Saving Starfish

Deryl says..........A lot of interesting things have happened since I last wrote. The most interesting of which has been Kelley's invitation to model and be interviewed for a website dedicated to breast cancer patients and survivors. We are now using one of the pictures on this blog. If you would like to see the rest and the interview got to www.ifightlikeagirl.info. There are pictures and interviews of many different women as well. Of course the best one is Kelley's but I am kind of partial.
One of the concerning things going on is Kelley's white cell count. It is very low right now. And at this time period after the last round of chemo it was back to normal. We are hoping that it will be back up by next Friday. But for the time being she is stuck in the house. Her counts were so low she has almost no defense against infection. So please keep her in your prayers.
Kelley and I have decided to lead a small group at our church. It is something we have done in the past and enjoyed it. I think the difference this time around will be our ability to great straight to the heart of a matter. We realize now that there is only this present moment to work with and if we act like we have all the time in the world we can put off the important until later. Our hope is to help people discover what is holding them back in their life and create some momentum in the right direction. If we have learned anything through this it is that people are what matter most. If you are not helping people what is the point. There are many ways to help people. If you are not the most sociable person you could help clean up a park or paint someone's house. Come up with your own way. The thing is many times we think that if we are not helping on a grand scale it makes no difference. It is easy to support a major cause with a little money. But what about helping an individual or a family. That takes a little more investment from us and can be scary. I remember a story I was told once and it goes like this: There was a man walking down a beach. On this beach thousands of starfish had washed up on shore. These starfish would most certainly die if they did not get back in the water which was impossible for them to do on their own. This man saw a boy walking just ahead of him. The boy was picking up the starfish and throwing them back into the sea. He would throw one, take a few steps, stop and pick up another, and throw it into the sea. The man walked up to the boy and asked him what he was doing. The boy replied "I am saving the starfish." The man then said "There are thousands of starfish on the beach." But the boy just kept picking up starfish and throwing them back into the sea. The man continued "It would take days or even weeks to get them all back to the sea and you cannot possibly make a difference to these thousands of starfish." The boy, without even looking at the man, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea. As he threw that starfish he simply said "It made a difference to that one." Which point of view are we going to hold. I know I have held the man's view for too long. Kelley and I have decided to start helping on a small scale and see what happens. We would like to have an impact on millions but we cannot start there. So please pray for us and the people we are going to help. Life is full of love and goodness. It is just a matter of perception.