Ready for Anything

Being told that you are “ONLY” in the Pre-Evacuation Area cannot be calming for anyone. What gust of wind will change all that?! Thankfully, it seems that things are better due to wind direction and the extra resources to fight the fire. (Who would have thought that being declared a National Disaster Area was a good thing?)

Our prayers are with those facing this. Families up by Catalina and Saddlebrook are still on pins and needles, including those on Mt. Lemmon. It is hard to know how to be helpful.

Beware of Compassion Fatigue: Many of us are drained from seeing one crisis after another after another. We are beleaguered by the desire to help somehow, but it seems totally impossible. Who knows where to start. The other day I heard a Christian leader point out that in the past we would have only learned about the needs in our immediate communities. Thus, in those days we had an opportunity to rally our local church community to make a difference.

It reminds me of the man and the boy walking the beach… This man saw up ahead a boy stop and pick up something and throw it in the ocean. Then he saw him bend down again and repeat this over and over. He sped up until he caught up to the young boy and saw that he was throwing starfish into the surf. As he looked at the hundreds of starfish that had been washed ashore in the previous night’s storm, he chided the boy, “What are you doing, my young man? You can’t possibly do any good. How will this matter?”

The boy blinked at this rebuke, looked down at the starfish in his hand, and then threw it in the ocean. “Well,” he replied. “It matters for this one.”