Arms stretched out in front of me, paddle grasped between my hands and held parallel above the water, I ever-so-slowly bent my knees in a careful attempt to transition from a standing to a sitting position. Not an easy feat on a moving paddleboard, but a necessary one nonetheless. After a tense few moments, I successfully accomplished the task and managed to duck my head just in the nick of time to avoid a painful collision with the low-hanging branches that marked the entrance to the mangrove maze. The last in line behind my family members and other paddleboarders in the tour group, I breathed a sigh of relief as I gazed in wonder at the sights all around while carefully navigating the many twists and turns of the maze.
Meandering along the winding waterway and captivated by the beauty surrounding me, I occasionally fell behind and lost sight of those in front me. Fortunately, our tour guide stopped the procession from time to time to give stragglers like me the chance to catch up and to share information and insights with the group on the surrounding flora and fauna.
During one of these stops, the guide scooped a starfish up out of the water with his paddle and carefully transferred it to the paddle of the tour group member next to him. From there, the starfish was passed from paddle to paddle to allow each of us a closer look. While it was fascinating to see it up close, I was more than a bit relieved when the last to receive the starfish finally placed it, safe and sound, back on the the rock beneath the water’s surface from which it had been plucked. After bidding the starfish a fond farewell, we moved on to complete our paddleboard excursion.
The Gift of Experience
That paddleboard tour was one of the highlights of our recent family vacation to Key West and one of the many adventures we’ve embarked upon through the years.
While we have participated in our fair share of trips to the beach, theme parks, and other conventional destinations, my husband and I prefer to take our family to venues that offer more off-the-beaten-path adventures as well as the chance to explore nature, culture, and history in unique ways. Some of our more memorable excursions include an outing to a Native American Pow Wow in Taos. A mule ride along the rim of the Grand Canyon. A “scoot coupe” tour of the Civil War battlegrounds of Gettysburg. And a visit to the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe.
Knowing our children will only be children for a short season, it is our desire to give them the gift of these unique experiences and the fond memories they elicit that they can pack away and take along with them as they forge their own paths on this journey we call life.
The Gift of Compassion
We are truly blessed to be able to provide our children these kinds of life experiences. We are also beyond blessed to have the means to meet their basic needs. And to be able to raise them in an environment that supports their physical, mental, and spiritual development and well-being. One in which they know and experience the love of God.
Unfortunately, there are many children in the world do not have these opportunities. The reason? Extreme poverty. And we want our children to understand that. And to know they can do something about it.
Worldwide, 600 million children live in extreme poverty. Almost half the world, over 3 billion people, live on less than $2.50 a day. Extreme poverty is a global epidemic. The statistics are staggering. Such a big problem for such a little family of four to understand, let alone begin to address. What could we possibly do to make any type of difference? I become overwhelmed and discouraged just thinking about it.
But then I think about the starfish we encountered on our recent family adventure. And I am reminded of a story that often brings me hope…
The Starfish Story
One day a man was walking along the shore. In the distance he spied someone picking something up from where it had been laying in the sand and softly tossing it back into the sea. As he got closer, he called out, “Hello! What are your doing?”
The individual paused, looked up and replied, “Throwing starfish into the sea.”
“Why are you throwing starfish into the sea?” He asked.
“The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in they’ll die.”
The man responded, “Don’t you realize there are miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!”
The individual listened politely. Then knelt down, picked up another starfish and threw past the breaking waves into the sea and replied…
“I made a difference to that one.”
Adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley (1978)
While we may not be able to single-handedly change the world, we do have the power to make a difference in someone else’s. Or, in the case of our family, two someone else’s.
A New Adventure
This past Christmas our family embarked upon another new adventure. A unique experience that we hope will instill in our children a greater understanding of the issue of extreme poverty. And one that can forge lasting bonds, create fond memories, and make a difference.
After much prayer and consideration, we made the decision to sponsor two young boys through Compassion International, a child-advocacy ministry that pairs compassionate people with those who are suffering with poverty and releases children from spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty.
We are excited to support and engage with Emmanuel and Sefu, both from Tanzania, through Compassion International’s child sponsorship program, and I look forward to sharing more about our adventure with you in future posts.
While our family may not be able to change the world, we can and look forward to making a difference Emmanuel’s and Sefu’s.
