Going Above and Beyond
By Michael C.
Empty preschool classroom by South_agency from Getty Images Signature Created in Canva
Every student at some time or another has had to do a community service project. Some of us, including myself, try just to meet the bare minimum. Other students, however, go above and beyond the requirements to do something really special. Norah is one of those students.
Norah was a student of Mrs. Horneck for BB2 (Elementary Bible). In the class, students have to do a service project focusing on being image bearers of God. Norah could have just looked at the rubric and done the very minimum required to get a good grade, but she went down a different road.
In her city, there was a special needs school that required a new rug. The rug was where the class did circle time every morning. It had been torn and ripped up. Instead of picking up trash as she had planned, Norah decided to do a bake sale to raise money for the rug. She says, “I decided to make cookies and my sister, Adelyn, helped by making brownies too. I made a flyer and my mom posted it with some of our friends and they bought some cookies. Then we went to a book swap and traded in some books and sold some cookies, brownies and tea there.
Norah was very smart and saw an opportunity to be able to make money at the book sale. Her mom says, “Not only did she bake some delicious cookies, she manned the table and served people their treats and tea. She had about 10 customers (some were a group of people who bought by the dozen).” Once Norah baked the cookies, she did not give the responsibility to her mom to sell the cookies. She took ownership of her task and sold the cookies as well.
Norah was able to raise $95 out of the $100 required for the rug. Her siblings contributed the final 5 dollars. Many of the customers that Norah sold to were Muslims. Not only did Norah raise money for the rug, but she was able to represent the light of Jesus to her lost neighbors.
We should let Norah’s story challenge us to do more in our community. Her story should inspire us. It’s not a competition of goodness or kindness. She took the initiative upon herself to raise the money. When her friend first told her about the school needing a rug, she did not wait for others to buy it but made the decision to do it herself. Let’s look for ways to be Image Bearers of God, like Norah.
Columns: 👤NSA People
Michael C. currently lives in North Carolina with three siblings and mom and dad. He has been at NorthStar for three years and has recently started writing for the Navigator. He enjoys running, reading, and geeking out about Lord of the Rings.