I wrote this speech for a Catholic church fundraiser. I was not able to attend at the last minute. Hoping someone else can benefit from it. If you need a speaker for your fundraiser I speak publicly. Julie Federico juliefederico@gmail.com

1. 'Big things: How to start small'
have white index cards on the table
Mustard seeds
Hi my name is Julie Federico I am from Colorado. I have
worked most of my adult life as a middle school counselor.
I spent many years in a small dark office with angry
teenagers who had nose rings and used bad language. As I
look at you all you don’t look anything like my students
from school. So if I appear a little apprehensive this is the
back-story. Really you all look fabulous even though I
don’t see many nose rings. You have come all the way
here to learn about “big things how to start small.” Such a
simple but powerful theme the church has chosen this year
for the conference. I want to lay out the details of Big
things how to start small ideally in a way that everyone will
understand then embrace how easy this task really is. I have
some tips that I will share with you and I will work in small
quotes from famous people.
“If I can not do great things I can do small things in a
great way.” Martin Luther King Jr.
A little about my background I told you I was a school
counselor I am also a children’s author. I published my
first book with no Twitter or Facebook account. I know
people here who are authors or work in marketing are
gasping in their mind. Thinking: “Is that lady clueless?” I
didn’t get either of these social platforms until about three

2. years after my first book came out. What is significant
about this is, no I am not 100% clueless. I was offered the
opportunity to publish my first book I was thrilled. The first
publisher that I sent my book to picked it up, this never
happens. They bought the book not because I am such a
wonderful writer but they saw dollar signs I had written a
unconventional book I was talking to very young children
about how to avoid child abuse. No one else is really doing
this. I wanted to save as many children as possible from
child abuse so I launched a book with no social media.
This is important. I could have created the social media
delayed the book launch for several month or just jumped
in. I choose to jump. I did this for the kids. As your
church launches projects here you will consume yourself
with details about the project and delay the start date while
you polish and organize everything to perfection or you can
just go. I would encourage you to work on your project
and do behind the sense work to make things go smoothly
but there will be a point where enough will be enough. The
hard thing about working in a church is everyone will have
a different idea of when it is time to launch. I caution you
not to wait too long. The longer you wait to launch a tutor
program at a local elementary school for example the
longer the kids have to wait to get help. Your community
has people in it that are hurting they need you, they need
your small acts of kindness to make a difference in their
lives. So plan well but do not over plan. You have to
believe that God has your back and will bless all of your
projects and plans.

3. ‘Great things are done by a series of small things brought
together.” Vincent Van Gogh
Kids can get on board with this project, do not leave them
out. At times kids can do some things easier than adults I
heard this story once that two kids went over to their
neighbors because they saw him on the porch. When the
got closer to him they saw he was crying. Something bad
had happened. When they got home the mother asked
them, “What did you do over at the neighbors?” “They
said,
“We cried with him, he was upset.” What a gift to cry with
someone. This really does make an impact on someone’s
life. It is small but powerful and screams; “I care about
you!”
James 3:5
So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of
great things see how great a forest is set aflame by such a small
fire!
I have a real life example of someone in your church that is
already doing big things by starting small. Janet Michael
who works for the United Kingdom Border Agency helped
me get documentation to work in the United Kingdom for
your church and this event. In theory this sounds easy.
Right? I have no criminal background I do not run with
terriosts. But this endeavor was far from easy. Janet spent
her own time and made many emails to me and the Border
Agency to secure these documents. There were many
obstacles in her way for some reason. Not once did she

4. ever write to me and say, “Julie this is too tedious, it is
taking my time away from my own work and family. I am
going to let you figure this out on your own.” If she had
done this I would not be here today. Her acts were small,
moving of cash from accounts, emails, making photocopies
of my passport. All of these tasks added up to something
Big. I was allowed to come and speak to you all because of
Janet. Thank you Janet! Thanks for not giving up on this
process!
On your table you will see a white index card. Look how
small it is? Not very intimidating right? I want you to
take one and write on it either today or tomorrow one item
that you would like to do to change in the world in a
positive direction. I encourage you to build on your innate
skill set. If you are good with children I encourage you
volunteer at a school. If you are good at helping people
find employment I encourage you to work in this area.
Everyone has something that they are interested in. It can
really be anything. Maybe you could make a meal for
someone in the church that is ill or go visit someone in this
hospital. This counts. Or maybe you are like the kids in
my earlier story that went and cried with the porch of their
next-door neighbor. You will do this item for one week.
At the end of the week you will add a second item to the
back of the card. There are 600 people here tonight. In
two weeks your community will experience 1,200 random
acts of kindness because of your work. Just think of the
impact of this for a second?
This is from Dale Carnegie,

