Small Things

I am headed to the barn in a few minutes to do some final Dexter grooming for nationals. Just some small clipping “touch-ups,” but sometimes small things can make a big difference in the show ring.

 

Small things.

It seems I am always doing small things.

 

Feeding livestock.

Grooming show cows.

Cleaning udders and milking the girls.

Halter training weaned calves.

Mucking stalls and sweeping the barn aisle.

Weeding the garden and checking the health of the apple orchard.

 

Small things . . .

things that are only significant in the bigger picture . . .

things that are completely unspectacular in themselves.

 

And in reality . . . here at Kirkhaven . . .  even “the bigger picture” isn’t bigger than a small East Tennessee heritage farm.

 

My husband said something yesterday that has kept my mind and heart busy as my hands have worked through these early summer days. Actually . . . my heart and mind are on pause. I feel like I need to stop the whole show for a bit . . . ruminate on this idea for a while until I begin to find a measure of Truth in it:

 

“Hey Dear . . . I know why God says that faithfulness in the small things is important. It’s because HE is faithful in the small things.”

 

Okay. I have heard the idea of “faithfulness in small things” preached from the pulpit many times. The gist of the sermons typically is that if you are faithful in the small things then God will reward you with big things. But now I am wondering . . . so if you are faithful being a janitor at a corporation, does that mean God will let you become the CEO? Is it really a reliable formula . . .

 

faithfulness in small things + faithfulness in more small things = a reward of big things??

 

So did God practice faithfulness in creating and stewarding tiny atoms so that He would be worthy to create the grand expansive universe? Or did He create tiny raindrops so that He could eventually wow heaven and earth with a Niagara Falls grand finale?

 

Or what if . . . just maybe . . . small things are the point?

What if we were NOT created to endure small things until we finally earned big things?

What if the WHOLE JOURNEY is the point?

 

Every tiny moment.

Every boring chore.

Every little detail of every normal routine.

Even the unexpected surprises.

Both successes and failures.

And even the grand adventures.

 

What if the whole and the summation of our entire lives is really just the gestalt of all the daily small things?

 

What if a truly good life simply means joy and faithfulness and gratitude . . .

IN the small things,

WITH the small things,

BECAUSE OF the small things.

Whether you are a CEO or a janitor.

Whether you change diapers all day or trade stocks.

 

AND what if the small things ARE the reward?

 

Know therefore that the Lord your God,

He is God, the faithful God . . .

Deuteronomy 7:9

 

He is faithful in every small thing.

 

I truly don’t want to miss out on the great riches of life because I squandered the treasure of small things . . .