Did you ever stop to think about how it’s usually always the ‘little things’ that really bother us. Things like the cap left off the toothpaste, the shoes not put away, or that dish that was left in the sink when the dishwasher is empty! These little pet peeves can drive us crazy! It’s not the big things that tend to eat away and gnaw at us, we can usually handle the bigger things with much more grace.

A few years ago I was on a roll I guess, mentioning these little ‘pet peeves’ often to my family. I would call it mentioning, but I’m sure they would call it ‘nagging’ Ha! Anyway, one day I decided to make a list of everything that I had to take care of, clean up after or put away for ‘someone else’. I spent an hour doing this (don’t forget there’s 6 of us living here!) and for each thing I had to do, I wrote it down. A little over the top you might say! That night at dinner I reviewed my list with everyone. Oh the looks I got! I’m sure they thought I was crazy for taking the time to actually write all this stuff down. Which by the way, took just as long as the task I was doing, if not longer. None the less, I was trying to get my point across because these ‘little things’ bothered me. I needed to express it differently because, well ‘my mentioning’ (aka nagging) was getting me nowhere. Not to mention, we are a family, a team. It was time to rally up my team and put together a game plan, and what better way than to give them a ‘visual’ Ha! My family sometimes assumes that because I work from home, I have ‘more time’! Working from home is often times worse because you see everything that needs to be done and yet can’t get to it.

This whole experiment got me thinking about how the same rule applies to the ‘positive’ side of the ‘little things’. We just don’t put as much value into the good side of the ‘little things’. We think they are not significant enough to really have an impact. Or maybe it is just because we do not take the time to notice the good ‘little things’. I just find that strange because the little pet peeves are what get under our skin the most, and yet when it comes to the good’ little things’ they don’t impact us the same way. It’s like we need the red carpet treatment in order for us to recognize something beautiful, something wonderful. Oh but we sure can spot all the little pet peeves can’t we?

My husband and I began ‘dating’ (if that’s even possible at 13!) when I was 13. We lived about 30 miles apart from each other during those ‘dating’ years. That’s a long way when you don’t drive or have any friends that drive!! We didn’t see each other often because of the distance, so we had to really embrace the times we did get to see one another. I think it really taught us to enjoy the ‘little things’ more. The little things are what helped carry us through those long weeks in between visits. This was back in the day before internet and cell phones too. Imagine that! All we had was a land line, we didn’t even have a cordless phone in our house at that time! He would often even go to the corner and call me from a payphone to save money on the phone bill (it was a zone call back then which was more expensive than a long distance call). We really had to work at this relationship thing! Ahhh…I better reel myself back in before I get too side tracked here. Maybe I’ll share our sweet love story another time ☺ Anyway, my hubby quickly learned the way to my heart wasn’t the big things. I’ve never been into fancy things or needed jewelry to ‘win me over’. He would leave me a note somewhere, which he always folded in some cute random shape, that I would be sure to find when he wasn’t around. Places like in one of my books or my purse – somewhere unexpected. After we started driving, things got easier. We were able to spend more time together, but he still did those ‘little things’ that made my heart skip a beat.

I have always told my kids that peoples’ lives are like a bank account. We need to ‘make deposits’ into them. When we are making deposits into them, we are investing in them. The ‘little things’ are the deposits. These little deposits are what make us ‘rich’. Rich in love, rich in beauty, rich in strength. When our bank account is consistently being ‘deposited’ into, we will never be in a ‘deficit’ and there will always be enough to carry us when the storms come. We all have storms, but when there is enough in our ‘bank account’ to carry us, that storm becomes more tolerable. As the Christian financial guru, Dave Ramsey would say – “We all need an emergency fund”. When you car breaks down or your roof needs repair it’s not as hard financially when you have an ’emergency fund’. The same thing happens to us when our ‘bank account’ is dry. We go into ‘debt’ when that storm comes. It’s hard to get out of debt isn’t it? It’s hard to get back up on your feet again. That’s why it’s so important to make deposits into others with the ‘little things’. Don’t under estimate the power behind those random acts of kindness, the note in your child’s lunch box, holding the door for someone, a phone call in the middle of your busy day just to say ‘hi’. Even a smile or gentle touch can go a long way. Have fun with it, be silly! We get in such a hurry most of the time we forget to offer the ‘little things’ to people. It’s also important to recognize when we are blessed by the ‘little things’ as well.

I want to encourage you to be a blessing to those around you. Make ‘deposits’ into their bank account with the ‘little things’. The ‘interest’ on your investment is yours to keep!

I’d love to read about your ‘little things’. Please share with me ♥

Blessings!