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The Starfish Story

October 6, 2021 Kathy Onan Inspirations ,

Original Story by: Loren Eisley

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf.

Then, smiling at the man, he said…..“I made a difference for that one.”

This is another one of my favorite stories! We all do appreciate the mountaintop experiences, when we feel God has touched our hearts in some way. What this story says to me is that it isn’t just the mountaintop experiences that matter. Every little thing you do each day…saving one starfish, making one call to a lonely person, sending a card to brighten someone’s day… All of these matter just as much! Praying for those in need of healing of any kind is the most amazing thing we can do!

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The Oyster Poem

September 8, 2021 Kathy Onan Inspirations , , , ,

There once was an oyster
Whose story I tell,
Who found that some sand
Had got into his shell. 

It was only a grain,
but it gave him great pain.
For oysters have feelings
Although they’re quite plain. 

Now, did he berate
the harsh workings of fate
That had brought him
To such a deplorable state? 

Did he curse at the government,
Cry for election,
And claim that the sea should
Have given him protection?
 
‘No,’ he said to himself
As he lay in his shell,
Since I cannot remove it,
I shall try to improve it. 

Now the years have rolled around,
As the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate
Destiny ­ stew. 

And the small grain of sand
That had bothered him so
Was a beautiful pearl
All richly aglow. 

Now the tale has a moral,
for isn’t it grand
What an oyster can do
With a morsel of sand? 

What couldn’t we do
If we’d only begin
With some of the things
That get under our skin. 

This is one of my favorite poems. It shows us that we are the ones with the choices to make. We can let something get under our skin and cause problems or we can choose prayer as an avenue of remedy. Prayer and that relationship with God are so very important. Responsible Choices is one of our enduring principals.

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Sheep and their Shepherd

August 28, 2021 Kathy Onan Inspirations , , , ,

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. John 10:11, 14–16

I have been pondering being a sheep. I do like the pictures of Christ holding sheep. I like the thought of a Good Shepherd tending the flock. I have also seen several things online where being a sheep is not a good thing like maybe we don’t have a brain. We just follow along like a lamb to slaughter just because everyone else is doing that. Those thoughts are not kind. Where has the kindness gone these days? Maybe it hasn’t really gone, maybe other voices have just gotten louder. I remember hearing a sermon from someone who had done some research on sheep. They said that sheep were smart. They could discern voices and learn different commands. The sheep would only come when their master called. The voice that they actually knew. I do find that comforting. It is also a call to get to know the Lord through study and prayer. Jesus has a way of touching your heart. Once you feel that connection, He desires to draw you close, to heal your wounds and make you whole again. Then the call is to discover your gifts and serve where you are able. You are a needed and necessary part of God’s plan.

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The Good Shepherd

July 28, 2021 Kathy Onan Inspirations ,

I found this story on FaceBook last November.  I liked it so much I tried to find the author.  I believe I did and I am in the process of confirming that.  I believe the author is Steve Adams of https://embracingbrokenness.org/

Every once in a while, a ewe will give birth to a lamb and reject it. If the lamb is returned to the ewe, the mother may even kick the poor animal away. Once a ewe rejects one of her lambs, she will never change her mind.

These little lambs will hang their heads so low that it looks like something is wrong with its neck. Their spirit is broken. These lambs are called “bummer lambs.”

Unless the shepherd intervenes, that lamb will die, rejected and alone. So, do you know what the shepherd does? He takes that rejected little one into his home, hand-feeds it and keep it warm by the fire. He will wrap it up with blankets and hold it to his chest so the bummer can hear his heartbeat.

Once the lamb is strong enough, the shepherd will place it back in the field with the rest of the flock. But that sheep never forgets how the shepherd cared for him when his mother rejected him.

When the shepherd calls for the flock, guess who runs to him first? That is right, the bummer sheep. He knows his voice intimately. It is not that the bummer lamb is loved more, it just knows intimately the one who loves it.

So many of us are bummer lambs, rejected and broken. But He is the good Shepherd. He cares for our every need and holds us close to His heart so we can hear His heart beat. We may be broken but we are deeply loved by the Shepherd.

Steve Adams

Isn’t that so beautiful? It seems to me to almost be a call to prayer. The bummer lamb discovers intimately the one who loves it. That is fantastic! People need to know that they are loved! If you spend time with the Good Shepherd in prayer so that you develop a relationship like the little bummer lamb and his shepherd have done, you will be rewarded and then you can help others reach that goal. Some of us who might feel at times like a bummer lamb only need to be reminded that we have this Shepherd in our lives! Wherever our brokenness comes from whether real or imagined we do really only need to reach out to God or Jesus through prayer or through talking with other spiritual friends and mentors who will lend a listening ear to feel that love and connection again. What a great blessing!

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