Friday, March 4, 2011

Little things mean a lot or Oh, the places you'll go

This week Charlie celebrated his 100th day of kindergarten, which is apparently a big deal.  It was also Dr. Seuss' birthday, which meant that there were special activities all week for him and his class.  Each day there was something - misfit dress day, mismatched shoes day, 100 things in a bag day (really).  
None of these things were a big deal, at all, and participation was not in anyway required, but Charlie likes to follow the rules and participate in this type of stuff.  The one minor problem is that this 'little stuff' is not exactly my strong point.  Traci and I together are pretty good about covering all the major, important bases in life and as parents.  But little stuff, like remembering show and tell or library book return dates or which day Charlie is supposed to wear different socks and shoes usually fall to me - because Traci is already at work - and the details are just not my biggest strength in parenting or in life.  
But somehow, between Traci and I we managed to be ready everyday this week (and his bag of 100 army men even went in a day early!).  I'm sharing this, not because I was able to get my act together, but rather because of the impact that it had on Charlie's week.
I can't really communicate just how much fun Charlie has had at school this week, how excited he has been to go to school and participate in the activities or how much he has just been in a great mood all week.  Maybe this will give you some idea: on Monday we found out that he will have to go to school on Saturday in a few weeks - its a makeup day for all the snow.  Now this would seem like bad news, but at least in part because of all the fun he has had this week, he can't stop talking about 'getting to go to school on Saturday'.  Last night we counted the days until that Saturday and the night before we counted how many weeks.  
Charlie is thrilled about going to school on Saturday and part of it is because we managed to do a few little things this week to help him connect and engage at kindergarten.  There is a lesson for our walk with God in there somewhere, right?  
Here is what Jesus has to say about small, little things or the 'details', taken from the parable of the three servants: 

Matthew 25:21 (NIV)   21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

So for Jesus, faithfulness - or doing well with a few things or small and little things is a big deal.  It is a big deal because it is faithfulness. Faithfulness leads to more blessing and more responsibility. 
For Jesus it is not the size or the number of things that matters, it is the faithfulness to them. When we are faithful God responds to that faithfulness by entrusting us with more.  
I truly believe that God has amazing (big) plans for my life and for each of our lives.  But I think we often lose the path to those things because we miss the little steps of faithfulness along the way.  
In honor of Dr. Seuss, think of it this way: God has planned amazing places for you and I to go.  We will see, but to get to those places we must respond in faith and faithfulness to the things that God has already entrusted to us.  
It doesn't matter if there are only a few things or if those things seem small, even meaningless.  God has given them to us, entrusted us with them, therefore they must have value!  
The only way to see the places God has intended us to go is to be faithful to God where you are right now, with what God has given you right now.  
Jesus says to us, if we are faithful, 'Oh, the places you'll go!'

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