Making a Difference

This has been an interesting week and there’s been some good weather for riding. I am very thankful for that. I’ve been blessed to ride alone, with my hubby, and also rode for the first time with hubby and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. This was the first time for me riding with 3 bikes and it was fun. Most of my rides are solo but it was nice to ride with others.

As I rode I thought about how just one person truly can make a difference. Billy Graham passed away this week and even in death he’s making a difference. He is known world wide and it’s amazing to me how many people he touched, including myself. I remember growing up listening to him and was actually blessed to be able to go to hear him in person once in Charlotte and also went to the Billy Graham Library. He was just one man, but he was a humble giving man with a simple message for the world, we need Jesus. He said, “God loves you, and He can make a difference in your life if you will let Him.”

John 3:16 and “the Bible says” was heard by literally millions of people around the world. I saw pictures of the motorcade route as they carried him from Asheville to Charlotte and there were thousands of people lining the streets along the way to pay their respects to this man of God.

So often we say and/or hear others say, I’m just one person, it won’t make a difference. Billy Graham is proof that’s just not true. Can you imagine how different the world would be if we all had the mindset he had? If we were all so humble and giving and kind to one another? Can you imagine how many people might still be lost, if he hadn’t answered the call and chosen to follow Jesus and tell others about Him?

I’m sure we’ve all heard of situations where just one person made a poor choice and hurt other people which rippled down hurting their families as well. One leader who taught hatred, one criminal who killed or raped someone, one person who took their own life, one person who abused a child, and the list goes on. One person does make a difference, we just have to choose what kind of difference we want to make.

Jesus was one man, He made the ultimate sacrifice for us all. As Billy Graham repeated over and over, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Again, one person made an amazing difference for me and for you and for anyone willing to accept Him as their personal savior.

We all have the ability to make a difference in the lives of our families and with those we come in contact with daily. We do make a difference whether we realize it or not with everything we say and everything we do. It’s up to each of us to decide what that difference will be. I’m sure my hubby had no idea the first time he gave me a ride on the back of a motorcycle over 10 years ago that we’d later be married and he would teach me to ride my own bike. He made a difference, and for that I’m grateful.

What difference can we all make this year, this week, today? We each make that choice daily and must choose wisely; our friends, families, country, and world can be different based on it. We’ve seen the proof. We may say one kind word that just one person needs to hear and not even know it, but it too can make all the difference. One small gesture can affect many. We may never see the results, but they are there.

Every day is a fresh start and we can choose to make it better than yesterday. We may not be able to control the things happening around us, but we can control how we react to them. Sometimes not reacting or saying anything at all, is the best response and it too can make a huge difference.

I don’t know about you, but I want to try to make this place a better world, even if for only one person. We can’t all reach millions, but we can reach one, which in turn reaches others.