So often we seem to believe that if we can’t do something big, we just won’t do anything at all. But small actions add up.  I’ve discovered this with one of my son’s friends.  Originally he was ” the tag along little brother” but at this point he and Jared are friends.

His brother is super outgoing and way charismatic.  He has a great sense of humor and is always willing to lend someone a hand.

The younger brother is much less outgoing.  He too has a great sense of humor although, as my grandmother would say, it isn’t always a great fit for polite society.  But he’s quiet.  For two years he’s been coming to my house and I don’t think he’d spoken to me 10 times.

The past year has been tough. Some of the changes have been good (a move), some have been bad (a divorce) but change is stressful. It can make you feel overwhelmed and overlooked.

And it isn’t like they live here.  But I’ve picked the younger brother up when the older brother, and the rest of their carpool, had a sporting event.  My husband and I have been their adult chaperones when they have to deal with a curfew.  And we’ve fed them dinner, grilling burgers, ladling stew into bowls, and making pan after pan of mac-n-cheese.

I recently got the shock of a lifetime.  I had made yet more mac-n-cheese, aren’t they sick of it yet, and someone picked me up off the floor.  “I love mac-n-cheese so much.”  When did he get so much taller than me?  A few days later, I was sitting on the sofa crocheting.  The younger brother plopped down beside and proceeded to chat me up about their new cat.

I hadn’t done anything huge but I’ve made a connection, one box of pasta at a time.

Small things are a great way to share God’s love in a world that really needs it.

–SueBE