Big Dreams in Small Packages

Although I often talk about “dreaming big” at MQP, I realize that some big dreams come in small packages – like a fresh-baked cookie for each new student at our Catholic school!

The brainchild of our new principal, Mr. Tom Huck, the personal cookie distribution on Saturday, July 26, also included a yard sign for families to proudly plant in front of their homes: “A New MQPCS Student Lives Here! #CougarProud.” The gesture, a simple drive around the area to deliver cookies and signs, inspired a litany of thanks from parents who posted pictures on social media. “I think the cookie really sold him on going to school!” one delighted parent said. I am grateful to Mr. Huck for living our MQP core values: Being fundamentally relational, radically hospitable, mission driven and innovatively excellent. Mary,
Queen of Peace is filled with many people who live those values – that’s why our parish family has a reputation for being a place of warmth and welcome.

Perhaps as we prepare to start a new school year, we can all learn a lesson from our new MQPCS principal: You can brighten someone’s day in the smallest of ways. Write a note, deliver cookies, say a prayer, send a text – we can all do at least one thing each day to bring a smile to at least one other person. Look around the church, around your neighborhood, around your home or office: There is likely someone who could use some radical hospitality. It may be nothing more than offering a smile or holding the door open.

If we pay attention – and sometimes that’s the hardest part – there are opportunities all around us to connect with another of God’s children. In that moment of connection, we are doing more than giving someone an emotional boost. We are, in fact, living as disciples of the Lord, glorifying him with our lives. As St. Paul said: “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Rom 15:7).

St. Paul dreamed big, and so can you. Happy new school year!