Modern Day Starfish Reminder

Well most of you well know that for a while now the story of the little boy and the starfish has been one of my favorites. I'm certain you all have heard it and know it well, but on the off chance that you haven't I'll share a shortened version on here so you get the point.

Little boy was walking along a beach one day and every few feet he would stop, bend over and stoop to pick up something, then would throw it out deep into the ocean. An older man was standing some distance away and he kept watching this little guy wondering what in the world he was doing. He couldn't figure it out and so he got closer to him to see more clearly and when he still couldn't figure out what was going on he approached him and said, "hey little man, what are you doing?" To which the little boy responded, "well sir see all these starfish, my daddy told me that when starfish get washed up on the shore and are out of the water if they don't get back to the water they'll die, so I'm throwing them back into the water." The older gentleman stood there for a minute and said, "Oh buddy, there are millions and millions of starfish and miles and miles of beach, you can't possibly make a difference." The little boy bent over, picked up another starfish, threw it back into the water and said, "well sir, I made a difference to that one."

For years now I've read journal entries and seen pictures from one of my dear friends who has been coming to Honduras for the past 8 or 9 years I guess. It was her journal that first started my interest in ever coming to this country and it was her pictures shared through tears and the entries that she wrote with such moving stories that touched my heart. It was a gift she offered me to allow me to read what God did in her heart while she was here. Several years after reading that first summer's journal after I had met her in Fanning Hall at Lipscomb, I'm living in this country that I watched her so love.

Today one of the neatest things happened. The family that she and her husband have been very heart attached to since they started coming had a major event take place today. Let me back up. Judy and Brett every summer pack boxes of goodies to bring to this family that they've grown to love. They call them "their Honduras family." It's a mother and three sons. Carlos, Eduardo, Saul, and Daisy. They're a sweet little family. It just so happens that it's the same family that when I was down here last summer, we got to paint the house on the hill that you all heard me talk about. The village that they live in though has gotten very dangerous. There is a lot of gang activity and just violent stuff happening up there and her sons are getting older and becoming involved in some things they shouldn't have any part of. So this summer when Brett and Judy were here they offered to out of pocket pay for this family to move to another neighborhood where they would be safe and cared for. It didn't work out this summer and if you read my posts from then you would have read some about Eduardo and a petition of prayer for he and his family. It wasn't God's timing.

Today Karen and I were in town at Mailboxes Etc. checking our mail and I see this trail of little Hondurans behind the van. I glanced in my rearview mirror and I see this family that we have all been praying for walking along behind the van. I yell at Eduardo, he comes running up to the van, I get to hug his little neck and I went down to speak to his mom. They were on the way to the lawyer's office to sign the papers to move into one of the duplexes at Santa Ana because one of the families had backed out that was supposed to move in there. I get to live near my buddy Eduardo...is God kind or what???!!!!

Here's the deal...often you come to this country and find yourself overwhelmed at the impossibility of making a difference to so many people in such desperate need. I can assure you when my friends got on the plane this summer they were disappointed in not being able to move this family into a safer neighborhood. It hurt them to leave. It felt impossible to make a difference at that point. Hundreds of prayers from their hearts later, I have no doubt, God determines now is the time and this one family that Judy and Brett have invested in for so many years, and prayed for so many times, are being rescued from such dangerous situations. They didn't give up, they kept asking God and kept asking Tim if he would please try to help make something work out and it was important to them to see this through.

I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes today as I watched them walk to the lawyer's door. I could almost picture God looking down and I can't help but wonder if what he saw was this one gal who came to Honduras with an open willing heart who couldn't make a difference to everyone she saw but was determined to make a difference. I think today I could almost hear him say, "yeah Jude you made a difference to that one."

I love you my friend and it was your love for this country that helped to inspire my own. I pray to be half as good a starfish tosser as you are.

Good one God ... thank you so much for never giving up and for having perfect timing!