Make a Difference

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer he called out,"Good morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean." "I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" "The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die." "But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!" The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."




SO I just read that while I was procrastinating and on bored.com...gosh I love that website! Anyway, I thought this was a great example of how we as Christians should strive to live. Sometimes I believe Christians can get apathetic and just say "Oh, I'll witness to that person someday". In reality, we need to be living in the here and now and trying to be making a difference in others' lives on a daily basis. 

Today in church, we had Compassion Sunday. I have always admired this ministry and have wanted to adopt a child for a long time but have been postponing it because of the money and being afraid I would be able to afford the $38 a month. When I think about it, I definitely spend at least that much on just junk...like Starbucks or makeup or gossip magazines. So I kept thinking why shouldn't I be able to do this? I was also planning on saving my money over the summer to be able to pay for an iphone and the bills that would occur in the months I wouldn't be working. I think that instead of saving for the bills for an iphone, I will save and adopt a child through Compassion. I feel that it would definitely be much more rewarding than the worldly possession of a fancy phone with a lot of cool apps...which I will still really want one, but I think I would sacrifice that in order to bring good health, food, and the gospel to a child in need. 


Just a thought that I had and thought could be one step toward making a difference (like the man did for the starfish) for at least the life of one child in need among the many.