Elevated Friday, April 19th, 2019

Happy Elevated Friday! Today we highlight a story of librarians in New York City who are making the most of young children’s time in their city. In large cities such as New York City, many families do not have a washer and dryer in their apartment; thus, they must go to the local laundromat every week. When families have young children, they usually have to bring the kids along for the day. What results is a long day of the children just aimlessly watching the spin cycles and trying to entertain themselves. Librarians in New York City have formed a new initiative called “Too Small to Fail” in which they bring books and reading tutors to laundromats to help these children transform that wasted time into productive learning time. This program is especially helpful in closing the literacy gap between children from lower and higher income families. So far, the initiative has had a dramatic impact on improving these children’s reading abilities and enjoyment in reading.

If we are honest with ourselves, we all have some time to spare most days – even just 10-15 minutes – where we can make a call to a person in need, deliver some food on our way home from work, or offer some part of ourselves to someone else. Paul wrote, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” Lodged in this idea of making the most of every opportunity is the fact that we all have limited time in our lives. While God views us all with love, He also sees our time on earth for what it is – as James puts it, “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” To us, our life seems long with abundant time for doing His work; to God, we have but a moment to act upon the opportunities He places in front of us. When we start valuing our time on earth as God does, our days, hours, and even minutes become infused with Godly purpose. Today, if you have a few extra minutes to spare, make them count in the eyes of God.

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” – Colossians 4:5 NIV

Original Article:

http://bit.ly/2UHxIzG