The Small Things

I have big dreams.

Big ideas.

I’m the kind of girl who writes out a whole list of things she wants to do—a whole list. Bullet points, subdivisions, and a vision for each item.

But I forget.

I forget that sometimes you have to slow down and do the little things. Let go of the big dreams and live in the moment.

I would never say you shouldn’t dream big. But those wishes and the work that goes toward their fulfillment must come in their time.

Sometimes you have to slow down.

Today I helped my mom in the kitchen. I chopped peppers from the garden and put them in the zip-lock bag to freeze for next week. They would have gone wrinkled and moldy probably, if I hadn’t gotten to them. Then I would have been left to look at those peppers rotting on the kitchen counter, regretting that I hadn’t done anything with them while they were still good.

It wasn’t much. It’s not going to make breaking news or find its way into the history books. But truly, it’s the little things that count. Small decisions compounded over time to make something great.

It took so little time.

But it blessed my mom, and it got me thinking.

I’m going to focus on doing more of those small things.

One Step Forward

Today I want to take one step forward.

When climbing, it’s hard to see the mountain. The trees block your view. The path commands your full attention.

You get lost. You go in circles. You lose your way.

Then you must look up at the mountain. Find a clearing in that forest where you can look up. Where you can see what the reward will be. Where you can measure your progress and be encouraged.

Look up.

Watch for the reward.

Then continue on, keeping on the path. Step after step. Little by little. Day by day. The Lord will light your path and hold a lamp for your feet.

And when you reach that mountaintop, when you look down at what you’ve come through, when you have a reward, that reward will be all the sweeter for the journey.

–Molly