How 15 Minutes Changed His Life

“You’ve got a visitor,” my Bishop leaned over and said as the Sunday evening service came to an end.

I looked back and saw this young man walking up the church isle toward me.

If you’ve ever been in one of my trainings or workshops, you’ve heard me talk about him. His name is Lucan.

Lucan dropped by church to see me and share the updates on his life. He had just gotten off work and was excited to share some great news with me.

I’m excited to share it with you!

Lucan is 22-years-old and come this December, I will have been in Lucan’s life 6 years. It’s hard to believe time flies that quickly … but it sure does!

He was a young man in foster care with an overwhelming number of needs.

He needed housing. He needed a job. He needed a resume. He needed transportation. He needed clothes. He needed food. He needed insurance so he could get a car. He needed medical attention for some health issues.

Truthfully, the day I met Lucan I was just “passing through” the office. I had been promoted to a leadership position and was stopping in “quickly” before a meeting with a community connection.

I overheard Lucan talking about all of his needs and all of his barriers. I guess it’s not in my nature to not learn more about someone, so I asked him a question.

“Lucan, what do you want to do with your life?”

That’s when his face lit up and he started telling me about his goals.

He wanted to go to college. He wanted to become a chef. He wanted to open a non-profit. He wanted to have a family.

The light on his face went out, followed by these words …

“But I’m stuck.”

I sat down with Lucan and helped him put together an impromptu plan. We couldn’t take care of EVERY one of his needs in the 15 minutes I had, but, we could get started on one and plan a follow up.

That was the moment he would say changed his life forever. I would argue that moment actually changed my life.

You see, no matter who you are, no matter what promotion you take and how far away from the field you get … it’s important to keep your “WHY” close to your heart.

Lucan is a constant and much needed reminder of my WHY.

Lucan accomplished SO MUCH we spoke about in that short meeting. But, I won’t go into all those details. I’ll fast forward to Sunday.

Sunday Lucan shared some new accomplishments with me.

·     He was finishing week three as the SUPERVISOR of chefs at a STATE ORGANIZATION.

·     He received his first paycheck where he EARNED $22 an hour.

·     He was accepted to appear on a cooking television show. You can vote for him to win $25,000 with this link: Lucan Phillips | Favorite Chef presented by Carla Hall (favchef.com)

·     He is the youth chair on a board for the Safe Children’s Coalition and HE DESIGNED a program to help at-risk kids.

·     He was APPROVED for a loan to purchase his FIRST BRAND NEW CAR.

·     He is working to PURCHASE his FIRST home.

He may have shared more with me, but my heart was so overwhelmed I’m not sure if I could hold any more.

He then said to me “See! I listen to you! I’m working really hard to be responsible and wise.”

“Yes, Lucan. You sure are. And boy, and I proud of you! I don’t think I could be any more proud of any person as I am of you!”

He gave me one of his super big smiles and started acting shy. (If you know Lucan … he is anything but shy.) But, I believe he collects those affirmations and stores them up because of a lifetime of not receiving any at all.

Friend, I share this story with you today for a few reasons.

1. I’m so excited I can’t contain myself

2. Lucan deserves the shout out

3. You need to remember your WHY and keep it close to your heart

I also share with you because this amazing story is made possible today because:

·     I asked one question

·     I invested 15 intentional minutes in a young man I didn’t know

You see, CULTIVATING HOPE in someone’s life doesn’t always take time we don’t have. It simply requires us to be intentional about the time we do have.

15 minutes.

That’s it.

It wasn’t my job.

I wasn’t in the field.

I was on my way to a meeting.

I didn’t know this kid.

BUT ….

Because I invested 15 INTENTIONAL MINUTES you are reading some very motivational news this Tuesday.

I encourage you …

Field Members - find someone to invest 15 Intentional Minutes in this week!

Leaders - share this story and encourage your team to invest 15 INTENTIONAL minutes into someone this week … and follow up!

Go CULTIVATE HOPE!

PS - I’ll send you a picture of Lucan in his new car! I’m sure you will love seeing that!

Have a great week!

Hope