So do you ever feel like "I'm only one person, what can I do?"
I just thought about this story this morning, I saw a picture and it just popped in my head. I remember the first time I heard this story. I was in a small room, with my psychologist, her chair was brown, the couch I was sitting on was blue with tan flowers. Pink box of kleenex to my left, out the window it was spring, the little stream was running, trees BEAMING with fresh greenness...
Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf's edge and and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide.
The man was stuck by the the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf.
As he came up to the person he said, "You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can't possibly make a difference." The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and pick up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, "It sure made a difference to that one!"
I just thought about this story this morning, I saw a picture and it just popped in my head. I remember the first time I heard this story. I was in a small room, with my psychologist, her chair was brown, the couch I was sitting on was blue with tan flowers. Pink box of kleenex to my left, out the window it was spring, the little stream was running, trees BEAMING with fresh greenness...
Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf's edge and and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide.
The man was stuck by the the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf.
As he came up to the person he said, "You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can't possibly make a difference." The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and pick up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, "It sure made a difference to that one!"
I love this story because I do believe that you can make a difference in the world, one person at a time, whether it's letting someone have the better parking spot, or by buying someone a coffee when they weren't expecting it, by living (and loving) by grace, going out of your way when you think you just don't have the time. Sometimes it's our own hearts that we change, and then we change the hearts of others.
Matters to...
this one
and
this one
and
this one
and
this one
and
this one...
1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
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