A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

This week is about beginnings. Today in class I will hand out a project binder to each group. One of my favorite things in life is buying new school supplies at the beginning of the semester. I love the sense of organization and possibility that comes from putting together a binder with fresh tabs and ink-rich felt tip pens.

This semester, you will use the binder to capture your group’s ideas, to refine those ideas, and to build and document your final project. We have selected the projects because we truly believe in the potential of each to make a difference in an impoverished setting. As we begin, I ask each of you to think about your project in this context. Rather than thinking about what will get the job done, or what will earn an A for your group, I’d like you to think about what will truly make a difference for the people targeted by your project. And to continually ask whether your intervention is “appropriate” in all the ways that we’ve defined appropriate. Will it make a difference?

I read an amazing book this weekend, which I think is highly relevant to this point. If you haven’t read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller, go find a copy. Immediately. It’s that good. I already want to read it again.