Little Things Are Big Things

Disclaimer: my phone won't let me go back on sentences to fix things, so I apologize for any incorrect grammar or the like.


Alma 37:6-7
Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me, but behold, I say into you that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass, and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And The Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes by very small means, The Lord doth confound the wise and bro herb about the salvation of many souls.

The other day, I was craving a philly steak and cheese sub. When I got there, I was short $4 by accident. The manager told me it was okay and to please come back again. It may have been a small thing to him, but not to me. That made my day. Everywhere I go, and even stories on Facebook, I'm beginning to see these small acts of kindness that people are doing for strangers, for loved ones, for puppies, and the word is spreading.

Allow me to boast about my husband for a moment. Right now, he is the owner of a martial arts school with approximately 300 students. Some are adults, some are kids, but everyone is happy to be there, and he keeps very busy teaching classes, but also talking to kids who need help with something, with anything, really. Sometimes it's bullying at school, sometimes it's being a bully at school, sometimes it's a lost loved one leaving an empty space. Whatever it is, when he comes home at the end of the night, we are grateful to be in a position to help these kids in any way.

He could not have gotten to where he is right now without the help of some very dear friends and family who did some little and big things for us along the way. Some nights I think of these people and say a small prayer of thanks for where we are in our lives.

Three years ago, we were living rent free with my father and working inside a small room a very nice lady allowed us to use inside her daycare. We had no children, just a sweet pup and each other, and a good feeling we were doing the right thing.

Since then, we have moved into a very cozy apartment, moved from the daycare to a real space, to an even bigger real space built to my husbands specifications, had one son and another baby due in August (a girl!). We have met many families, some who have stayed, some who have left, but we still keep in touch with, and the people we meet continue to amaze and inspire me.

One thing I have learned from my husband is what hard work can bring about. Not just hard work, but real ambition, belief in yourself, and a strong goal can empower you to have the capacity to accomplish what you desire. People who know Tim also know he can't stop thinking about martial arts, about how to improve what he's doing every way he can. Accomplishment means doing a little each day to work towards a long term goal. I have seen it, and I witness it every day.

Not only in my husband's business, but in every aspect of my life. My sweet boy is learning animal sounds and shapes and colors. It is not done in one day, in one long meeting sitting at the table loking at a PowerPoint (not that that's bad), but we practice a little bit each day, and the more often I commit myself to teach hi
, the more he learns. Cow says moooooooo. Doggie says arf! arf! Kitty cat says meooow. O is a circle (he says girkle). The truck is red. The car is blue. He loves to learn (for a while, then the red truck crashes into the blue car--"uh noooo").

I see it in the progress of students in our program. One five year old may have started as a troublemaker who urged others at school to do something wrong (not all the time, of course), but now I see a strong 8 year old who helps those younger than her. And of course it's not just us, it's all the good people around these kids helping them become better people and make better choices, but to be a part of that, for my husband to want to be a part of that, makes me feel so good and so proud.

Tonight, because of a dear family friend, we attended a cocktail party filled with people like Tim who are trying to do things that give back to the community. It brought hope into my heart for the future of the world. There are people al over the place who are doing things, little things and big things, to try to help the people around them. What a wonderful honor it was to be there and meet those people.

Months ago, again, because of a dear family friend, we had the opportunity to meet people in the MDA (Muscular Distrophy Association), and the young ambassadors who had MD, and their parents. It broke my heart to see those young kids in wheelchairs, with a disease they knew had no known cure. Their parents were amazing people filled with faith and gratitude. I will never forget meeting them, and I will never forget the people who were there to help them, to raise money for the study of a cure. I will never forget that it was because of my husband's efforts that we were invited to be there.

The little things that he has done, the little things that people do every day, has more impact than we know. Little things are big things. I know this.

Tonight, I am grateful for the many little things that have lead me to where I am now, just sitting on the couch beside my husband who I love so much, the TV on low so as not to disturb our sweet slumbering silly Ronan, our growing baby girl moving around inside my belly, hungry for a sandwich, and this beautiful feeling I have in my heart that I love my life and all the people in it. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for all of these blessings, for the great love he has for our little family, and, this Easter season, for my Savior. That he lived and died so we could, that He lived for us and died for us, and that if I ever feel alone or distressed, any little thing, He knows, He knows. We are not alone.

And that is no little thing.