Its been a while since I have posted anything on my blog … but it has been on my mind. So here goes ….  I love visiting Wilmington where my son Paul and his family live.  While there, I always try to visit my favorite place on earth … the beach.  Every year I take my family to Topsail Island, located near Wilmington, for our annual family vacation.  Every morning during our week on the island,  I get up and watch the sun rise.  I set my alarm, look outside to see if its clear enough to see the sun rise, grab my camera, and find a comfortable area to sit and watch.  Every single sun rise is amazing!  Its my favorite moments every day.  It gives me a sense of peace like nothing else.  Another thing we do each day is walk along the beach and look for pretty shells and sharks teeth along the seashore .  

We even pick up beautiful broken shells. My daughter Kimbo has taught me to appreciate the beauty in broken shells!  We have many jars of broken shells on display in our home.  Even though they are broken and battered, they have beautiful colors and pretty edges and intricate beauty.  Each of us are like these shells. We get tumbled, torn and scarred on our journey called life. In essences, we are all broken shells!  None of us have arrived where we are today completely unscathed or untouched by life situations.  Our battered and broken shells also are a reminder that each of Heavenly Father’s children have a special, unique beauty or talent all their own.  Isn’t it wonderful that we can also help others to see their uniqueness by taking the time to look for the unique beauty in others that are scattered on our path in life.

In all of my shell searching along the beach, I have only found one small starfish with one of it’s points broken.  It’s still very beautiful.  I consider it as one of my most treasured finds.

I am sure you have heard the old story of an older man walking along a beach who finds a young man throwing starfish back into the ocean.  When he asked the young man why he was doing it … because there were so many laying in the sand and that he couldn’t possibly throw all of them back into the ocean.  The young man replied, “It sure makes a difference to that one!” as he threw another one back into the ocean. A small act of service!

Isn’t this our Savior’s message to the world.  Love one another!  Serve others! My message is to encourage you to do one small thing that blesses just one someone. It only takes one small act to make a difference! It doesn’t have to be costly … kindness is free! One of our family’s annual favorite service act is serving Thanksgiving Lunch at our local Community Outreach Center.  Knowing that we are helping families be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families with a good meal brings us so much happiness.

One of my favorite quotes comes from a great man, Spencer W. Kimball, who said: ““God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other.”  I also love the African Proverb:  “If you think you are too small to make a difference … you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito!”

Another great man, Thomas S. Monson, gave us more insight on serving others. “To find real happiness, we must seek for it in a focus outside ourselves. No one has learned the meaning of living until he has surrendered his ego to the service of his fellow man. Service to others is akin to duty, the fulfillment of which brings true joy.”   Isn’t that great advice!

What you do does makes a difference … you just have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.  Be the “difference maker” in life! It does matter to that one!

Just saying …