The Little Things

The Little Things

Writing is not always glamorous or enticing work. Sometimes it requires more patience than outright skill. On a good day I take my place before an empty screen and stay put when I feel the urge to wander off.

I spent the first half of my working life looking for great things to do. But I believe I’ll spend the second half doing little things as carefully and attentively as I can, with as much love as my heart can muster.

Like editing the memoir of a retired physician who is not a household name, written mostly to honor his recently deceased wife. Every time the two of us met, I was touched by their story and felt challenged to capture it with as much precision and poetry as it deserved. His book won’t make the bestseller list (and in all likelihood, neither will mine). But his story is worth telling and telling well.

Not long ago I spent a Saturday volunteering at my church—but not in my area of expertise. No wordsmithery required. We did ordinary chores that had been neglected over time in favor of bigger things. I dug through a four-foot-deep lost-and-found bin and sorted items into three piles: to keep, to donate, and to throw away. I organized an office supply cabinet, rearranged and labeled staff mailboxes, and scrubbed bathroom sinks.

It could be argued that four years at a state college and a liberal arts degree prepared me to be a writer. Sort of. But no real curriculum exists for serving. There are no certificates to be earned by doing little things willingly and well. It is an honor and a pleasure to help a client “birth” a book. Because I love my church, it is an honor and a pleasure to serve it, too.

There is no shame in doing little things in God’s economy. Ever. There is great joy to be found in doing them well. And when we are able to do the little things with love, well, that’s as good as it gets, my friends.

As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work.

Colossians 1:10, MSG