Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Goodwill for Good Works

And let us be concerned about one another
in order to promote love and good works.
(Hebrews 10:24)

Like many people, Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Love. Joy. Peace. Goodwill. Recently, I was watching the morning news and quickly became irritated about number of bad reports so early in the day. I almost turned off the TV, until I heard a story about a Christmas Angel: An elderly woman gave $5000 to a local retailer to cover the final cost of Christmas layaways. Her motivation: she remembered the year that her parents were not able to give gifts.
Here is an expression of love from an elderly woman, concerned about children having a Merry Christmas. As parents, are we teaching our children similar lessons about care and concern for our elderly? Growing up in Stuttgart, we did not give a second thought if a neighbor saw us out playing and politely asked us to go to Bowman’s Grocery, IGA, or Jimmy’s Quick Check to pick up a few items. We simply stopped what we were doing, walked to the store, gathered the requested items, and returned all left over change. As adults, we realize that those good works were valuable life lessons in developing ethics, honesty, integrity, etc. We did not have to wait until holiday season to demonstrate goodwill—it was expected everyday.

We have been graced to give our son a good life. As he enters the teenage years, we realize that we want him to have some of the same experiences we had growing up, purposely trying to avoid a sense of entitlement and instead, encourage the goodwill of character. We are advocates for preparing children for future industrial works, so we can begin by introducing them to some old-fashioned, hands-on work that can benefit an elderly neighbor. Here are some examples of good works that can be performed over the Christmas break:
Washing the dishes (or at least loading the dishwasher)
Raking the leaves (or at least using the blower and bagging)
Running errands (or at least asking a parent to drive)
Bathing the pet and cleaning out the kennel
Replacing the trash cans with recycling bins
These efforts do not cost anything, but time. Perhaps actually doing the work may spark an innovative method of performing the task more efficiently or effectively (wishful thinking on my part). And if nothing else, perhaps the effort may spark a future memory from a conversation held during the action or become a future source of motivation / inspiration during gift giving seasons.

‘Tis the season of peace on Earth, goodwill toward men. What are you doing to encourage your children to show concern for others by demonstrating love and practicing acts of good works? Let us know by commenting or sending me an email at latanyua.robinson@gmail.com. If you like this post and want to catch up on some of my previous discussions, please visit the full Purposed Work blog at http://ltr-latrobe-mfg.blogspot.com/.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Giving Good Works

Give and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—
pressed down, shaken together to make room for more,
running over, and poured into your lap.
The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.
(Luke 6:38)

I am writing this blog post on the evening that I learned of the death of a beloved world leader, Mr. Nelson Mandela. I can remember where I was on the day that he was freed after serving 27 years in prison and when I became a student of his great work. To go from prison to president sounds unimaginable to the faithless, but in his own words: It always seems impossible until it is done. Personally, my favorite Mandela quote is that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Education comes in various forms, as a process for acquiring knowledge and skills. Most people think of the formal classes we take to learn a particular subject matter. Personally, I am a hands-on-learner and subscribe to the conventional wisdom of “give me a fish and feed me for a day, teach me to fish and I will feed myself and my family for a lifetime.” Education, for me, takes form when I have real world experience and application.

As advocates of educating young people about the possibilities of future careers in manufacturing, we know it is just as important to begin engaging students as early as possible with relative application today. We want to give kids hands-on-experience in math, problem solving, teambuilding, assembly, and competition. Our proposal is to get more students actively involved in combat robotics. Latrobe has committed to becoming a sponsor of the National Robotics League competition to be held in Cleveland, OH on May 16th and 17th, 2014. (To learn more, visit the NRL website at http://www.gonrl.org/index.php or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GoNRL .) Personally, I have committed to getting more smaller school districts in my home state of Arkansas engaged in cost-effective robotics league programs. I have begun discussion with local educators and hope to have formal programs ready to launch (and fully funded) for the 2014-2015 school year. Our goal is to allow real world experience and application of manufacturing and science concepts for children who may otherwise not get the early exposure.

Pay-It-Forward is a common meme about giving, sowing into others without expectation of repayment, because of the blessings that have been bestowed upon you. My gift to the small communities that have nurtured me over the years is investing in our youth today, through robotics and other STEM-related programs, to get them to see the potential in careers in manufacturing. Personally, my hope is that a seed of good works is planted in the next generation of scientists and entrepreneurs. What are you giving to your community to educate and equip our children with lifetime knowledge to change the world? Let us know by commenting or sending me an email at latanyua.robinson@gmail.com. If you like this post and want to catch up on some of my previous discussions, please visit the full Purposed Work blog at http://ltr-latrobe-mfg.blogspot.com/.