By Gina Caswell Kelly
This column is called Making a Difference. As I write this, one who championed the cause of conservative Christianity was shot yesterday. Today is 9/11. What do all three of those facts have in common? Many of you are too young to remember 9/11. But I do. Oh do I ever! Mike Kelly had been gone just over a year. I was still learning how to do life differently, and then our world was rocked. I remember that evening, just sitting on the floor in my kitchen crying because I knew that the one who protected me here on earth was gone. I was not sure I would have an earthly protector again. Of course, I knew my Heavenly Father was always with me. But there was a hole where that earthly protector should have been.
Life went on and we became so patriotic. We loved each other and we were, or seemed to be, united as a nation once again. Life goes on. And now another strong voice for the America I believe in was silenced. Senselessly. And now again, I am wondering who is my earthly protector. Don’t misunderstand me. I am fine and very content living my life as I do. But, there is still that hole.
As I watched in horror as a life was taken before our eyes, my mind immediately went to his wife. She has lost her earthly protector. But, praise God, she does know the Savior who will continue to watch over her and offer her guidance in the very dark days I know are coming her way.
Making a Difference … This column has, for many years, been called Making a Difference. I am going to ask you right now, Are you making a difference? What are you doing? How are you making a difference each day? You all know the old story of the man walking along throwing starfish back into the sea. A guy sees him and asks what he is doing. “The starfish need to be in the ocean to live, so I am throwing them back in.” The other guy looks around. “There are hundreds of starfish lying here. You can’t possibly make a difference for them all.” The other man looks at him, picks up another starfish and shows it back in the water. “Made a difference for that one.”
We don’t have to do great things to make a difference. We can each do small things to make a difference in someone else’s life each day. From picking up to trash, to holding a door open. Small things add up to great changes.
Be the change our world desperately needs to see today. Do not let another day go by without finding a way to make a difference in the world around you. As they say, “be the change you want to see in the world.”
Again, I will ask you. What are you doing to Make a Difference? Something has to change. Let it start with you.
