Unlikely Inspiration

Ever since I graduated from college, I have fretted about how to live my life with the burden of my student loan debt.

I have thought. I have daydreamed. I have prayed.

And I have watched movies.

Lots of movies.

My husband and I are big Steve Carell fans. We love The Office. LOVE IT.

We rarely wait more than a week or two after opening to see any of Steve’s movies.

Dan in Real Life? AWESOME.

The 40 Year Old Virgin? STRAIGHT HILARITY.

Little Miss Sunshine? GENIUS.

Loved them all.

Then we come to Evan Almighty, which was alright, but, in my singular opinion, WEAK.

Except…

Morgan Freeman as God.

And how do Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman relate to my student loan debt in any way?

I prayed. I prayed for answers. I prayed for money. I prayed for any sort of reprieve.

And this is where my friends Morgan and Steve come in…

There is a scene in Evan Almighty that plagued me from the time I saw the movie until I started this site.

Basically Evan (Steve) and God (Morgan) are talking about how God answers prayers.

And God says this:

“Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”

And suddenly, it made sense.

Am I ever going to be graced with the fabled “Money Tree,” regardless of how much I pray for money?

Absolutely not.

But I’ll be given opportunities.

And ideas.

And, yes, this site is one of those ideas.

This is an idea that I couldn’t get past.

I thought about it.

I talked about it.

My husband, often a cynic, encouraged me daily.

So here I am, putting myself out there, asking for help and guidance.

And I believe that it will all come. It may take some time and it will take some effort, but it will all come.

Step by step and bird by bird.

I believe that if we can help teachers, teachers can help students.

And if we can help students, we can change the world.

Leaving you with one last Evan Almighty reference:

God: How do we change the world?

Evan: One single act of random kindness at a time.