in contact with can change them and us. It can be as simple as giving someone a ride to where they need to go, or paying for a friend's lunch, or any assortment of things. But there is great power in using the ability to say yes to the people around us.
When speaking with the grade school students I have used the story from Mark 2 where Jesus heals the paralytic. The characters I like to focus on are his four friends. We don't know their names and they are never referenced again in the Bible. But they said yes to helping a friend and bringing him to Jesus. We see such a simple example and how it completely changed the life of their friend, and is something we still learn from 2000 years later.
What opportunities do you have to say "Yes"? I would encourage all of us to look for the small, and maybe even not so small, chances in our lives to say yes to others. It can have an impact far beyond what you could imagine.