When I was a kid, I remember sitting on the front steps of our house and watching the world go by. We did not live on a busy street by any means, so the world went by pretty slowly. I would sit for hours on the top step watching the trees sway in the breeze, watch the birds swooping around the telephone wires, and concentrate on where the ants were going in their frenzy on the front walk (it was probably pretty hot scurrying from the grass to the other side of the sidewalk!). Most people thought I was either wasting time (maybe I guess) or thinking deep thoughts (most likely not). But in my observations I became more aware of my surroundings, my life and the rhythm of the days. The little things gave me a sense of where I was in the world and what that world consisted of at that time.
When my husband and I were raising our children, it was a rare occasion to sit on the steps and watch the world go by. We were much too busy, doing, doing and doing some more. Going here and there, cleaning this and that, almost never seeing what was around us. But the days I do remember sitting on the steps of the deck, are the ones where the kids were running around the backyard catching lightning bugs or kicking a ball back and forth. They remember these days too, of contemplating the world and where we were in it at that time.
Our children are grown ups now. Living out of the house. And the house may not be ours for too much longer as we will be moving on. But we (my husband and I) have been able recently to carve out a few times throughout the day to sit and watch the clouds pass overhead and see the birds swooping from tree to tree. And think about where we are at this time and in this place.
The generosity of God is not lost on me. I have a world to contemplate which doesn't involve being taken from the family I love. I have a quiet life to witness to the world of nature which surrounds the place I live. And I have family and friends who are there for me if I should need them. These are "little things" for sure. Not great thinking or foundation shaking things. But little things. And they all add up to an abundance of love and grace that I can scarcely believe sometimes!
What do you see if you sit on your step and watch the world go by? Do you see the abundance of God's love? Or the cold indifference of a world spinning without you? Sometimes I see the former and sometimes the latter. But if you will join me in looking out at the world and seeing the goodness and then sharing that with someone who may not be able to see it, it adds up! YES, it does! Please don't believe that you aren't needed to see the good in the world, you ARE. And when you share it with others...it just adds up. God's love and grace adds up, even if you aren't a math whiz.