You Really CAN Make a Difference!

I read this story years ago. I think about it when I am having one of those days where I wonder if what I do really makes a difference.

(Modified from the original story, "The Star Thrower,"
by Loren Eisley)

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The young man paused, looked up, and replied, “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”  “Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?

You can’t possibly make a difference!” 

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. As it met the water, he said,
"I made a difference to that one!”

You may be a student, a stay at home mom, a cashier, an electrician or a salesman. You may think your influence is insignificant. You may feel like what you do really doesn't matter.

Well it does...or it could.

You may not be the next Sam Walton, Sarah Palin, Emmit Smith or Reinhard Bonnke. But you could be their mom, their classmate, their boss, their neighbor or the person who leads them to Christ.

We can get so busy and caught up with our own "stuff."  Each day, we can pass people by and not even notice them. Or we could stop and take time to make a difference in just one person's life.

The next time you are tempted to think, "what difference does it make?" -- remember the boy and the starfish. You CAN make a difference in someone's life. Do it on purpose. Do it today.