“Learn to be
content whatever the circumstances." ~ Philippians 4:11
Another day of unloading. Another day of unpacking moving
boxes. Another day of building shelves to store all the stuff we’ve been
storing for decades. Ugh!
Rummaging through my toolbox and searching for deck screws,
I discovered a small copper washer. Its light green patina revealed years of
age and exposure. “What’s this for I wondered, and why had I kept it at all?”
A memory quickly
unfolded as the pages of a favorite childhood storybook. Oddly, the thin washer
reminded me of a penny placed on railroad tracks some 60 years ago. It echoed
summer days, nurturing and forever simple.
I’d been five or six
years old, standing near railroad tracks behind our grandparents’ farmhouse.
Several times a day a huge freight train would rumble past.
Funny how time tends
to erase features. I can’t recall their faces or much of anything else from
that long ago time.
I reached down and
picked up the remains of the coin. Its one-cent value had been destroyed. The
copper, squashed paper thin, had become smooth and dark. But it had become
infinitely more valuable in my eyes.
Why do I still
remember that penny and that train? One was a small thing of little value. The
other, a juggernaut, was like the swift, unstoppable passage of time.
Staring down at the
discolored copper washer, I chuckled before tossing it back into my toolbox.
Such a small thing.
But small doesn’t have
to mean unimportant. Small doesn’t translate to “without meaning or purpose.”
Small can be profound.
It’s always in the
smallest moments that I feel that familiar wash of gratitude settle over me. It’s
those unexpected moments when my adult daughter confides she now appreciates
the positive imprints I’ve had on her life. It’s in the smallest, most beautiful
moments that I feel His spiritual nudges I’ve been seeking.
God can work with
small. Sometimes I think that’s where He works best.
Sometimes all the
small things add up to something big. The quiet push that leads a person down a
new path. The faith it takes to get through the hard stuff. A life spent in
love and service. Years gone by in work, loyalty, and listening. In the end,
there’s nothing small about those things.
But day to day, life
might feel small, but our story is leading us somewhere. We are all writing a
story with our lives. So, let’s make it a story that inspires and motivates
others wherever it is shared.
Lord of all, during those times when we’re
feeling small and insignificant, thank You for caring for us on our daily
journeys. Thank you for guiding us in our decisions, for giving us wisdom when
we stumble, and for leading in support of one another. Amen
