The Little Things

A blossom on the tree in my front yard.

Seconds form minutes, minutes form hours, hours form days, days form weeks, weeks form years, and years form a life. Cutting out everything in between though, lives are formed of millions of seconds. Sometimes, strong feelings muddle seconds together to form a moment. A mental photograph of that time for your heart to save. Life is made of millions of moments.

We have to make each one count.

Take this blossom for example. We planted this tree in the yard 15 years ago, and I have been walking, playing, and driving past it for just as long. In all that time though, I never noticed how beautiful and intricate it’s blossoms are in spring. I had of course commented on how pretty the color was or how bright it looked, but never stopped to walk over and look. I never stopped to “zoom in” and enjoy that beautiful little detail right in front of me. It looks like a little forest of trees growing haphazardly on mine. Another little world, like something right out of a Dr. Suess book. I can picture little characters walking to and fro along the branches, marveling at how beautiful their world is. The very same world I have just walked past for 15 years.

Over the course of my life, I have been training myself to notice colors and details everywhere I look. Yet, it wasn’t until I started taking photography seriously that I really appreciated all those little details. I began to look for what would be a beautiful picture everywhere I went, and that has solidified the perspective I’d been praying for. God has gifted me with so many talents, and I pray often to see the world through his eyes. I notice the brushstrokes of the sky, the colors of the leaves, the dewdrops on flowers, the frost gilding leaves. All the time in the world wouldn’t be enough to describe all the beautiful details God has created.

In praying for God’s perspective, it’s not only the physical world that I view differently, but life itself.

Culture has created a very fast paced life. We all just keep running and running and running and then run some more if you feel like you’re slowing down. We tend to run towards the end goal, set a new one, and run towards that. Resting is lazy, and if you can’t keep up, you’re doing something wrong. Everything is difficult, there’s so much pain, and many people just wait for the end because they find life just so miserable. I couldn’t help but ask, “is this all life is supposed to be?” The answer I received was, “No.” That is not how God intended life to be, and it is sin and the fall of humanity that has corrupted it.

Life was never intended to be this difficult or painful! When life feels like it’s spiraling numb, something needs to change. We only get one life. Why go through it miserable? Try slowing down and recognizing “the little things.” All those good moments need to be noted and appreciated to try and counteract those bad moments we all live through. After a while of doing that your view of life may change, and the next time it’s all too much to bear, it may be easier to focus on the good. Seeing “the little things” could be recognizing your coffee tastes better than normal. Maybe you saw a pretty sunrise, you made it to work safe, or even as simple as laughing that day. Take a moment to recognize you are living a life you once worked so hard to get. Recognize all the goals and things you have accomplished. Recognize your talents and gifts. Instead of just running on your path with earbuds in, pause and take a deep breath to live where you currently are.

We spend so much time running, or have so much time stolen by distractions, that we tend to overlook the moments in a day. Presently living in a moment sometimes feels like a lost art. Loving life feels more and more rare every day. That shouldn’t be the case! There is so much beauty in life that we cannot just keep walking past! So many moments we just live through and move on. Are we really living life if we never slow down enough to live in moments? We only get one life. Shouldn’t we try to live every single moment of it?

Moments make life like brushstrokes make art. Some strokes are dark, some light, some colorful, some grey, some look like mistakes, and others are perfect. In the end though, the artist steps back to see a beautiful work of art, and a lot of times its the imperfections in art that makes it so special. It is important to live in and experience the bad moments in life as well. Without them we only live half our lives. We may not understand those dark moments when we live them. Maybe they’ll make sense later, or maybe they won’t. That’s where faith comes in.

1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Change starts with a choice, and choosing to see the good in life is a wonderful place to start. Let God show you how he sees the life we are living in. Ask him to be with you through the bad, and give you eyes to see all the good, no matter how small it may seem. I pray He helps you see that beautiful little blossom on the tree in your front yard and appreciate the music of rain or laughter. I pray you see that the life he created is beautiful, and all we have to do is walk with him to see that.