The Little Things

It’s EASY to look around, see the big ways God blesses you, and totally miss all the little things He does. That makes me sad actually. I don’t want to miss those things, because they actually matter as much or more as the big things do.

So, I thought I would share some sweet, little things the Lord has done for me lately.

But before I do that, I want to say that, to get to a place where I could even NOTICE these things, I had to do a lot of internal work on myself in the contentment department. God called me away from social media, where I was in a comparison and validation trap, and that was part of this work. And it wildly changed my life. My confidence skyrocketed, I came away from feeling like I had to fit any mold but the one He made for me. Game-changer.

I also had to grow in intimacy with Him, which happened naturally. It’s a natural part of loving Him that I began to LOVE His Word where it used to be boring before. There isn’t a pill you can take that causes this yearning. It has to be part of the love. There’s no other way for it to feel authentic. It’s not manufactured intimacy. It’s real. If you want this, the root is asking him to help you love him more. It’s not complicated. We just live in a selfish society where we don’t ask people what we can do to love them more. And for a lot of people we encounter, even when we do express it, they either can’t or won’t meet you there. It’s unfortunate. But Yahweh isn’t capable of not showing up for you. He can and will always meet you. And he can help you learn to love him and meet him too.

That intimacy then, like any other relationship, takes you down a path of actually getting to know the God you serve as a person, not just a deity. What are His traits? What does He like that I do? What does He not like that I do? What makes Him sad? What makes Him smile? I learned the things Tamisha does that cause these reactions, and I strive for those smiles. I hate it when I hurt or disappoint Him. And it still happens. I have bad days. But overall, I think I do a great job at bringing the smiles. And it’s not about performance. It’s about just plain out wanting to make him happy.

I want to hear, “well done, thou good & faithful servant.”

To be able to even detect the little things he does, I had to transform my own world to be uncluttered, organized, disciplined, peaceful, and with boundaries. This allows me to hear him and notice or hear the absolutely smallest things he does that I probably missed for years. What a tragedy.

Here’s some things I can share with you from lately:

1. The tree outside my windows. When I moved, I never prayed for or asked for a tree outside my windows. I only thought it, “I think I might miss these beautiful trees outside my balcony windows from my apartment.” When I moved into my house, I had not seen or noticed before a huge, lush beautiful green tree in my backyard overhanging the fence. It’s large enough that I can see it from the living room and my bedroom. I can lay there, look out the window, see the sky, this tree, and just talk with him. Little thing but I got you Jesus. Thank you.
2. My favorite grocery store around the corner. I also never asked for my favorite grocery store to be pretty much around the corner from where I live. And I certainly, after going into it the other day, never dreamed it would be brand spanking new and the biggest one in all of Dallas I have seen so far. I must’ve been to at least 4 locations and none of them look like this! They have stuff in there I’ve never seen before. I was literally walking around this grocery store smiling. I’m sure some people thought I was such a weirdo. For those of you who don’t know, I love to grocery shop, and I love to cook. These things make me happy, and he knows it. Little thing but I got you Jesus. And I said thank you to him repeatedly.
3. The birds on the fence. I never asked for a place where birds would still come visit. At my apartment, there used to be all kinds of birds who would land on my balcony, and I always enjoyed that. I had a thought a few times to myself that I would miss that. My first evening in my house, this bird landed on the fence. I had to look it up. It’s called an Eastern Bluebird, and they are stunning!

Little thing but I see it, Lord. And I said thank you to him and just smiled. Honestly, He’s so good if you just look around.

4. The planes overhead. It’s hard to live anywhere in Dallas or Ft. Worth and not see planes. DFW airspace is one of the busiest in the US. I LOVE planes and watching them. I thought I was going to lose being able to look out and see them, but I can still see them flying in yet hear them less, which is a huge win! Nothing lost. Little thing. I see them, Lord. Thank you and love you.

It’s not lost on me the small things I see him do on a daily basis. NONE of these involve money, material things, or buying things. It’s my heart we can all be more attentive to these little things and stop focusing so much on the big. The big are nice. The big are rewarding. The big are obvious. The little things matter more though. Because they are subtle nods to intimacy, that he KNOWS you, and that he absolutely adores you.

I would be remiss if I left this post at the little things he does for me and not the little things I do for him. Love and reciprocation feel good together. I try to do little things for him too, like saying thank you under my breath when someone gives me a discount I didn’t ask for, offers to do something they should be paid for, or gives me something for free I should’ve had to pay for. It happens often. Or I will sing to him when I wake up. I always tell him good morning. Or thanking him for his provision as I work during the day looking out at the clouds. Asking him for his help. He loves to help. Showing my dependence on him. Expressing my need for him. Little things.

These aren’t grand gestures. But they are little things I know he sees, loves, and make him smile.

My prayer for you today is you would learn to see him in the little things in your life, too. It can come through nature, other people, or circumstances.

To wrap up this post, I’m posting a song by India Arie I used to LOVE back in the day. As I was writing this, the Lord brought it back to my memory, and I just chuckled and went and listened to it again, and I was like, “yep! Basically.” lol!!

See? A little thing. 😉