The Daily Grind - Making a Difference

This Year will be 40 years of teaching, mostly in the Christian School environment. There have been many times where I have questioned how much I was really accomplishing. Indegene.com mentions that, “Research on the forgetting curve shows that within 1 hour, learners forget an average of 50% of the information presented; within 24 hours, they forget an average of 70% of new information; and within a week, they forget up to 90% of what they "learned.”¹ Month after month, year after year, we do the same labs, projects, worksheets, etc. On the surface, it could get very discouraging. 10 %? That’s not very much bang for your buck. Yet occasionally, we get to see the effect of the ripples that we send out every day. A student comes to visit and says “you’re the reason I went into medicine”. And they really are doing a good job. They blame you for other good things they have learned. And you keep going. Because you made a difference.

Since 2019 my wife and I have been helping 2 nights a week and Wednesdays at a place the helps feed and clothe low-income and homeless individuals. At times it gets grueling - sweeping & mopping floors, unplugging toilets, and picking up trash outside. If you only look at the unending list of things to do, it can become a chore. It can get frustrating or even depressing. 

But then you focus on the people. The once grumpy old man who now smiles when you arrive as he helps the children learn verses so they can get a Dollar Store gift card. He’s even shared a short message in the service. The group that used to talk during the worship songs who are now singing along and refer to it as “church”. The young homeless man you helped with clothes and a Bible who you haven’t seen in 2 months, who now shows up and tells you he found a place to live and a job. The lady who smelled so bad no one wanted to sit next to her, who is now singing praise songs because she gave her life to Christ. Receiving fist bumps & hugs, and high-fives from thugs. It doesn’t get any more real. And for that reason, you get up, wind the mechanism, and let the gears grind for yet another day. Just like a set of gears, one turn here may only equal ½ turn there, but that ½ turn can turn into two turns, then 4, and on, and on.  Because making a difference in just one life, is making a difference.

 

1. 6 ways to overcome the forgetting curve. Chartwell Content. Accessed September 13, 2021
https://medium.com/@CWContent/6-waysto-overcome-the-forgetting-curve-354151c355c