"I Want To Make A Difference"

Yesterday I had the privilege of eating lunch with my Grammie and Pappy. While we were eating Pappy shared a few stories with me. One story that he shared with me is one I had heard in part before...

The Starfish Story

Original Story 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 youth replied, “Throwing starfish back 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 make a difference!” After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…”I made a difference for that one.”

What my Pappy did not realize is that there are days when I struggle with this very thing. I would love to be a Beth Moore or a Kay Arthur or a Lysa Terkeurst, but I am not, I am Monica Hawkins. I would love to travel the country speaking to women and having books published left and right. That would be a dream come true for me. I am not a famous speaker or a writer, but what I am is a friend, a mother, a daughter, a wife, a blogger, a pastor's wife. Some days I feel like I don't do much more than throw starfish back into the ocean. How can I reach them all? Is what I am doing really of great value? Am I making a difference? Some days I seem to live a little defeated as I ponder these questions, but what I know is that as long as I am doing what my Savior has called me to do, He is making a difference through me. It made a difference to that precious little boy who needed a mother's love as he coughed all night. It made a difference to that friend who unexpectedly went into labor and needed her house cleaned. It made a difference to that friend who had no one to keep her baby while her child was in the hospital. It made a difference to that hurting wife who needed a listening ear. It made a difference to that mom who called at 11:00 p.m. in tears because her daughter would not stay in the bed and she needed someone to pray with her. It made a difference to my tired husband who needed a comforting meal when he came home from work at 2:00 in the morning. I may never stand before large crowds and proclaim His love, but I have an opportunity every day to make a difference in the lives of those around me. Some days it does not seem like much and some days it feels very mundane, but I am making a difference and so are you! I want to make a difference don't you? Find your starfish today and through it back into the ocean. You may not be able to save them all, but to that one you will make a difference.

Slowly Fading

From the title, I bet you thought this was going to be about me and how I was slowly fading at the end of this long week. HA! I am but that is not what this post is about. :)

I will start with a confession! I have a black thumb! Yes, I am southern and on occasions I can grow vegetables. I can shell them, shuck them, freeze them, can them and cook them like "yo Mama" but when it comes to flowers. NO WAY! I kill them every time. My husband says it's because you are suppose to water them, but I have 4 children to water. I can't remember to water flowers. Anyway, this morning Joshua and I were sitting in the swing on the deck waiting for his kindergarten carpool and I noticed that my "Fake" Gerber daisies that I have stuck in a pot of dirt were beginning to fade. They use to be bright colors of red, pink, orange and yellow and neighbors commented on them all the time. Everyone noticed them and thought they were real. I pointed this fade out to Joshua and he said maybe if I hug them they will stand up tall again and not fade. He wrapped those little arms around the big bouquet of flowers and only one was forced to stand tall. Then he said something that I will never forget. "Mommy, do you think if they were "real" flowers they would fade and fall down or would they always be strong and pretty?" I explained to him that "real" flowers do die and they do fall, but with water and food and sunshine they will grow tall, strong and beautiful. Then I was reminded of a verse..."Isaiah 40:6-8 "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass wither and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." I want my life to bring Him glory! I don't want to fade out, but I do want "this flower's glory" to fall so that the glory of the creator can be recognized and praised. If the word of our God is what stands forever, it just makes since to be filled with his word. That is the water, food and sunshine we need. Charles Spurgeon once said, "When you are cut, you should bleed Bible." I pray that we are the "real" flowers that for the sake of His glory will never "Slowly Fade."