Ernest Smith

It’s “Guest Blog Wednesday” and for my guest blogger this week, I have asked Pastor Geoff Surratt if he would would be willing to share a truth that God has taught him recently.  Pastor Geoff has been a part of my life for over 12 years and I can say that he is one of the most godly men I have ever been around.  His love for his wife, kids, grandkid, and ministry is something to be modeled.  Although he moved across the country, almost a year ago, him and his wife, Sherry still have a profound effect on my life and ministry. 

Enjoy!

Feeding Peas to 1st Graders

My brilliant wife sent me this article this morning about how a celebrity chef attempted to change the eating habits of an entire community. (You need to read the article) One of the things he figured out early on is that if he tried to tackle the whole community at once he would fail. He ended up focusing simply on getting the 1st graders to eat peas. Starting from that one fairly insignificant but important beachhead the chef eventually saw a tremendous change in the culture of health in the entire town. This simple concept is caused giant bells to go off in my head. This is THE key I’ve been missing: My job is to feed peas to the 1st graders. 

I stress about so many different streams and details and visions and plans and agendas and silos and roadblocks and opportunities. There are so many different intiatives and projects I need to focus on that I sometimes feel paralyzed. How in the world am I possibly going to answer all the questions, motivate all the leaders, and oversee all the stuff that flows my way? 

But now I know; my mission is to feed peas to the 1st graders. Everything else is background noise, tasks that need to be accomplished but not central to the mission. Feed peas to the 1st graders. 

Jesus put it this way, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about so many things, but only one thing is needed.”

So in my context I have to figure out what are the peas and who are the 1st graders. Once I have that equation solved the key is to go back to it again and again. (The best part is that I know the answer to both of those questions) As long as it doesn’t interfere with pea feeding then there is no reason to worry too much about it. No matter how upset I get about the politics, how confused I might be about the culture or how frustrated I might be with staff, the bottom line is, “Am I feeding peas to the 1st graders?”

So how about you? Have you figured out what the peas are? The first graders? Are you focused on the one thing? 

I’d like to write more, but there are some hungry 1st graders in needs of some peas.