reinbeck umc - the view out my window

It was an experience they will never forget.  Our first 30 hour famine.  Fasting, collecting food, collecting money, learning, worshipping, leading worship, playing . . . it was all there.  The youth did a great job!

I was thinking about the lesson I most want them to take with them.  And it occurs to me that maybe we all need to learn that same lesson.  I know I do.

I would like the youth to remember that they can make a difference! 

Sometimes we get an attitude like “Poor little me.  I can’t really change anything.  I can’t really make a difference.  I can’t . . . really!”  But you can.

Our youth spent a lot of time at the church this weekend.  Only about 2 hours was spent collecting food and money.  (Plus the two worship services we lead)  In 2 hours they collected a LOT of food and about $200 in cash.  Maybe that doesn’t seem like a lot to you, but it sure does to someone who is living on $1 a day, or less!

Every dollar we collected and sent to world vision will be quadrupled by a US Government grant.  They will kick in $3 for every dollar we donate!  When world vision can feed a child for $1 per day that really adds up.

Do you know what I mean about feeling unimportant and powerless? 

o       Go toe to toe against the IRS sometime.  You’ll feel powerless.

o       Go eyeball to eyeball with gang violence and you’ll feel powerless.

o       Sit with someone who is dying and you’ll feel pretty unimportant.

o       There are many times when we might feel unimportant or powerless.

The truth is that together even a few of us are a great force for change and good.

• This weekend we remember the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.  Do you think he felt powerless?  Maybe sometimes, but he made a difference!
• There is a story in Guideposts about a kindergartner who started getting her church interested in Nothing But Nets by building a diorama.  They raised something like $18000.  Powerless?  I think not.
• When the church burned in 1956 (or the church I was serving in 1983) do you suppose the members felt helpless?  There is no more helpless feeling then standing and watching you church burn.  If they would have believed that they were powerless we might not have a church today, or a building!

I love the story about the boy throwing starfish into the sea.

"A man was walking along the beach one evening and saw a little boy throwing starfish that had been washed ashore by the tide into the sea. He thought the boy was silly in trying to save the starfish, as he knew it was impossible to throw every single one of the starfish back into the sea, with the tides washing them up.

The man walked right up to the boy and asked him why he was trying to save the starfish.

'You see sir; the starfish would die if they are left on the shore. They need to be in the sea in order to live,' answered the boy with all the innocence of a child.

'But son, how are you going to save all of them? Every time you put one back, another would be washed up. It doesn't matter to them, son'

The boy picked up a starfish, looked at the man and said, 'But sir, it matters to this one.' After saying that, he threw the starfish back into the sea. "

There are many times in my life between depression, floods, fire, sitting with grieving families, visiting the hospital and nursing homes, parenting 2 children with disabilities; when I have felt that it doesn’t matter.  It just doesn’t matter what I do because I can’t make any difference.  I am sure you have had those times too. 

Learn the lesson the youth learned this weekend.  Learn the lesson of the starfish. 

You do matter.  You can make a difference.  You really can.

We do matter.  We can make an even bigger difference together.  Let’s work together and (since there are no starfish washing up in Reinbeck) make a difference.  If each of us makes a positive difference to one other person each day, think of the effect it would have.   Think of the difference it can make.

• We can do it in the church.  My contribution may not seem like much but when it is added to everyone else’s it makes a big difference.
• That greeting card you have been meaning to send may not seem like much, but it can change the course of someone‘s day.
• That smile you almost offered the stranger may seem simple, but it might be the only kind thing they see that day.
• The change in your pocket may not seem like much but it made a difference to 62 African children through nothing but nets. And it will make a difference for House of Hope.
• It might not seem like you can make a difference in world hunger but you can.  We did.  And it feels mighty good!

“It makes a difference to this one!!”