Happy weekend friends. If you are reading this, I am thankful for you.

It happened today. I gave a speech at Toastmasters. It was a pretty good one. I have given it before, so it went well. That’s not what happened. I got called out. It was awesome.

One of my coworkers named Jessica had my favorite evaluation of the day. She told me that the David they had come to know was back. She could tell that I was well prepared and that it showed. She contrasted it to the last few speeches I did and told me I was obviously not as well prepared for those. I was thrilled. Why? Let me explain.

It is traditional at Toastmasters to have an evaluator review your speech during the meetings. For the meeting today, everyone in attendance got up and offered advice on my presentation and how I could make it better. I really appreciated it.

I have a lot of experience in public speaking. I have been at it for several years and can deliver a pretty good speech. The problem is…I know it. I know I am pretty good at it. So, I have gotten lazy. I don’t put as much effort in. I get by on experience and talent. That works in a pinch, but it is time to move beyond that.

I want to keep growing. I want to keep improving. I want to keep moving forward. How do we do that though? How do we improve? By receiving honest feedback from those we trust. By striving for excellence and not settling for anything less. That includes being surrounded by awesome truthful people and letting themspeak in you love.

Have you ever felt the beat of a butterfly’s wings? Have you held one in your hand and watched it as it flutters? Have you watched them on a spring day as you walk through a park flying all around. Have you ever felt the beat of their wings? They are beautiful creatures. Small. Graceful.

What if I told you there was amazing power hidden in their wings? That the beat of a butterfly’s wings could cause a hurricane? It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

There was a theory proposed many years ago that stated that a Butterfly’s wing beat in Africa could cause a hurricane in San Francisco. Their wings can start a chain reaction and cause huge effects. Have you ever felt the beat of a butterfly’s wings? Are you sure?

It was the fall of 1997. I had just moved to Edmond Oklahoma, a sophomore at the University of Central Oklahoma. I came to study singing…I was going to be an Opera singer. Yes. It’s true. (I am glad that is not where I ended up…) When I got to campus I started attending the Baptist Student Union. I knew I needed to meet people, and am very thankful I soon met a cool guy named Matt.

Matt was a couple of years older than me. He was a college student, but also a college pastor at a good sized church in Oklahoma City. He invited me to a Singles Bible Study at his church and I was happy to come along. Over the next several months I got to spend time with Matt and learned that he was an excellent minister. He loved people. He loved getting to be a help in people’s lives. Working at the church was not his first career choice initially. He originally wanted to be a chef.

On April fool’s day in 1998 I was at the church with Matt and he introduced me briefly to a girl named Marixa. They were friends and she politely told me hi, and then talked with him for a few and went on.

Over the next few months Matt planned out different trips that the college group took. Marixa and I both went on the trips that Matt organized. We “noticed” each other on the first trip. We started dating after the second trip. A few months later we were engaged and a few months after we were married. 1998 was 22 years ago.

Since then Marixa and I have had a son and are building our family still. We were able to introduce two friends who came to our wedding to each other. They have been married now for 18 years. They have two beautiful girls.

My question is this: what if Matt had chosen to be a chef? Would I have made it to church on April fool’s day? Would I have had the chance to meet the woman who has been my best friend through thick and thin? I don’t know the answer to that, but I believe things would have been very different.

It is interesting though. What Matt did was seemingly small at the time. I was only one person in his ministry. He was a cool dude who did amazing work. He befriended me, invited me, provided a ride to church, mentored me…it is all small stuff in retrospect, but it made a huge difference in my life.

Life is like that through. If we look at it from high above, human interaction is like a tapestry. What we do weaves in and out with others. We touch each other’s lives in far reaching and impactful ways. A small thing for us can become a huge piece of someone else’s life. Think about your life. What was small at the beginning that is now huge?

What we do everyday matters. Every interaction. Everything. You never know when what you do will set of a chain reaction of awesome for someone else.

To my original question, have you ever felt the beat of a butterfly’s wings? I have. I hope you have felt it too. Maybe you feel its gentle flutter now, here in this moment.

It was a warm April day. The birds were chirping. The sun was shining. You might say it was perfect. I pulled up to the church, ready to volunteer. I met the college leader in the parking lot. As we walked into the building it happened. I saw her. I remember it clearly. She was beautiful. She was walking our way. The college pastor introduced us. I said hello and she told me her name and then went on her way. I didn’t know that was a moment that would forever change my life, but it was April Fools day. I thought I hadn’t made an impression. In a month and a half it will have been 22 years since that day. She is reading to our son right now. It was the best April Fools day ever.

I love people. I love talking to people. Finding out about them. I love starting conversations that matter…conversations that let people know that they matter.

I have found that some of the best conversations that I have had are because I was trying to show an act of kindness to the other person. If someone can sense that you care, they are much more willing to open up into conversation. They will definitely be glad that you talked to them.

         I went through the line of a restaurant at lunch a couple of days ago. The lady running the register looked like she had had a rough day. You know the look I am referring to. She had had it rough and needed a break.

         As I got to the counter, she covered her mouth and let out a big yawn. I could tell that this would be a good opportunity to brighten her day. As she looked back at me, I smiled from ear to ear and said, “It is only noon. You must have started early and haven’t caught a break.” She smiled back at me. Her spirit lifted just a bit.

         What I said was not spectacular, but it was purposeful. I validated that she was a hard worker and that she had been doing her job. Someone had noticed. Someone cared. By smiling at her and showing her sincerity, I filled a need that she had.

So, the question is: When you talk to people, what do they need? It may be a laugh. It may be encouragement. They may just need someone else to acknowledge that they are there and important enough to speak to. People all around us need our contact. This has to become second nature. I don’t walk around all the time looking at different people wondering, what do they need? That would make me weird. I do care about people. I do want the best for people. Because of that, I try my best to be a good conversationalist. If I fill a need they have, good.