For a few years I’ve been a supporter of an organization called Charity:Water. Their vision is to give clean water to the billion people on the planet that don’t have it. And for the first time today, I realize how important their work is.

Because of construction on the main road near my neighborhood, we’ve had our water shut off all day. I actually remembered late last night they were shutting it off, so I filled up a gallon jug and put it in the fridge. When I woke up this morning, I completely forgot and realized as soon as I finished my shower that I’d used all the water in the tank and it wouldn’t fill up until tomorrow. Not having unlimited access to water changes your entire day. I’m having to be strategic about going to the bathroom, washing dishes, and what to cook to eat. I was going to cook the kids mac and cheese for lunch, but I don’t have the water to cook the noodles. The laundry basket is overflowing, but I can’t wash them.

Today I realized the simplicity and complexity that the clean water issue poses. Water really changes everything. Thanks Charity Water for your work. I am more bought in than ever. Go here to see the great work they are doing.

My 16 month old daughter said “no” for the first time the other day. It was terrible and frightening. That’s one of the select words  you don’t want occupying 25% of your child’s vocabulary. And then it hit me…I’m the one who taught her!

Imitation is a great form of flattery and a dangerous type of parenting. By imitating me, my daughter picked up on a word that when used improperly, shows great disrespect and defiance (all things we would rather not see in our kids!).

The affect of imitation is powerful. That’s why Paul instructed the first church to be imitators of God (Eph 5:1). As I reflect on that verse in light of the experience with my daughter, here are some thoughts on imitation:

1. You can’t imitate who you don’t spend time with.

My daughter doesn’t imitate you because she doesn’t spend time with you. She imitates me because she is with me most of her day. We can not imitate God if we are not spending time with him.

2. Imitation takes multiple contact.

You don’t start imitating someone after one small encounter. My daughter picks up habits after watching me or my wife do something over and over. It’s never a one-time event. It takes repetition, thus the importance of number 1.

3. Imitating God seems impossible.

How in the world can we imitate Almighty God? He is perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful. We can imitate him because we are created in his image. We can imitate him because with the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. And we can imitate him because of his grace that we have freely received.

Living the life that God has for us is one of invitation and imitation. Follow me Jesus said. Then he said, do what I do. That’s what discipleship looks like.

Stay in the race long enough.

Others will quit, drop out, find excuses, give up to early.

Persistence is the key. Keep going when you feel like quitting. Most people can’t win because they don’t stay in the game long enough.

I’m reading a book on the craft of writing by a very accomplished novelist. With over 30 years of writing on his resume, his words carry the wight of experience and passion. He’s been down the road I’ve just started on, so my ears are wide open. When he was investigating whether he could be a writer or not, he sought the advise of a seasoned author who told him what it would take. Here’s what he said:

“If you want to be a writer, the secret is to write, write, write, and keep writing. It’s just that simple, and that terribly difficult.”

It’s that simple.

And that terribly difficult.

This is the big wall that divides most people from those that make it. This is not solely for writers either. In all the areas of our lives that we want to be successful, you have to work on it consistently for long periods of time.

Want a good marriage? Work on it everyday. It’s that simple and that terribly difficult.

Want to be in good shape? Work out multiple times a week and eat healthy.

Want to start a business? Work on it at nights every week.

It’s that simple and that terribly difficult. And it is difficult.

It’s difficult for me to keep writing because I’m busy. I have tons of responsibilities. I have a wife and two small children. There are errands to run, bills to pay, chores to do. It’s difficult.

But the reality is, its difficult for everyone. Everyone is busy. Everyone deals with similar setbacks. The key is to find time each day (week) and work at it. Set a realistic goal that will also stretch you. For me, my goal is to write every day a minimum of 500 words. I try to blow past that every day, but 500 minimum. I do that for a month and I’ve got 30-40% of a new book.

My wife is a great example. For years she wanted to start a photography business. She had the talent and skills. Finally a few years ago, she started making the time. Each day, each week, she kept working on her craft. And it is paying off. She’s one of the top life-style photographers in our city now. She has been booked solid for 4 straight months with no signs of slowing down. She realized, it’s that simple, but that terribly difficult. (Be sure to check out her stuff and hire her!)

What is it that you can start today?

I know that tomorrow will be a much better day to start that project you’ve been dreaming about. There’s too much to do today. Believe me, I know there’s too much to do today. Tomorrow always seems better. The allure of tomorrow is that it’s not too far away, so you don’t feel like you’re quitting. And its far enough away from today’s responsibilities that you don’t get too overwhelmed.

But the truth about tomorrow is that it won’t be any easier than today. If anything, tomorrow will be busier than today. You’ll wake up like I did and suddenly have two babies. You’ll blink and your workload has doubled. Tomorrow will not be easier than today.

So why not start now?

You don’t need recognition for your work to matter. Most of the greatest impact is made in the world without any media coverage.

For too long, the measuring stick for whether or not something was made an impact was who was talking about. So the thinking went:

- If it was a great sermon, people were Tweeting quotes.

- If it was a great blog post, people were linking it.

- If it was a great book, people were leaving great reviews.

But this thinking is flawed. Just because you don’t receive critical acclaim for your work, doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. A few weeks ago I preached four times for a youth retreat in the mountains. I didn’t see a single Tweet from my talks. I didn’t read any blog posts about their impact. I didn’t receive any calls from Bill Hybles asking me to speak at Leadership Summit next year. So, does that mean that the work I did didn’t matter? At times I will admit that I sometimes think so.

But I was reminded again that recognition does not equate with success. I found out later that two students became Christians after Saturday night’s talk! While my pride wants recognition, Tweets, likes, and so on, I know that nothing could have been better than that.

Whatever it is that you are working on, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that recognition means success. Keep working hard. What you are doing matters.

I would bet that “why?” is the top question God gets.

Why did this happen? Why did that happen? Why did she die? Why did he leave? Why did I not get this job? Why can’t we have children? Why was I there on that day? Why couldn’t I get into that school?

This past weekend I was speaking at a retreat when I encountered a situation where someone was stuck because God hadn’t answered their “why?” question. As I listened to the story and circumstances, I was thinking I would want to know why too. As we talked about the situation, I realized that there was a huge chance that God would never give the answer to why. And even if he did, there was no way it would satisfy a broken heart.

It was in that moment that I understood what Paul meant by a peace of God that transcends all understanding. My council was to pray to God to provide a peace that will help move past the why. That peace will be greater than the why that is desired and will open the way for God to use the brokenness and hurt of the situation. In situations like this, the peace of God is the only way to move past the desire to want to know why.

I don’t want to belittle situations were we get mad, depressed, lonely, scared, or disappointed and we want to know why this has happened. The pain in the story from this past weekend was something that I have never experienced. The pain was real. But I saw the peace of God begin to work in a way that was so obvious. That is the peace that transcends all understanding.