One Less

The stack of papers sat on the floor beside me.

Two hundred and eight. 208. Not one more. Not one less.
Two hundred and eight.

At approximately seven pages each, that was a mere one thousand four hundred and fifty six sheets of paper to read and grade. 1456. Not one more. Not one less.

The papers had been sitting on my desk in my office for several days. I kept looking at the stack, not feeling the umpph to dive in and start grading. So, I had moved them to the big table in my office, thinking if I spread out, grabbed a caffe latte and settled in, the grading would get done. But...still nothing.

So this night, I had put my children to bed. I had made a pot of coffee. I had turned on the music. And, I had come to the point in the week, where I KNEW these papers had to be graded! Some would be easy to grade. The students who had followed directions, answered succinctly. Those are the easy ones. "Great job!" "Nice Work!" Nothing much to write on those papers.

It was the papers that represented the C, D, or even F level of work that took time. They were the students that needed specific feedback. They were the papers that would take time. "Does this really represent Bronfenbrenner's theory of child development?" "Do you really think this is an example of gross motor development?" Lots of feedback. Lots of time. Lots of coffee!

But, then it happened. I took hold of the first paper and I started reading. My pen began making underlines and notations. And before I knew it, there was ONE LESS paper to grade.

Two hundred and seven! 207....to go. Whew!

This week I heard a song called "One Less". It is the story of one family's adoption. It represents the old parable of the man on the sea throwing the starfish back into the ocean. He can't possibly save them all, but he saved that one!

I think our lives are full of opportunities for "one less". The obvious for our family right now is Lucy. She is one less child that will have to go through life without a daddy. One less child that will be raised in an orphanage.

But there are less obvious examples too...

One less harsh word.
One less judgemental thought.
One less drink of alcohol.
One less day away from our families who need us.
One less coffee so that someone else can be given one more dollar.
One less open door for Satan.

What will be your ONE LESS today?

Click here to hear Matthew West's song "One Less".