The Big Small Things

Photo courtesy Foundation for His Ministry

A couple of days ago the hubs and I returned from what has become an annual trip to Mexico and a very beloved place.  The people and the children there have captured our hearts, and because of it, we have not been the same.  

Foundation for His Ministry has served the poor in Mexico for 50 years now.  They have homes for needy and orphaned children, as well as many additional outreach services for the communities of Baja California, Sinaloa and Oaxaca.  Visiting there in Baja we saw old friends we love dearly, and made new friends we have come to cherish.  

The morning we left, another visitor shared her heart with the group during morning devotions.  She is a mom, and what she said really made an impact on me.  She had helped out that week in one of the "casas," (children's house families) by "doing some of the things that I might have been doing at home on a normal day, like folding clothes or dusting.”  She related to us that as she did this, and while her own child played happily as he was held and loved generously by the children there in the home, she began to realize the significance of those seemingly small things that needed to be done. Her eyes were opened and she saw from it God's perspective.  They were not insignificant after all.  Those little things that she does every day as a mom are indeed important to God; and she could take that home. 

So many times as people we tend to somehow subconsciously categorize jobs or vocations into ones that are more important and ones that are less significant.  It isn’t that way at all to God though.  He calls us a body.  The foot isn’t more important than the eye; it simply does a different job.

Farmers seem to understand this concept better than some.  The honeybee may be small but without it we have no apples to eat and no squash for our tables in the summertime.  And no honey.  What would life be like without honey anyway?  Bees may look smaller and less significant than that gorgeous big green John Deere, but they really aren’t!

I remember a couple of years ago, I went over to a friend’s home.  She had the most beautiful gardenia bush outside right next to her back porch.  It was in full blossom and the fragrance of the splendid white blooms hung in the air like an exquisite perfume.  I remarked about it and she gave me a red solo cup with about four little cuttings of the flowers.  She told me that sometimes, “If you rub the stems just a little, like this, it will actually form roots and you can plant it after a while.”  I took that red solo cup home and placed it on my kitchen windowsill.  Those white blossoms filled the whole front half of the house with their fragrance for at least 10 days before they finally fell away, leaving just those deep and glossy green leaves.  I left them up there and kept them in water for quite a while after that.  Sure enough, roots began to form.  Long story short, I have my own big and stunning gardenia bush just outside our back porch now.  I was able to give away a few small vases of cuttings myself this year.  That was fun!

Our words are the same way.  Even small words of kindness and encouragement can grow in someone’s heart just like a flower.  A hug and a smile can change someone’s day. 

There are no small things to God.  Just like the honeybee isn’t small in significance but only small in physical stature.  Looks can be deceiving to the human eye, but God sees the weight in the small things.  Big things really do come in small packages.  I expect that is why God says that man will have to give an account for every idle word spoken.  (Matt. 12:36)  Small ugly words can cause big damage too.  Just like a parasite is small, but to a sheep, when left untreated by the shepherd and allowed to multiply where nobody even sees, the damage can be debilitating and even deadly.  Those small parasites can suck the life out of a lamb, and snuff the light right out of her gentle and innocent baby eyes.  I don’t want to be guilty of tearing others down in the small things, even the “little” things that some might say aren’t a big deal. 

So in conclusion, there really isn’t such a thing as a small thing as far as God is concerned.  Okay so maybe choosing what you want to eat for breakfast or what color you wish to paint your kitchen really won’t matter in the grand scheme of things...  When it comes to what you do though, as far as where your heart is, when it comes to the love you put behind folding clothes or giving an encouraging word or a hug, or when it comes to a small heart-felt gift of a red solo cup full of gardenia cuttings... when it comes to telling a child that they matter, that they are important, that you love them… there are no small things.  They are all big things in the long run.

For more information on how to make your small contribution count big in Mexico, visit ffhm.org.
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And speaking of the big small things, special thanks to those that helped us be able to go by watching over our farm and our animals while we were gone!