Little Things That Matter

There are a lot of big things in life: big decisions, big challenges, big changes, big hopes, big dreams, big disappointments, big opportunities. And honestly, sometimes “its hard to see the trees through the forest” when it comes down to the nitty gritty of day to day life.

But just like the forests of this world aren’t made up of single trees, or even only big trees, life isn’t made up of only the big moments.

Big things are important, of course. They are often the things that apparently shape the course of life. They are things we’ll look back on and remember, perhaps always. The big things are like milestones and monuments, but behind every big thing is a myriad of little things that matter.

Little things are the stuff of every day life. The sunrise at morning and the sunset at night. It’s the bird songs, and the wind songs, and the colors of the rainbow and raindrops on pine trees, and the way the world looks after a rainstorm, and the way that new snow looks like ever so many diamonds when the sun shines down on it.

Little things are the little bag of real chestnuts from an unknown friend just for ‘roasting over an open fire’, or the unexpected box of kleenex that shows up in the mailbox in answer to an unspoken wish. It’s the hug of a friend you almost didn’t get the chance or find the courage to make, and the warm hearted smile from a stranger that lights up a little corner of the heart. It’s when money is tight and everything you need ends up being on sale, and the loaf of bread and avocado that a friend shares just because.

Little things are sometimes best seen through the eyes of a child where each moment is full of mystery and goodness waiting to be discovered. Its hearing a sweet little voice whisper a prayer at night, and feeling tiny hands reach out for a hug. Its watching  young eyes light up with understanding after explaining new things. Its holding those tiny little hands and treasuring the little moments, because they slip by so quickly.

Little things are scattered in every day in the form of those little victories of the heart that are fought and won. It’s the quiet moments when we stop to “be still and know Him” — the Creator, our Savior, the One who makes no mistakes. And it’s the peace that He gives when everything around you looks like its falling apart and you stop to feel the wind on your face again and finding the courage to get up again when you’ve been knocked flat by circumstances again and again after watching the way a spider builds her web time and time without failing or complaining.

Life wouldn’t be the same without the little things. After all, a forest wouldn’t be a forest with out the trees.

It is taking the time to read books about counting little things as gifts from our Father’s hand, and remembering why I started looking for little things so many years ago, and beginning again with clearer, more determined purpose to see the gift even in the hard and the sad things that life brings.

Life might not be easy. It might not be as exciting as we wish. It might feel like its one big thing after the other, and the big things feel so important that they are all we think we can see.  But don’t forget to notice the little things, and let your heart swell with thankfulness to Him who in His wisdom ordained that life should be made up of so many little things- little things that matter, and should not be taken for granted.