If you read last week’s post, you know we talked about Cornerstone’s mission, which is to help people heal, grow, and thrive. This mission is based on Cornerstone’s core verse, John 10:10, and the belief that Jesus wants all of us to live an abundant life. (If you didn’t get a chance to read all about this, please click HERE for a quick look-back!)
This week, I want to take a few minutes to talk about our vision, which is:
We will help bring about a world where people are healed, restored, redeemed and set free.
So, why a mission and a vision? And why is it important that you know and get excited about both of them? Well, because one of them informs how we show up every day (our mission), and the other informs where we’re headed – our big picture dream (our vision).
For example, if you were interviewing for a position here and you said to me, “Angie, I’m excited to be a part of Cornerstone, but I’m wondering what you are hoping to accomplish as an organization?” and I simply replied with, “Well, our goal is to help bring about a world where people are healed, restored, redeemed and set free.” Hopefully in the moment you would look at me with eyes filled with wonder and feel inspired to the core of your being, signing up to work with us on the spot.
No, seriously. You would likely (hopefully!) be inspired in the moment, but a month, or two months, or 1 year later, you might be wondering how, exactly, we’re changing the world. I mean, therapy can be slow going. It can be one step forward and two steps back. It can look like things are getting a lot worse before they get better. It can mean clients quitting before they reach their goals or not hitting their (original) goals at all. When the going gets tough and things feel like a slog, we may feel like what we’re doing doesn’t look like us helping to bring about a world where people are healed, restored, redeemed or set free. Sometimes we may wonder if we’re making a difference at all.
But what if I told you that progress is incremental? This isn’t a new revelation to any of you. As counselors you know this is true; you know that people who often hit their big goal do so by hitting small, consistent goals along the way.
The same is true for us as an organization. Remember our mission? We exist to help people heal, grow, and thrive. Day in and day out we show up in our position here – whatever it may be – to help people experience this in any myriad of ways: we answer a phone call or respond to an email, we sit with them in their grief, or their hurt, or their anger. Sometimes the process is painfully slow going, but we keep showing up and encourage others to do so as well. We believe in a long obedience in the same direction. And slowly, the momentum builds. People do heal. They do grow. They do thrive. And through one life, one marriage, one child, one adolescent, one adult at a time, we make small impressions in the world. We move the needle on helping to bring about a world where people are healed, restored, redeemed and set free. And while we will never, on this side of heaven, accomplish our vision in full, we will continue forward, honored to be a part of God’s good plan to bring life to the full to his kids.
So daily we show up in our work and help people move in the right direction: heal, grow, and thrive.
And incrementally, over time, we move the needle on bringing about a world where people are healed, restored, redeemed and set free.
Like any good vision for changing the world, it feels almost too big and unattainable at times, but press forward we shall…
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” – Galatians 6:9
“Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” – Hebrews 12:1b-2a
Amen and amen.
