In the morning Staff start their day getting to hear from each other about what God is doing in their lives. We share a small devotion which ranges from Mr Westcott’s epic tales through to a great song we have listened to and so much more. Just this week Mrs Ballantyne shared a wonderful story which I thought would be a great one to share with you all.
Here it is:
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!”
What a wonderful attitude to live your life by. Each day we are blessed with many interactions and each one can make a difference to that individual. Some days it may seem like we aren’t really getting anywhere but if we can make a difference to just one, to them it means the world! I hope you find this story encouraging just like I did.
Have a great weekend!
Hollie
