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.

I Believe in the Sun Even When It's Not Shining

 

There are those days, those moments when the sun shines, the warmth is felt, all seems right in the world and faith and God seem near.  

There are also those days when the clouds hide the visibility of the sun and the day seems quite cloudy and uncertain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I sat outside one morning as this day was dawning, it was raining, foggy, and the birds were chirping.  Life was happening and the day dawning just like yesterday, but that day started with the colour in the sky and the sun appearing.

I reflected.  This morning is no different in the day dawning, except that is was raining and foggy.  The fog hid the sun but that did not mean the sun wasn't still shining.

So it is with our storms and rain and Jesus.  

When I was in my darkest stormy nights, Jesus felt far away.  I felt forgotten and often wondered if He cared or even still loves me.  (Yes, it is my weakness as I associate care, presence with being valued and loved.)  Prayers seemed to go unheeded or answered.

Through that and looking back, I see ways God was navigating and very present even when I could not see it or the darkness hid Him, just like the foggy morning hid the rising sun.

Faith.  Faith is believing in the presence of the Son, Jesus, even when what I am walking through is hiding His presence and I cannot see His workings.

Another day. Another morning. Repeat.

I wonder if you have this same experience?  I suspect you do, for we humans have the same struggles they only have a different face, maybe a different way it is seen or experienced.

You know, sometimes it's real easy to have faith in Jesus, the mountain top feel.  But the reality is, there are times it really is not so easy.

We recently experienced the eclipse of the sun.  For a minute or three, the day got dark and the sun obstructed by the moon.  Light and warmth were obstructed as the moon passed between us and the sun. It was a glorious moment to witness, but when the 'sun' gets eclipsed in my life it's really not such a glorious moment to live out.  

Faith is a choice.  A decision and a learning to know the heart of God and to trust Him, even if.  Faith is a decision to learn to really know God and to believe Him whether the sun is shining or not.

These words are easier to type than to live out.  These words I don't write lightly but I write them because it is true and to keep reminding my own fragile human heart that God is still good in the stormy night as He is in the sunlit, heartfelt moments.

The words to the song, I believe in the sun even when it's not shining, I believe in a God even when I can't see Him were written and inscribed on the walls of a prison concentration camp.  There were inscribed with a choice to stay with God, to believe Him even in the darkest and meanest of times.  

I don't believe they were written lightly.  They were written with a specific, faith-filled choice to believe God for who He is.

And I do the same.

Is it dark for you today?  Have you walked away from the God who loves you and is still good in the hard?  Maybe it is only a shift in your heart to not believe God or to think He doesn't care or you don't matter?

I know I have, it's easy to do when the hard washes over and knocks us down.  But I have also come back to stay.  To find refuge under the wings of our Almighty Father and to choose to believe His words of truth in a moment that screams otherwise.

Faith isn't faith until something doesn't make sense and you still stay with Jesus, trusting Him  and choosing to believe in His love and goodness; even if. 

Scatter Seeds, Scatter - Good Things

 

Fall is a time, as it gives way to winter, that seeds from many plants and flowers scatter.  You see them blowing in the wind, birds come to eat of their fare and spread them.

They lie dormant in the many dark and cold days and nights of winter until spring comes and the warmth of the sun stirs them to life.

Spring is a time of planting seeds and what we plant grows.  What we plant takes root.  What laid quiet and dormant becomes visible.

Be intentional with what you scatter, what seeds you sow as you go about your day.  For what you plant, what you sow, what you leave behind will at some point become visible.

What do you want to bear fruit?  What legacy do you want to follow you?  What words would you like said about you?

Scatter seeds of kindness.

Sow the seeds of love and grace.

Plant goodness and truth.

Give comfort where tears and pain are.  

Give a hug, share a smile, lean in towards the one you want to walk away from.

Rejoice in the victory of another and the gift they bring to the world.

Share Jesus, the One who is Life, for that is the best gift you can give to anyone. 

We all want kindness and care.  We thrive when someone sees beyond the dead branches of our actions to tend with care and bring to life the good that lies within.  Fight comparison and take care of the root of feeling threatened by the blooming and planting of another.

Leave seeds in unexpected places.  Give them to someone you would not normally seek out.  Leave the seeds wherever you go.

We control the results with what we plant with our actions today.  We're not entirely in control of the results, just like a garden, I plant flowers, vegetables and the weeds come in as well.  But the result is still vastly different if I let the weeds go or pull them out...  what we do makes a difference!

The key is... spend time with the Gardener and it will make all the difference in the seeds you sow and plant.  Don't focus so much on the seeds, but in spending time in the garden with the Gardener.  He'll tell you many things.