One Drop at a Time

Do you ever wonder if your efforts to serve make any difference at all?  There is a book by M. Russell Ballard, an apostle of the LDS church, entitled One Drop at a Time that addresses this very topic.  He compares our efforts to serve with that of a tiny honey bee: (The book is based from a talk given by M. Russel Ballard that can be read here.)

"It is estimated that to produce just one pound of honey, the average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the world.

Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single honeybee's contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth a teaspoon.

Though seemingly insignificant when compared to the total, each bee's one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey is vital to the life of the hive. The bees depend on each other.  Work that would be overwhelming for a few bees to do becomes lighter because all of the bees faithfully do their part."

Our service efforts are never in vain, even if it will take a million "flowers" to make any difference.  We may be aware or unaware of all the individuals that will do service for a particular need, but if we do our part, a difference will be made.  Even if the difference is to soften our own hearts.

My husband and I like to watch E:60 on ESPN.  It is a show that highlights unique stories from athletes; sometimes they are quite touching.  One we watched lately was on a minor league ball player named Matt Szczur.  It is about how one unselfish act saved the life of someone he didn't ever know.  It is a little long but worth the time.  You can watch it here.

This week I made two printable because I couldn't decided which I liked better.

download free 8x10 printable here

download free 8x10 printable here