A Hundred Small Things

Raising a little man is a wild ride, no doubt about that! It is also a fantastic adventure. In the past few days these words have come out of my mouth.... and I was 100% serious.
'Is that a noodle in your nose?'
'Please don't lick the bottom of Mommy's shoe..'
'Next time you find dog poop.... just leave it.'
I also found an excavator fridge magnet in the back pocket of my shorts (instead of the cash I was digging for..) and two crayons sticking out of the other pocket. Those lovely orange shades of Crayola are also, unfortunately, now melted to the front seat of my jeep.
I hear myself quoting Derek's mom on a regular basis. The most recent use of her terminology was delivered to an overly concerned mother after she noticed my son's scraped toe. She didn't seem very impressed when I replied, 'Oh, that's actually the first time he's bled today so we are doing good!' And although Owen has entered the rough, tough, constantly-needing-a-bandaid phase.. Derek didn't get the memo that he should be making his exit from that very same department!? If it's not the mini-man bleeding, it's definitely his father.
There is literally never a dull moment. But who would want that?

Being married consists of this same collision; part wild ride, part fantastic adventure all tangled up in the daily humdrum of life. We make hard decisions, we laugh about a bit of silliness that only the two of us understand. We play, we work, we carry each other when the road is rough. It's a journey, one that I wouldn't trade for anything else in the whole, wide world. But I will admit to occasionally wondering when it will be my turn to do something 'big' in this life. My bucket list is long!
I recently read some powerful words that have settled quite deeply into my heart. In true scatter brained, mother-of-a-wild-man form, I can not locate the actual quote and feel terrible for not giving credit to the person behind this insight. But it was something along the lines of 'I used to dream of the BIG thing I would do to have a powerful impact and be life-changing. Now I realize that the difference I get to make in this world will not come in the form of one big thing but rather a hundred small things.' Woah.

A hundred small boo-boos kissed, diapers changed, peanut butter sandwiches lovingly made. A hundred different love notes stuck on the inside of that lunch box or sore muscles rubbed as a hundred busy days come to an end. Can I truly revolutionize the world one bike ride at a time, one candle lit, one more time explaining why we don't write on our arms? Could this be my breath of fresh air, my permission to give fully right now because, as it turns out, the powerful impact I get to have in this world may be intertwined with all these mundane moments? This season is not the in-between.
Today, right now, as we pay taxes and wade through insurance policies, doing life together and cleaning one more scraped elbow and sitting down for a minute to just watch the sunset, I can be utterly alive because this is the essence of a life well lived: A hundred small things.  Could it be that rather than the few mountaintop experiences I long for, it is truly the hundred small things that make this journey extraordinary?

Derek says I've been a wanderer ever since he met me. Gypsy at heart; I crave the next adventure. I'm ALL about what's next. So as we recently reached the three year mark of our journey here on the Big Island of Hawaii, I was wrestling with a serious case of what I call RHS: restless heart syndrome. It's not that I don't absolutely love our life here; you'd have to be out of your mind not to! But the struggle is real and my spirit becomes heavy and I desperately need to know what is next. As I wade through emotions in attempts to uncover the heart of this matter, though, I keep coming back to contentment.

Jim Elliot said 'Wherever you are, be all there!' And in Philippians 4:12-13, Paul says he has 'learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.' Neither of these men seemed to think that you need be anywhere but in that moment, fully dependent on the One who gives you your next breath. Jesus himself, in the Sermon on the Mount, posed this question, 'Who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?' [Matthew 6:27]

No, I don't know 'what's next'. Yes, I may always long for the mission trips to third-world countries and more para-gliding excursions to take my breath away. But while these experiences are highlights and make me feel so very 'alive', they are temporary and I know that there has to be something more. I want to feel fully alive every day, as I grill cheese sandwiches to perfection or sit in the sand with Derek and watch the sun sink low. 

I'm realizing that the secret to contentment is made up of a few ingredients. I believe it includes a deep confidence in God and the faithfulness of His promises to us. It also stems from embracing whatever season He has placed you in. The different chapters of your journey may not always seem as vital as others; you may not feel like a game changer as you fold that hundredth load of laundry. But, trust me, it matters. Your life matters!
And those hundred small things, should you choose to do them, will change the lives of those around you. Do not ever underestimate the effects of your actions and how far they will reach. May we refuse to get so caught up in the grandiose and the exotic and a desperate need for a new adventure that we miss the absolute splendor of living fully in the only moment we truly have; right now, changing the world through a hundred small things. 

'Your life.. and what you do with it today.. matters forever.'  -Andy Andrews