Little Things Matter

 

The working of this tool was not happening.  It was supposed to make the job of staking tomatoes easier and it just wasn't happening.

We worked this and that, read and reread the directions or rather watched a video clip over and over; all to no avail.

So, she set it aside.  I picked it up and thought, "I wonder if there is a staple stuck somewhere?"

Sure enough, when I took the time to look close, I saw one.  They are tiny and so it was crunched and hard to see.  So, I popped it out and the tool worked like a charm.

Little things matter.

The other day I had a sore spot between my big toe and the next one.  I couldn't figure it out until I took the time to really look... and here was a tiny splinter of some sort that took but a moment to get out.  Within minutes it felt much better and in a couple of hours I didn't feel anything.

Little things matter.

Whether good or bad; positive or negative... little things matter.

The smile you give to someone who looks and/or acts grumpy.

The thoughtful act you think of doing for someone and you get it done.

The little negative thought you replace with truth.

The lie you tell, keeps needing to be adjusted.

The faults or things that irritate you about a person, the more you repeat them the more they grow in your mind.  So it is when you say the strengths of another.

The list is endless of the little things that make a difference.

The good things multiply and grow 'green grass', the negative metastasizes and destroys.

Life consists of both.  So when something happens, and the processing happens; we have a choice what we feed.  What we water and pay attention to, grows.

The thing is, it doesn't mean to focus on one negates the other.  Just because I choose to find Jesus in the pain and am grateful for the good things that I don't weep because of what is hard.  But it does change how the story plays out and what takes root in my heart... God's grace and provision and healing or bitterness and pain that becomes festered.

When we take the time to look close, within our own hearts and allow grace and compassion to enter; we can give the benefit of the doubt to others.  

We can see that they really may not have meant it how I took it.

Maybe what they are carrying within their own heart was triggered or was simply what framed their choice of action today.

Little things matter.

And maybe today we simply need to give a bit more grace.

Maybe it's taking more time in the presence of God so I'm more aware of the love and grace He has given me.

Maybe it's simply choosing to release what hurt me into the hands of Jesus and then, then go and smile because of the strength He gives.

Maybe it's going outside and looking up at the sky and smiling, thanking God for who He is.

It might be a choice to shift your focus from what happened to the the One who holds you in His hand and cares for you more than your heart can grasp.

Unconditional love is not something we humans can give unless we have let the unconditional love of God and Jesus impact our own hearts.

Little things matter.

Sometimes it's not so much 'fixing' all the wrongs and what hurts as it is simply taking the time to focus on the good and who God is.  It's amazing what a bit of perspective shifting will do for the soul.  Sometimes it is simply repenting of my own issues and false frameworks and allowing God's redeeming work to take place within my own heart, that allows me to live with joy and freedom.

I have found for me it loosens the grip of the hard and sometimes it slips away and my step is lighter and my heart has found a rest; a rest that comes only from God, our Father.  Sometimes it's the strength I need to take another step; to be resilient and keep fighting and walking the path.

Little things matter.

And you get to choose.

The staple that was stuck.

The splinter in my skin.

The perspective shift towards God.

Little things matter.

And you get to choose.

The Light of Jesus Within Us Is To Be Visible

 

To BE light we must have light within.  Light comes from a source.

As a follower of Jesus, we are to be His light, reflecting a bit of His character as we grow and learn more of Him.

Matthew 5:14, Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world and in verse sixteen, He tells us, "Let you light so shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Jesus lived to glorify His Father, the same is true for us.

As I ponder, reflecting what light is... who is Jesus as the Light?

Light illuminates.

Light reveals.

Light allows one to see.

Jesus came to illuminate who God is.  

Jesus reveals truth, exposing sin.

Jesus is Light, pushing back the darkness, so we can see what is really going on inside of us.

The night Jesus came, the angel illuminated the dark.  As Jesus lived He spoke words of truth, revealing areas of darkness where sin abounded.  Jesus lived the way He wants us to live revealing the path, the way for us to walk.

To be His light, I must know the Light, which is Jesus.

Today, this moment, take it and let the way of Jesus settle in your soul.  It may be that some illuminating needs to happen, revealing areas that need His saving grace.  Maybe the way is cloudy and you need to take this moment to stay with Him, so you find a way to stay in step with Jesus.  Maybe this moment is simply to let His Truth go deeper, grounding your heart and mind.

Wherever you find yourself today, may you know more of the Light of Jesus and the His love and goodness.  I need it and I want it.  Do you?

The Hard Good Care

The scissors.  The cutting.  The snippings.

The instructions given to me by the keeper of the greenhouse were to trim these flowers a-way back.  She said these words,  "It's good for them.  They will bush out."  It causes them to become full instead of straggly and leggy.  Oh those good blooms...

Blooms gone.  Cut back, bare.  

The instruction for these flowers were to give a discreet snipping.  Snip here, snip there; giving them a rounded look.  Cut away this long one, cut this wayward vine...

Yes, the snipping I gave this flower produces a flower pleasing to the buyer's eye.  It wasn't time for them to grow uninhibited and live full.  The pruning, the snipping was for the good of a later time of living full.

The instruction for these plants were to stake them, giving them a framework that holds them for the season of fruit-producing.  Support.

The care of plants is varied.  The care for we humans, is also varied.  God, the Master Gardener sometimes cuts way back, other times it's a snip and a snip there, and other times we need the support of another and the care of help.

Sometimes we want to bloom full and free but it's not time says the Gardener.  There are more things to learn, to understand ...

The scissors, the snippings, the cuttings are not fun or pleasurable in my life, but they produce a fruit and understanding more who of God is than if I could bloom in ways that I want to.

Blooms gone.  (Seemingly wasted... they are so pretty....)

Cut back. (But I wanted to bloom free)

The Master Gardener knows what it takes for the good blooms and fruit to be healthy.  And sometimes it's not the unhealthy He cuts, it's the healthy and good blooms.  The blooming you and I do is for His glory, not ours.  It's so easy to bloom for what benefits me, but it is not for me, it is for Him and He knows where to cut, what to snip and when support is needed.

I thank Him for His goodness, for His everlasting wisdom that is good, gentle, and kind.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans that I have for you, " declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

As oft it may seem that God is against me as I wrestle and walk through hard; He isn't.  He wants me to bloom and live with a future and with hope.  And so it is for you...

With whatever you are walking through... hard or joyous, may you know God is for you and not against you.