Friday, July 21, 2017

Making a Difference

July 21, 2017

Miniature golf with a miniature kid is maximum fun. She never got the hang of how to hold the putter, hadn’t the slightest idea of how the game is scored, cared nothing about how many strokes it took to get the ball in the cup. After coaxing the ball down the fairway, bouncing it off one side or the other, and guiding it in with a gentle shove, she celebrated with a little victory dance of joy. Life is much more visceral for a five year old. I suppose we get jaded with age, but every so often when we get to see the world through the eyes of a child, we see life as God intended it to be: filled with wonder and joy.

Sadly, not every child gets to experience life this way. Child abuse, neglect, and parental incompetence all serve to rob children of their childhood, kill their imagination, and destroy their sense of wonder and trust. Jesus’ description of the devil’s work in John 10:10 is all too often the sorry lot of little children. It should not be. 

No single individual can by themselves alter the course of history, but a single individual can change the story of another. The old story about starfish bears repeating. 

“A young man was observed walking a beach littered with starfish that had washed ashore in the previous night’s storm. As he walked, he picked up a starfish and threw it into the sea. He did this over and over, till the woman watching could contain herself no longer.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Saving starfish,” was the young man’s answer.

She gazed down the beach at the hundreds of starfish. “There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of them. What difference does your puny effort make?”

Picking up another starfish, he let it sail into the water. “It makes a difference for that one,” was all he said.

I cannot by myself change the lot of all children, but I can make a difference in the lives of those God has placed in my care. This evening was a difference-maker. Dinner out and miniature golf with a seventeen year old and a five year old. Nothing earth-shattering, but perhaps, just perhaps, it made a difference in one or even both of the grandchildren God gave us tonight. 


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