asks us at the Last Judgment, we will be able to say that we helped everyone around us, including the hungry, thirsty, unclothed, etc. 5. You should be a man who sees the importance of little things. Take Away Ideas 1. A big achievement is the sum of a lot of little achievements. 2. If you do small things well, you will be able to do big things. 3. Form the habit of doing the little things (well). Some Ideas I. Small things matter a. John Wooden story (socks and sneakers) i. Coached basketball at UCLA; considered greatest of all-time (voted by the other coaches as the greatest). ii. .806 winning percentage (means he won 8 out of every 10 games). iii. Won 10 NCAA Basketball championships (Division I):1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975; 10 National Championships in 12 years. Two coaches have won 4 National Championships; two coaches have won 3 National Championships. iv. about the first practice of the season (see below). from Wooden: “It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” b. Doing something well means doing all the little things; if you want to do things well, you pay attention to the little details. c. Example of raking leaves: i. Getting all the leaves. ii. Even the ones that are a little hidden. iii. It shows and people notice (especially your father). iv. If you rake leaves for your neighbor and do a good job, you will get more jobs from neighbors. II. If you want to do anything big in your life, you need to work on
1. Was loyal to Frodo; wanted to help him even though it was not fun 2. Not fun to have Black Riders chasing you, to have a Balrog chasing you, to go into Mordor, to have a giant spider try to squash you, to have Orcs all around who want to kill you, etc. 3. Did it because was his friend and he was not going to run away when Frodo needed him; he was willing to make sacrifices for his friend. 4. Sam was not Frodo’s buddy, he was his friend. 5. That is how friends are; they do not their friends when it stops being fun. d. Friends know about their friends. Do you know your friend: his family, his brothers and sisters? If his grandmother is sick he tells you and you are concerned about her (you can pray for her to get better)? III. You think about your friend instead of yourself a. Usually we think about what we want for ourselves (that’s how babies are and even little kids at 3 years old); to be a good friend, you need to get over that and think about the other person, your friend.. b. What sort of things are we talking i. Let him take what is better (if there are only a Snicker bar and a Peppermint Patty, do you take the Snickers or do you leave it for your friend? ii. Example: 10 guys taking showers after skiing all day. They were in house where there was enough hot water for only 4 showers. And no. 4 took a cold shower so his friend, no. 5, would be able to take a hot shower). iii. Lend him your stuff (without worrying if he is going to break it) iv. Take him along for things he likes (to go skiing or hiking or whatever) v. Know what he likes (and let him have it); e.g., watch the movie
prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.” A Guidepost article from 1972: “I’m Still Learning to Forgive“ (by Corrie TenBoom) 16. You should be a man who lives the virtue of fortitude. Take away ideas 1. Fortitude doing difficult things to achieve/preserve some good thing. 2. Without fortitude you will miss out on most of the best things in life. 3. When you face something difficult/painful that you know you should do, just do it without hesitating and whining and thinking about how hard/painful it is. Some I. What is fortitude? a. A virtue: a steady habit of acting in a good way; as a habit, it is formed by repeatedly dong some good type of action. b. In the case of fortitude, the good type of action is facing difficulties or pain; good acts that are hard. Practicing an instrument is hard and sometimes painful: a person with fortitude will do it; so too doing homework; so too fighting in battle when you might get killed. c. The opposite of being courageous (having fortitude) is to be a coward. Other terms are wimp; scaredy-cat, chicken, etc. A coward is someone who is too afraid and let his fears get the better of him. Like hiding in the closet when there is thunder storm or screaming when you see mouse or a spider. d. It is OK to be afraid of things, especially things that you should be afraid of. But a brave or courageous person does not let fear keep him from doing the good things he should do. e. What are some difficult/painful things you do in to achieve some good?