Our pastor, Dr. Wayne Braudrick, often closes his benediction with the words “and may that make all the difference”.  I got to thinking about that statement and its implications for my life.  What makes all the difference in your life?  What is the event, person, activity or opportunity that makes all the difference?  Who is the person that makes it all worth while for you?  What makes all the difference in a day, that for you, is long and unfriendly?

Sometimes when I have a long “office day”, where I am alone at home and just keep writing or doing books or reading in preparation for an event, I can feel very isolated.  But what will make all the difference is a quick coffee with a friend or a phone call from someone I haven’t talked to for a while.  Being half sanguine, human contact makes all the difference.  For you, coming home to some “alone time” may make all the difference in your life.

One can take that concept a step farther and ask, “can I make all the difference for someone else today?  I wonder how many times in a day I make all the difference for someone?  Each of us would like to think we make a difference, but we want that difference to be big, gigantic even.  But the reality is, most of us will not discover the next great cure, or the next big technology.  Most of us will live and die relatively unnoticed.  However, all of us can make all the difference – to someone.

We make all the difference by being faithful and truthful.  We make all the difference when we do more than we are paid to do.  We make all the difference when we smile instead of frown, when we are polite and wait our turn, when we speak healing words to people who are hurting.  We make all the difference when we say we will pray for someone, and then we do it.

Making all the difference for someone is sometimes a challenge.  We all have days when we are not at all interested in “making all the difference”.  But each time I hear that phrase I am convicted that maybe it is really not about me, and that “makes all the difference”?