5. He said,
“We started with a set of rules printed on a card no larger
than a postcard. The next season we printed a larger card,
then a leaflet, then a series of booklets, each one expanding
in size and scope. After fifteen years of experimentation
and research came this book.” Dale Carnegie How to Win
Friends & Influence People - This book was published in
1936 and has sold over 15 million copies. Not bad for
work that started on an index card. You are beginning on
the same index card that Dale Carnegie did. This is
exciting. Don’t discount the power of an index card.
If after doing your kind act for a few weeks you are not
enjoying it. Take a pen and scratch out what you wrote
with a new item. You do not have to tell anyone, there is
no form to download. You just change the task to
something that you do enjoy. This project should bring
your community joy; it should also bring you joy. Do not
stay with a task that you hate or do not enjoy. That is not
the point of this project to make people miserable. The
point is to spread kindness, and God’s love in action.
When you are out in the community you are the church
your church will be in schools, hospitals, prisons, day cares
and all over the neighborhood. You are taking the church
to the streets, to the people.
Matthew 13:32
Verse Concepts speaking of a mustard seed.

6. And this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full
grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a
tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN
ITS BRANCHES."
Your small acts are like the mustard seed; they will
multiply week by week. No one should become exhausted
by this endeavor the church is starting. These small acts
should be easy. The greatness comes not in just measuring
one act but in measuring 1,200 acts of kindness. This is
amazing to think about!
“The great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a
succession of little things that are brought together.”
Vincent van Gogh
This is the goal of this project to start small and over time
to see the great work of thousands of kind acts. No act is
too small, no act is wasted. You are taking God’s love to
the streets. This is powerful, please celebrate your success
and let enough be enough. There will always be one
person, who will be sort of a downer and say, “But we
could have done so much more!” Yes, this is true. But
don’t focus on this focus on what you did, what you
accomplished, who you loved.
If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great
way. Napoleon Hill.

7. I don’t want anyone to say, “Well I just bought a rose for a
homeless person” or blank fill in the blank of what you did.
Each act is amazing; each act is important and worthy of
doing.
“One sees great things from the valley; only small things
from the peak.” Gilbert Chesterton
I think after the church as been involved in this work for
awhile you all will be on the peak. Enjoy the view! Please
stop and share your success with each other. It would be
nice if one person could compile stories of everything that
people are doing. This by the way is one of the kind acts
that I am talking about. This counts. Someone writing
stories, someone taking picture. Share these with the
congregation at a morning service or other meeting.
Celebrate your success take amazing photos from the peak!
If no one in the congregation feels like they can write or
document the stories just save these white cards in a few
weeks bring them back to the church and drop them in a
basket. The church staff can pull out some of the more
interesting ones and share then with the congregation on a
Sunday. Or post them on a wall so that everyone can see
you good work.
When you start working on social justice issues the ocean
of needs can feel overwhelming. It seems like the work

8. you are doing is not making a dent in the problems of
poverty, cancer or unemployment. Just know this to be
true. It is overwhelming. That is why some churches shy
away from doing this work. They want to report amazing
success and impressive growth records at year’s end to the
board of directors. Sometimes when you do this work there
is no hard data you can collect. Let’s see I cried with 10
people this year. Can I put that on a graph? Seeing
everyone’s acts of kindness on the wall is your celebration.
You can invite the board of directors to come look at the
wall. If they ask you for hard data numbers tell them I told
you that you did not have to have it. I am sure they will get
a kick out of this, “Wasn’t that the lady that started
publishing books with no social media?” Someone will
proudly say, “She is the one!” I do feel confident that some
elderly person with more time on their hands than God can
archive and record all of the work you will be doing. I
know this person is out there. Do not work in isolation.
Share your success and struggles with each other. Bi
monthly meetings would be nice to keep everyone
motivated.
“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your
strength lies.” Mother Teresa.
Everyone is wired differently. Some people can offer to
change the oil in other people’s cars, other people such as
myself would send the car to the mechanic or junk yard if I
did this. I am much better at talking with people and
listening to their problems, or making them a meal. God

9. has hardwired you in a special way listen to the skills that
he has given you. Everyone has something to give.
I really like this quote:
“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic.
It is based on the fact that human history is a history not
only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage,
and kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will
determine our lives. If we see only the worse, it destroys
our capacity to do something. If we remember those times
and places and there are so many where people have
behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act and
at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a
world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to
wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an
infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think
human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad
around us, it itself a marvelous victory.
Howard Zinn You Can’t be Neutral on a Moving Train
2002.
I hesitate to say this next part because it sounds sort of
negative but if I don’t share it with you I do not feel as if
you would be getting 100% of the training to do this job of
Big things start small.

