I’ll bet there is something in your life that constitutes the “one” thing or person that made all the difference. It’s important to pause and remember…remembering enlarges our space for receiving and fuels the gratitude bug that keeps us alive.
The flat tire that caused you to miss the beginning of the party that erupted in gun fire before you arrived.
The impetus to try out for the job that seemed a little beyond your credentials. Nevertheless you got it.
The teacher who saw you hanging with the wrong crowd and took you aside to remind you of your own good stuff.
The counselor who saw in you some talent you couldn’t even see and urged you to go a different way than you’d planned.
The friend’s parent who explained to you the wisdom of following your own choices rather than deferring to crowd mentality.
The police officer who lectured you strongly, but let you go because she felt you deserved another chance.
The boss who saw a spark in you and exposed you to every opportunity for expanding your horizons.
And each of these people and each of their singular acts made all the difference in your life. Made all the difference in my life.
I love to remember Mrs. Charlotte Flowers, a retired teacher who nurtured me grandly, but also paid for my books when I was in college. They were no where near as expensive as books today, but they would have been a gigantic expenditure for my family.
I love to remember Mrs. Hattie Childs, also retired, who made her way to every, and I do mean every, little program and project we put on as young people in our church.
I love to remember Mrs. Barbara Powell who never turned me away when I came to her with my teenage worries and woes. She never minimized them or me, and she always loved me through them. And she still does.
I could go on and on. And I know you have your own.
On a day like today, it’s a good time to take a minute and remember the “one thing,” the one person in your life who made it happen.
And to thank God that they made all the difference in your life.
And then there’s the ultimate one thing…the One Thing that made the ultimate difference.
Not on one day, but on many, I was introduced to Jesus, the Son of God, who gave his life on Calvary’s cross so that I could have a right to eternal life on earth and in the hereafter. His supreme sacrifice made me his little sister and dressed me in his righteous clothes, so I can stand with authority before the throne of God as joint heir to the kingdom.
And it has made all the difference in my life. Every day I’m privy to fresh mercies as a reminder of the amazing grace he poured into my life before the foundation of the world.
And it has made all the difference.
Dorothy Scott Boulware 