The Little Things

So often I find that there are things I just sort of ignore or blow off because they are, after all, just little things. However, God is showing me how it's really in the little things that the substance of my life comes to be. So what exactly are the little things?

Thinking that I can do a day of homeschool flying by the seat of my pants. Ha! Ha! That is absolutely ludicrous! I cannot sit down and relax once my kids go to bed, thinking this is time all for me. It is only free time for me if I've wrapped up the loose ends of the day - papers graded, tomorrow's plans ready to go, perused my day planner, etc.

Thinking that it doesn't really matter of the dishes aren't clean tonight. Of course, this totally goes against FlyLady's "shiny sink" system! The dishes don't magically get clean and I will be scrambling the next day to figure out when they'll get washed. I don't have to report to the boys where clean dishes are - in the cupboard or in the dishwasher, or worse yet, there are none! We'll be using paper this morning, boys. Besides, it really does make my morning SO much nicer to see a shiny sink in my kitchen.

Thinking that it's okay to pay the bills a day or two after the paycheck comes in. That's financial suicide. Every day when the money isn't managed, some portion of it (which increases exponentially every day) is flying right out the window at breakneck speed!

Thinking that one package of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls won't affect my weight loss efforts. Ha! That one little package came with its friends, the other five little packages and they feel terribly neglected sitting in the cupboard without their friend. Naturally, I feel sad for them and must eat them as well. Nothing like an extra 1,620 calories, 72 grams of fat (30 of which are saturated), and 156 grams of sugar over a few days!! Even just one little package is 6 points, for all you Weight Watchers folks out there! Good grief!

Thinking that some things are too little for God to be concerned about; that I don't really need to ask Him or seek His input because it's such a little thing. If God wasn't interested in little things would He know the number of hairs on my head? (That's saying something, because I have a LOT of hair.) Would He have formed all of creation so intricately and beautifully? Would millions of snowflakes be unique? Would bees fly?

Habits and character are all built one tiny little step at a time. Life happens one moment after another. It is far too precious and fleeting to think that little things don't matter. They are the building blocks of everything.




originally posted on 3/5/07