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.