A Slower Pace

Last night I was lucky enough to attend a very nice dinner event hosted at a local large church (Northside Christian) in New Albany, Indiana. It was a continuing of a Desire to Inspire series put on by a local Chick-Fil-A franchise who is taking to heart the Chick-Fil-A mission “To glorify God by being a faithful steward to all that has been entrusted to us, and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.

How cool is that for a company to have that kind of a mission…..and for a franchisee to take it to heart for action?

Their most recent dinner program was last year and included a motivational speech by Tony Dungee. Too bad I didn’t know about the series or I would have taken my wife to that one.

Last night’s program had Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy who you probably know better as the real life couple from the movie The Blind Side and who I highlighted back in this post. They were very good public speakers and played off each other very well. One funny part was the fact that Chick-Fil-A was hosting the event. There was a Chick-Fil-A basket with all sorts of prizes in it that was on the front of the stage wrapped up to be used as a door prize. Sean Tuohy, who is a Taco Bell franchise owner, grabbed the basket, hid it behind an object on the stage while saying “This thing makes me kinda nervous”.

The rest of the night was littered with funny comments by both Sean and Leigh Anne. You can feel the passion they have towards community outreach and helping others. Leah Anne repeated multiple times that what youth need is “a little love, a little hope, and a little opportunity”. She also encouraged folks to get out there and do something. They didn’t necessarily have to go out and adopt a 6 foot 6 inch, 350 pound, black kid. They can find needs right in their community and right in front of them. And it doesn’t necessarily need to mean adoption. And it doesn’t necessarily need to mean writing a check…..although we need those too. The bottom line is that we need to get out in the streets, in the community, and in the world to have a positive impact.

Another quote from Leigh Anne resonated with several of us who attended — “You want my advice on how to make a difference in someone’s life? Just do something. And do it well.”

It was also an interesting evening because it was a year ago on a Thursday night that the Tuohy family was with Michael Oher while he was awaiting news of his placement in the NFL draft. And as we all know he was a #1 draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens.

The night was a great time for me to spend with friends listening to some great role models. Hopefully, the program will spur lots of discussion, ideas and action, not only from me and my little group, but from all of those who attended.

Additionally, coming up is another Chick-Fil-A sponsored event — Leadercast – Be The One — on May 7. Take a look at the link — I think it is something that would be worth your time.

I have added links above but I think it is valuable to call them out individually below.

http://desiretoinpsire.blogspot.com/

http://www.chick-fil-aleadercast.com/

earlier Blind Side post

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net