I was recently the guest speaker for a Women's Retreat at the Deer Park United Methodist church in St. Joseph, MO.

The ladies were warm and congenial, and we enjoyed our time together.  I spoke on the topic of Responding to God's nudges, sharing times in my life I have felt directed to reach out and accomplish something, under the direction of God's Holy Spirit.

I shared a memory I had of a press conference with someone in the hierarchy of the Kansas City Chief's organization several years ago.  He said he was worried about the organization as a whole based a piece of litter he saw lying on a step one day.  He passed by the crumpled piece of trash for several days, waiting to see if someone was going to pick it up and throw it away.  He felt that the organization was lacking in respect and duty, as no one seemed to take responsibility for removing the trash.

My first thought was "Why didn't he just pick it up himself?  Did he feel above that menial task that no one seemed to undertake?"  I then thought, "Who would be responsible for that?  Was it the janitor, a patron or someone else?"

I shared this with the women, stating that this overlooked and forgotten crumpled piece of paper was like the people we are called to take care.  Those who can't make anything happen on their own but are dependent on someone to help them.  They cry and beg, but we just walk on by, thinking it's someone else's responsibility to pick them up.  Even if we just pick them up and carry them to the trash bin, at least they are no longer alone.  They have a community of trashy others to help them.

At the final session of the day, I asked if anything I'd shared had helped any of them look closer at the nudges in their lives and how they can respond to them.  One young lady stood up and said, "I was that crumpled piece of paper."

She went on the describe her life recently in facing the tragic death of her father and other life altering events.

I was so glad I had responded to God's prompting to speak about this incident, so that she had a relatable testimony to share.

God continues to nudge us every single day.  How we respond is our mission.  There will always be crumpled people around us.  Do we stop and help them or just keep right on walking.  I pray that we at least look around to see if we are the somebody that is called to complete that task.

I closed by sharing this well-known story by an unknown author, adding a new phrase at the end:

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.

Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

If you will be that somebody, which can be anybody, who does the job that nobody else will do, then everybody will be blessed because somebody, like you did it!

Source:  Responding to the Nudges, by Diane Goold

I offer presentations on other topics including Good Grief or can customize to your theme.

I love working to help others realize the important role they

 play in helping others through life's difficulties.

Send me a message if you want more information about my motivational speaking topics and opportunities.

"I believe in God, because God believes in me!"  Diane Goold