10. There are times when you try to help people and are met
with resistance. I am confident Father Michael could give
you several sermons on this topic. Sometimes the
resistance is from the person or group of people you are
trying to help. Sometimes it is from systems that want to
keep the group of people oppressed so they throw out
roadblocks to people who are trying to help them. You will
encounter obstacles. You will not be able to see the
obstacles when you first start the project they will not come
until later. I am sure when the church asked Janet to help
me get the work papers that I needed she thought, “Sure I
can do that. It will not be a problem.” We encountered
many problems. You will not encounter problems because
you are doing anything wrong. Problems are just the part
of success. When you see problems do not be angry, more
importantly do not be surprised or give up. The enemy and
the darkness in this world would love to throw water on
every spark this church is trying to start in the community.
When trouble comes start bailing the water, again do no do
this alone but with the help of your team here at the church.
There are systems set up to maintain the status Que., to
keep certain groups oppressed and to keep life just the way
it is. For better or worse. I saw this a lot when I began
marketing my children’s book on child abuse. I was met
with a ton of resistance it seemed like from everywhere. It
took a couple of years for me to figure this out. I still do
not completely understand it. There are real structural
systems in the US set up not by government agencies but
by families to keep kids in the dark about child abuse.
There are reasons why 2.9 million cases of child abuse are
reported every year in the United States. That is reported

11. so I imagine the numbers are closer to 5 million children
who are harmed. Being in the middle of this was very, very
dark. I felt evil in my neighborhood, community, state and
county in a new way. I felt like the evil was winning
because each time I turned on my computer to check email
in the headlines was some poor child being abused or
killed. I never thought of stopping though. I was not
having much success that a board of directors would
approve of. Fortunately I worked alone and I did not share
my books sales or income with anyone. I felt like God was
using me as a vehicle to help end child abuse and I was
staying with this job until God placed me somewhere else.
There was a time before my publisher was indicated on 8
felony counts. Yes, 8. That my book was #3 on Amazon in
the US. Quite an accomplishment for an unknown author.
Then the FBI closed my publisher. My books almost went
out of print. There was a time when I only had only two
copies left. I had to rebuild, find a new publisher, resize all
of my books because the new publisher used a different
trim size, and get new ISBN numbers. I am still fighting to
make my way back to the top again from the bottom of the
sales chart. My publisher closed three years ago, it is a
long process. I do not share this information with you so
that you rush over and buy a copy of one of my books after
this presentation. And say, “Oh, the poor poor lady.” I
share it as a real life example of setbacks. There are
systems in my country that does not want to educate
children about child abuse. They want kids to stay in the
dark so that perpetrator can continue to take advantage of
them. Again I do not understand this. Just know that
resistance is out there, you will see resistance up close,

12. resistance can take you from the peak like when I was #3
and put you at the valley and the back of the line so to
speak. When you see these set backs almost know you are
doing something right. You are changing things for the
better this comes at a cost sometimes. Please do not give
up and send Father Michael hateful emails and say I
disagree with the theme of your conference, it is the worst
theme I have ever hear of!! Please do not blame him, the
church or the other people you are working with. Blame no
one. When you are met with huge resistance support each
other come together and have a potluck. Re read some of
the cards that other people had dropped off at the church.
Re read this speech; I am leaving this with Father Michael.
Most importantly keep going! Do not give up!
“All stress comes from resisting what is.” ― Oprah
Winfrey
“Most great people have attained their greatest success
just one step beyond their greatest failure. Napoleon Hill”
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the
whole staircase. Martin Luther King Jr.
In conclusion, you are embarking on a great adventure. An
adventure that will change lives and enlarge the kingdom of
God. I can not think of any other work that a church should
be doing. Jesus did not come to start a religion. He came
to change people’s lives. You all will be changing people’s
lives here shortly. It will not be 100% easy but it will be

13. worth every minute that you spend on these acts of
kindness. Stay within your skill set remember me as your
role model, I am a failure as a car mechanic. This is not a
bad thing. It would only be bad if I did not acknowledge it.
Find something you love, love the world, enjoy this love
splashing back on your self. When you face is wet from
the splash back of love remember your success, write it
down, thank God for your success and don’t reach for a
towel to wipe your face off. Enjoy the water and stay in the
moment.
Thanks so much for your attention.
“Throw kindness around like confettie.”