One person can make a difference

There are numerous examples from history that conveys the impact that one person can make.  Consider people like Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, or Galileo Galilei.  Without a doubt, one person can make a difference.  Furthermore, I’ve had fun thinking about how ordinary people have made a profound difference in the lives of others, and they weren't even aware of it.  I have two examples to clarify what I mean.

Chick-fil-A’s founder, Truett Cathy, tells the story in his book “How Did You do it, Truett?” of how he was interacting with an employee of a Ritz Carlton hotel.  He thanked the employee, to which this employee sincerely replied, “my pleasure.”  Truett was so impacted by this phrase that he subsequently instructed that all Chick-fil-A employees use this phrase when a customer thanks them – a custom that we still practice to this day.  This nameless Ritz Carlton employee changed the terminology of every Chick-fil-A restaurant, through simple kindness.

My second example is the story of a girl I read about many years ago now.  This girl was seriously considering suicide, but she happened to notice a youth pastor opening the car door for his wife.  She was deeply impacted by this courteous act.  In that moment, she realized that not every man was as harsh, cruel, and uncaring as her father.  Her life was spared, not because of some eloquent speech, but simply because a husband was chivalrous with his wife.

I love thinking about how someone may be inspired by the little things we do; things that we think no one even notices at all.  A person may actually think, “This person was hurt in a very deep way, but they chose to forgive; I can forgive, too.”  Or “This person is always serving and attentive to the needs of others; I want to do that, too.”  I could go on and on with various scenarios.

Because I’m talking about the influence of one human being, it would be thoughtless of me if didn’t mention one of my heroes, Rebecca St. James.  I first learned of Rebecca in the year 2000.  I was impressed with her for several reasons, but high on my list was that Rebecca repeatedly proclaimed in her ministry that she was a virgin and that she was going to refrain from any sexual expression until marriage.  In 2011, Rebecca got married.

I love telling this story for several reasons.  The first, of course, is I’m thrilled that God led her to the man of her dreams, and the road of marriage.  But another reason is because I’m certain that her bold stand inspired many other people to choose to wait until marriage as well.  As Billy Graham once said, “Courage is contagious.  When a brave man [or woman] takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.” 

Kevin