"Don't move...improve"

That phrase got me thinking after I heard it on the radio. I seem to be hearing a lot from the radio these days...most likely because I listen to the radio more - must be.

A little more about the context and how it applies to us.

They were featuring Watts, a city in Los Angeles, where that is their saying is "don't move...improve". 2 women - Miss Ware and Miss Williams - who started a Project Jordan in the 1960s. Both women didn't have much money but gave (& still give) what they had to help the children in their community. A classic example of "Connection in your community". The ladies are well past their 80s but have invested in teaching the children in their community their way out of poverty. They don't provide scholarship, just supplemental spending money.

You don't have to have much to give, you just need to be willing to give whatever you have. Listen to the report by Jennifer Westaway on June 17, 2010, if you can or want to, on http://www.cbc.ca/dispatches/.

They taught children good manners and how to be grateful for whatever they get...a reminder to the fact that we can all help each other raise our children.

One of those who benefited from Project Jordan believes that you can succeed and you shouldn't blame where you are from. It is so true. Who you are or where you are from or live only defines you it doesn't limit you. You are the only person capable of limiting yourself because with God on your side, God is your limit. Stay where He's planted you & improve as you bear fruit.

My takeaways:

1. You have something to give to your community - it doesn't have to be much. God looks out for those who are willing to give not those who are able to give.
2. You can improve and succeed where you are - God teaches us how to profit - "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way that you should go." (Is 48:17 - Amplified). "BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather. But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity]." (Ps 1: 1-3 - Amplified)

In closing, in Genesis 26, Isaac wanted to move in order to improve and God asked him to stay where he was. Verse 12 of that chapter tells us how God increased him because he obeyed. It was different for his father - in Genesis 12, God instructed Abram to move to improve. So it could go either way...it's not a "one size fits all". The bottom line is - hear God so you can improve where He says you should be. God bless