Adventure is shaping up
By Aaron Carmichael,
Chief Development Officer
Do you want to help change the world? Most of us want to be a positive force in this world. We are passionate about our causes; we spend our free time doing the things that make us feel alive.
After I bike 297 miles in one week of this summer’s Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure, hopefully I’ll still feel alive! I’ll definitely be changing the world.
I want you to be a part of this journey — without all the aches and pains it’s going to take for this old boy to tackle a new challenge. I’ll explain how you can do that, but first let me explain why I’m going to whip myself into shape — as opposed to a shape — before summer comes.
My faith is my motivator. Philippians 3:13, 14, "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
What does this passage mean to you? I used to only look at scripture through the prism of my own selfish salvation. What this passage said to me was I need to get to heaven and not let anything cause me to stumble along the way. But that is not entirely what this passage is saying.
When Paul talks about winning the “prize,” our prize is eternal salvation in heaven, spent with the Creator. But it is the race itself that involves our interaction with the rest of mankind.
As a former athlete — and let me emphasize “former” — when I read Philippians 3 I imagined myself in a race with other competitors. I HAD to beat them to the prize. When I was a competitor, I would do whatever I could to win, within the rules. The feeling of being “the best” was exhilarating. But then we age, we mature (hopefully), we get humbled by our failing abilities (and weight gain and aging joints and so on and so forth …), we begin to get a different perspective on competition. In this race of life, in our race to the prize of eternal salvation, we only truly win when we cross that finish line with a crowd.
Here’s my call to action: Partner with me in being a blessing to others. Beginning with this first blog and for the next several weeks, I will be motivating you to make a difference by providing simple, decent housing to a family in need.
You may ask, “How will I do that by just reading your blog?” Well, it’s very simple, you can change the world for a family by sponsoring me. I am joining the Bicycle Adventure to raise money and awareness for families in need of decent housing. So I’m shaking off those extra pounds and letting that “former athlete” emerge from his long slumber. Our goal together will be $50,000.
Yes, you read that right, four zeroes with a five in front of it. This is the amount it takes to build a new home for a family in need here in the U.S. It is a big goal but we can do it together.
Each week, I’ll share my progress on getting prepared for the Bike Adventure (getting in shape, buying a bike, eating better, preparing spiritually) and our progress on raising these funds.
At The Fuller Center for Housing, we do not provide a handout but a hand-up. The family that this gift impacts will be given an interest-free loan that they will pay back with affordable monthly payments over the life of their mortgage. Their payments then will be reinvested in other homes for other families that will receive interest-free loans and so on and so forth. Your partnership here will help countless families. You will not be providing charity but capital. This opportunity to buy a home is life-changing. These families are not able to buy homes through conventional means. YOU will be literally changing lives.
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