The Little Things

Isn’t it funny, how the little stresses of life can quickly add up. A few small disturbances (a whiney child, bad traffic, burnt toast, a living room that will not stay clean) throughout the day can suddenly drop the weight of the world onto our shoulders. Of course, sometimes it isn’t just small things that add up. In our household, it has been 4 surgeries in 4 months. I don’t think there has been a week in that 4 month time period that we haven’t had at least one doctor’s appointment. When the big things hit, the little “disturbances” seem to add up even faster.

But what about the blessings? We seem to have no problem letting the stress in life take over, but we have to sit down and “count” our blessing. We often go through our day without even stopping to look at the blessings that are being thrown at us left and right. Sometimes I think I end up dodging the blessings while the stresses are smacking me right in the face.

Tonight, I’ve decided to sit down, push the daily stresses to the side, and bask in the blessings of these past few weeks. First of all, we are so blessed to be surrounded by wonderful friends and our amazing family. After Elyse’s 2nd surgery, our dear church family brought us meals, gift cards, balloons, and special toys for the kids. One friend brought us a bag of dress up clothes for Elyse and she wore many of those sparkly, fancy clothes to her doctor’s appointments. While the doctor’s appointments fall under the “stress” category, that pretty pink princess dress became one of the many small blessing that made those visits a little easier on her. While I was stressing about the details, God knew.

A friend mentioned recently in her blog about how God is the God of details. He is concerned about our every need, even the little ones. I am amazed at the many times I have been able to see God working out the details. A few days before Kris’ hip surgery, I was getting concerned about how we were going to get him up the stairs to our house. My parents were visiting, but I wasn’t sure I would be able to give him the support he needed. That Sunday, a friend from church said to let her know if we needed any help Tuesday. It was her birthday and her husband was taking the day off to spend with her. Because of this, he could help us with Kris if we needed it. The day of the surgery, Kris was in more pain and dizzier than we thought he would be. I called our friends when we left the hospital and they met us at the house. What a blessing! I was stressing about the details and God knew.

Even tonight, I experienced another blessing. The kids and I were at the library getting some books for Kris to read during his recovery time. I started getting stressed as I looked at the clock and realized I only had an hour to get home, fix dinner, get the kids’ bedtime stuff together, and get to choir practice at church. As soon as we walked out of the library, my phone rang. It was another friend who said she was taking dinner to a family from our church who had just had a baby and that she made an extra meal and was bringing it to our house. I was stressing about the details and God knew.

Wouldn’t life be easier if we could skip the stressful parts of our day and just rest in the knowledge that God knows. He knows the little things; he knows the big things. He has worked out the details before we think of them.

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:25-27