Help! We need your help!.

By this time next week, we won’t have access to our back car park. Please look at the alternatives being offered (including the new drive through pick up – our preferred option) and thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through these challenges.

Sometimes the little things can make a big difference. Profound, hey. It’s true though. I remember driving quite a sizable tractor one day and an alarm went off and I looked at the dash and the temperature gauge was very high. It was only a small split in a coolant hose, but it brought things to a grinding halt. On the other side of the coin, there are times when a small thing can also make a huge difference in a positive way. A smile, a gift, an sms, a patient reply to a grumpy situation. I am reminded of a story I read once.

“Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”” (Eiseley)

Let’s do our bit, however small it may seem, to make a difference for those around us this week. I love the way the apostle Paul put it in Colossians 3:12, “ . . . dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility . . .”

Have a great week with your kids,

Mark B