the little things

One thing I used to love are the little things in life. I'm not sure what happened but those little things have slowly become insignificant in my life. And instead of finding joy in them they cause an added stress in my life. Life can be very busy. Social/family expectations mixed in with work expectations make it easy to forget what it is like to take time for the little things.

I thought that I was doing a pretty good job not sweating the little things in my life until I was talking to a friend who made it clear that I am hanging onto things that really don't matter.

As I sat in my living room reflecting I kept thinking, "what happened to getting excited about snow, pretending you are in a make-believe land far far away, or believing in Santa?" As an adult I forgot what it is like to find joy in the little things. Perhaps playing make-believe or believing in Santa is not longer realistic. But, with the fresh snow that came this weekend I suddenly missed building snowmen, sledding, making snow angels, building forts in the snow bank created by the snow plow or catching flakes on my tongue. I forgot about the chore that snow can be. And the "burdons" that come with it like needing to pre-heat your vehicle before driving away. shoveling or icy roads. Instead I was thinking about the joy that something so simple and very much out of my control is. I gladly went outside in the freezing air to shovel the little snow that was resting against my garage. As a child I would have stayed outside in the freezing cold forever. Typically this winter I would go outside for 15 seconds just to travel from my front door to my warm car and whine about getting cold. Today I willingly bundled up and ventured out in the below zero temperatures to enjoy the beautiful weather. And it was wonderfully refreshing!

Working with children can also be refreshing. They look at the world with different eyes. They get excited about things that seem silly to adults. They believe in life with unwavering faith! They don't get worked up about the future and they go with the flow. As I reflect on this I am reminded about a story from the Bible that I loved as a child. Jesus is hanging out with some friends when small children want to come over to him. But his friends ask the children to kindly leave him alone.  Obediently they scurry off. In the grown-up eyes of his friends they assume that because he is with grown-ups he wouldn't want to be bothered by children who should be off playing with other children.But Jesus turns and "He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

The child knew that Jesus was special and just wanted to be close to him. He wasn't there to make himself look good or fulfill any expectations. He just wanted to be near Jesus. We are called to live life like a child. Enjoy the little things in life. Play in the snow. Laugh until your stomach hurts. And certainly don't worry about the future, cause it is already planned out for you! There is no greater stress relief  for me then to know that I don't need to worry about tomorrow.

Be sure to take time for the little things... they are what truly matter in life!