“Enjoy the little things in life. One day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
When I read this statement some time ago, I was so taken with it that I wrote it on a small piece of paper and pinned it on my very messy bulletin board in the kitchen. I wanted to remember it specifically, not just the general idea of it, and that meant writing it down. I’m pretty sure it was in a book I was reading at the time, just some light fiction and not a work of deep, philosophical literature. That’s probably why it appealed to me — it’s simple, honest, and straightforward. I find more beauty and meaning in simplicity than in complexity, and these two sentences are much more likely to be something I can relate to personally.
A couple of weeks ago, our daughter and granddaughter spent a few days with us. The noise and energy level within the walls of our house was raised significantly with a lively 7-year-old’s presence, and we enjoyed having her with us so much, even as we sighed with happy relief when she was ready to call it a night. We’d had a fun afternoon at the Children’s Museum, seeing her involvement in the many interesting and educational activities. After supper, she was puttering around on the driveway with a bucket of colored chalk, and I was cleaning up the kitchen. “Grandma, come out and see the game I made up,” she called. I just wanted to get those dishes washed and be done with the busyness of the day, and almost said, “Not now.” But how could I not step outside and see what she was doing? “I call it five-point hopscotch,” she said — and I saw a long, wavy blue line with two blue, and two yellow Xs, ending with a green X at fairly regular intervals going down part of the driveway. She then demonstrated jumps of one or more X’s and apparently had some scoring system known only to her. I thought, “This is way better than washing dishes. I probably won’t ever see her do this again, and she’ll probably forget this little game and how she played it.”
So most people would probably consider that short time on the back porch a little thing, but sentimental grandma that I am, it was a pretty big thing, too. Life is filled with these little blessings, and often we don’t recognize or deserve them, but we can always be grateful for them. I looked for an appropriate Bible verse to relate to these thoughts, and the closest I could find was from Matthew 6:21, where Jesus spoke to his listeners about what their values were, and the futility of accumulating earthly treasures. I think we can apply these words to how we use our intangible treasures as well:
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers