The Little Things in Life

            “Abigail, do you wanna see the beautifullest diagonal line I’ve drawn ever?”

            “Gabely, can you come play football with us?”

            “Do you wanna play MarioKart?” 
   
            "I NEED HELP WITH MATH!!"

            “Let’s boogie!”

            “Gaaaaaaabley. Can I give you a hug?”

            “Let’s play piano, Jibly. These are the nighttime nuggets… or the daytime doodlers. I forget.”

            And on and on. Those are some lines I hear every day. Every. Single. Day. From my three youngest brothers. Let me just say, I’m disappointed I don’t have a six-pack from all the laughing they’ve cause me to do, even when I don’t want to.

            So now that I’ve given you some dialogue, let me outline a regular day in the life of me…

            Between 6 and 6:30 in the morning, I’m awoken by the sound of my alarm clock. I really do not like that piece of metal, especially after late nights, which we’ve tragically started to make a habit. I drag myself out of bed, put my glasses on, and load my arms up with schoolbooks, notebooks, and my Bible and head downstairs, where I’m greeted by a cold living room and a studious sister. After getting on the computer to check grades and assignments (and occasionally Hangouts), I sit down on the couch and read my Bible, talking to my sister in between verses. Around 7, it’s breakfast time, after which I clean up the entire kitchen, and then I go immediately to exercise, getting ready for my day, and, shortly after that, school. Sometime between 11:30 am and 1:00 pm, I find time to eat lunch, after which I head to the piano and play for the next 30-45 minutes. After that, more school. And more school. And then some more school. Then, I can take a 1-2 hour break for a snack, possibly playing some game (either a video, board, or card game… or some backyard sport) with my brother, and maybe a shower, and then it’s back to school until my dad comes home from work, and I help with dinner. Then comes family time, Bible time, and BEDTIME!!! And then the process starts all over again.

            So why did I just do that? Hang onto that thought. Here’s another add-on. Recently, due to my stomach sensitivity, I’ve had to take a lot out of my diet. All dairy products and most sugar. And I won’t lie: it’s been hard and not exactly the happiest thing I’ve experienced, since I love my oreos, cheese, milk chocolate, donuts, cinnamon rolls, etc. (Yeah… I’m kinda a junkie at heart.)

            Ok. So can we have a connection?!?!?!?!

            Well it’s simple: the recurring phrase in my life this past year (and especially this past month) has been, “It’s the little things in life.”

            In the midst of a busy day, the big things for me are stress, school, worrying about things, dwelling on the things I can’t do or have, and lots of work. They seem to dominate my life, in fact, and when I think about those things too much or even just get too caught up in them, I get negative feelings. And everything seems negative.

But what are the seemingly (important word there) small things? A smile, a laugh, a kind word, an open, honest chat with a friend, a clear sight of God working in life… those are the small things — the positive things.

I just finished having a conversation with my best friend about things like this. Right now, things just seem to be overpowering and beyond my power to deal with. I feel so weak, so sad, so lost. She helped me find the positive in my situations and made me smile. Sometimes, that’s all it takes to turn a situation around.

Because of those thoughts, I’ve started to think about the story of Gideon a lot. It was the seemingly little things that God used to help His people defeat the Midianites. Because no matter how tough the situation, if God’s at work, little things can really make a difference.

So to the point of the opening lines. When I’m going through my day, which seems to never end and is filled with so much stress and all, all it takes is for one person to come up and say something… do something. A line like one of the first seven brightens my day, and I want to laugh and smile. Maybe just the sight of food shaped like a smiley face. An, “I love you,” from a sibling or an, “I’m here for you,” from a friend, too, can make all the difference. Because God sends that. He makes the difference. And I don’t know about you, but the thought of God having the entire world to care for… and He always has time for and never forgets me… I don’t know. That just makes my day so much brighter! That’s a thought that I tend to minimize – that He is there for me. And I’m embarrassed to admit that. But He always brings it up, over and over again, and I could just sing the Hallelujah chorus for that.


What are the little things in life – the blessings – for you? Take time to think about them, to smile, and to marvel at what an awesome God we have.

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