When an Idea Becomes a Blind Deer

Just saw this cool post from Seth Godin's blog on "Where do ideas come from?". Read it!

And a lame joke comes to mind.

Q: What do you call a blind deer?
A: No idea.

Get it? No eye-deer... (Please don't gouge my eyes out.)

But seriously speaking, it's very true. That it's so easy to lose sight of the Big Picture, the Golden City, and start counting beans and scrabbling around in the sand. That we lose our freshness in ministry and start doing the weekly routines, so easy that we can do it with our eyes shut. But if we do it with our eyes shut, we'll never see the new needs that arise.

You see, I just came back from HopeKids CG. Had been inspired afresh by Hong Teck's passionate sharing. Amazed at how he can still stay so fresh for God, with new ideas and insights bursting out from everywhere. And I know I once had that fresh burst of insights and ideas a few years back. But somewhere, I started bottling up the ideas and settled down into the routine. Perhaps a mixture of self-doubt, fear, and embarrassment at what others might think of my ideas. And sometimes, just too many ideas to effectively work on.

Well, that's how I feel actually. I guess you do too? That you feel a lot of times you're just doing management, but not actually leading, visioneering, pioneering?

Maybe a healthy balance, like how Google does it, is to have 80% of your time working on the ideas and visions that you already have, and then spend 20% of your time dreaming up new ideas and keeping a keen eye for new areas that you can pioneer.

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But ok lah. I think I'm being too melancholic. By the grace of God, I am what I am, and I know His grace to me has not been without effect.

For example, thank God that my drama team is making advances in empowering children to become children ministers themselves. Like Kate, who though she's Pri 3 this year, is already volunteering and acting for the Christmas drama. And her parents are very supportive of her! She has contributed many great ideas that we are incorporating into our Christmas drama, and she has started influencing others as well.

(Moral of the story? Don't underestimate the enthusiasm of a little child. Give it room and tools to take shape and grow. Enthusiasm will naturally grow into a big strong fruitful tree, with sound guidance... unless we constantly confine and clip it into a puny bonsai tree.)

And I'm in the middle of writing an e-book for Christmas. Though the deadline is very tight, I find that God has faithfully provided resources and helpers to help me see this project through. Amazing. And Jon's been a fantastic help, doing voiceover and providing music advice. Thank God for Huiying too! Sweet-spirited, both of them! I remember Jon's sage words: "We just do what we can do. Then God will provide help for the rest." Haha! Thanks dear bro. :)

Of course, there are difficulties ahead. Such as pioneering the boys' ministry. Still so uncertain about how to get started. And I face challenges such as doing cold-calls to the parents of the kids, asking them for permission to bring their kids out, etc. And if they're non-Christian parents, gee, you may not find them to be very supportive or responsive. But that's (as my ex-boss would say with a gentle shrug) life. It really stretches my courage, but I see how God has helped me each step of the way.

:)