For the past couple of years, I have received an email every month or so letting me know about the need for volunteers to help at citizenship workshops in the area. These workshops help immigrants with green cards navigate the complicated process of applying for US citizenship. In order for volunteers to help at a workshop, they understandably have to go through a training to learn about that complicated process. Every time I received the email I would think, "I would really like to do this . . . I really should do this . . . it is such an important issue in my community." But, alas, month after month it felt like I didn't have time to give both a Friday night and a Saturday, so it remained on the "should do" list.
Until this month.
Last Friday night, most of us on the East Aurora Restore team attended the two hour training and then on Saturday went to East Aurora High School to help residents attending the workship fill out the long and rather confusing application. It was a fantastic experience, and now that we have been trained, any of us can (and I am sure will) help at future workshops.
So, why was this month different? What motivated me to take action after all this time?
Having a team to do it with. And not because I was scared to go alone or felt intimidated by the process. Doing it with a team was simply more fun and provided more accountability and incentive to move from thinking about doing it to actually doing it.
And that is exactly the reason we needed to form this East Aurora Restore Team. Not because we need to come up with a grand new vision about how to impact our community. But because as a Team, I believe we are 100% more likely to do all those things that as individuals we've been thinking we "should do" or "would like to do." But, I do suspect that as we do those things we will develop a bigger vision for how we can impact our community.
All it took to move from thinking to doing was having a team.
Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose.--Philippians 2:2
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