Our Work
Few people have ever heard of American inventor Maria Beasley.
This incredible engineer successfully marketed at least 15 inventions, including a foot warmer, an anti-derailment device for trains, and a barrel-making machine that resulted in an estimated income of $20,000 a year at a time when most working women earned $3 a day. That income is the equivalent of more than $450,000 today!
But in 1880, she dreamed up her greatest accomplishment of all: a life raft that would be compact, safe, fire-proof and of course, easily accessed. By changing the style of the floats, she created a raft that could be folded for storage but unfolded quickly in an emergency. To say Beasley revolutionized water safety is an understatement. One such ship that stocked her lifeboats was the infamous RMS Titanic. Though the ship had too few lifeboats to begin with, the 20 lifeboats the ship did carry saved some 700 passengers.
Despite Beasley’s amazing accomplishments, however, the attitudes of her time are still obvious:
In the 1880 US Census, Beasley was listed as an "unemployed housewife."
What about all those inventions? What about her massive income? What about all those lives she saved?
I’m only guessing here, but I wonder if she ever felt like all that work didn’t even matter? Like just because she was a woman her work was irrelevant?
More scary than being irrelevant, however, is a sinking feeling of insignificance.
I’ve been thinking about insignificance for the past three years. About how we feel it, repress it, squash it, and overcome it.
Like many people during the pandemic, I found myself binge-watching the Great British Baking Show, and unfortunately it’s given me a bit of over-confidence in the kitchen. On any given Saturday, you might find me tackling a batch of cinnamon rolls or spreading a swiss cake roll with filling. Believe it or not, you can go from “this looks delicious” to “oh my, what a disaster” in an instant.
There’s a difference between baking soda and baking powder, between granulated sugar and powdered sugar, between vegetable oil and vegetable shortening. At first glance, these small discrepancies might seem insignificant, but I’m here to tell you that making any one of these mistakes will cost you dearly.
No ingredient or instruction is insignificant when it comes to baking.
And as we enter new seasons of adulthood, we begin to believe the lie that we, too, are insignificant—either we’re too young, or we’re too old, or we don’t have the right kind of experience. We believe our career, hobbies, clothing choices, or blog posts (😳) are insignificant. No one cares about the work we do. We don’t get the appreciation or recognition we deserve.
It can be downright embarrassing.
But we know in our heart of hearts that insignificance is a lie. We do matter. Our work is important.
Some things never go out of style.
1.Wisdom
Do you love to learn new things? Do you find that people often ask your advice? There’s an old adage that says, “Common sense isn’t common.” Good character and unexpected opportunities often go hand-in-hand. Wisdom says go slowly when everything around you wants to speed up. Wisdom holds knowledge loosely, recognizing that conscience and character matter more than worldly success or fame.
Questions to ponder: What is the harder choice I’m avoiding? How will today’s difficulties shape my character?
2. Experience
Whether you are young or simply young at heart, you have experiences that have surely shaped the way you view the world and your place in it. Experience is never wasted, and God can use it all. Your experience might be just the story somebody needs to hear right now. You probably discovered some things that worked. And a lot of things that didn’t. That’s okay. That’s how experience prepares us for what’s next.
Questions to ponder: If life is a game, what are some of the rules? What’s one thing you regret not doing?
3. Connections
Nearly every interesting opportunity I’ve ever had has been the result of a connection made on my behalf. Never be afraid to share your dreams. I used to think that people wanted to steal my ideas. News flash: People want to help you with your ideas! Think about the people you know. Who can you introduce? Who needs to know about someone else’s interesting project? Introduce people whose needs match another person’s strengths. Give people a sense of empowerment and watch them grow.
Questions to ponder: What connections are you choosing not to see? Who’s had the biggest impact on the person you’ve become?
4. Resources
I used to think the only resources that mattered were the ones with dollar signs attached to them, but now I know that resources come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. As we get older, we usually do have more money, especially if we’ve made good choices when we were younger, but more importantly we often have more time on our hands. My kids no longer need at-home round-the-clock supervision, which means I have more free time to devote to causes I care about. Remember when I used to wistfully say, “One day….”? That day is here.
Questions to ponder: If you could choose any new skill to learn, what would it be? Have you ever thought about giving people not what they need most, but what they need first?
5. Empathy
Have you ever been disappointed? Sad? Frustrated? To sit with someone in the midst of their pain is a rare gift. Brene Brown, the foremost expert on empathy, says this:
“It may be a small thing, but I can’t think of a single social problem in the culture that cannot in part be healed by: A change of heart, a willingness to get humble, a transformed spirit, a shifted mindset, and a long hard look in the mirror.”
Questions to ponder: How can I be a better listener? Who do i want to become during this uncertain time?
Want to stay relevant?
I’m not going to tell you to immerse yourself in cool music or wear cool clothes. Those things only make you look relevant. If you want to be relevant, you need to first acknowledge the significance of your time here on earth. I hate to break it to you, but it’s temporary. Every single minute counts. Don’t leave with regrets.
Significance is right in front of you. You may not ever have a portfolio of inventions, but that doesn’t mean your work doesn’t have value. So much of who we are is all in our perspective. But it’s also in our experience. Maria Beasley probably wouldn’t have had the idea for her foot warmer without having once experienced the agony of cold feet. How could she have dreamed up her innovative life raft if she had never actually been on a boat?
You’re never too old to try new things, meet new people, or learn new skills. And maybe as you ponder some of the questions in this post, you, too, will realize that you don’t need to overthink the big questions, for in doing so it’s easy to overlook the small (yet very worthwhile) answers, the logical next steps for creating a life we love.
I want to leave you with one more story.
It’s the tale of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Southern abolitionist and a Union spy during the American civil war. She sent valuable intelligence to Union officers, provided food and medicine to prisoners of war and helped plan their escapes, and ran her own network of spies. She would pay dearly for this activity; ultimately it cost her her place as a member of Richmond’s social elite. In her old age, having lost nearly everyone who was dear to her, the local newspaper printed her obituary.
“They say I am dead? Well, I am not, but I am very feeble and sick. My heart is heavy, and I am sad. My hours are lonely and long.”
After years of manic work, at the end she found herself feeling insignificant and irrelevant. If you believed the local news, she was as good as dead. Poor Elizabeth—to feel so sick and sad and lonely.
Have you been there, too?
For some of us, we’ll never know what hangs in the balance of our decision to do the right thing, the next best thing. History teaches us it’s normal to feel like we don’t matter, especially when the public fails to recognize our efforts.
Today Van Lew’s memorial stone reads:
“She risked everything that is dear to man—friends—fortune—comfort—health—life itself—all for the one absorbing desire of her heart—that slavery might be abolished and union preserved.”
Isn’t that beautiful? I feel inspired even now. What a legacy!
And like Elizabeth van Lew, Maria Beasley was also vindicated. Today, you’ll find her profession listed as “Engineer and Inventor.”
And maybe one day, mine will read “Professional Baker.” (Wait. Who am I kidding??? 😂😂😂)
Only time will tell.
As our senior pastor Andy Stanley says, “The men and women who make a difference in the world are the ones who act and react when they see and hear something that’s not right.”
What’s not right in your world right now? Could you be the one to make a difference in that space?
The only way to know is to begin. A small beginning marks the first step to a lasting legacy.
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”