it’s the little things

When all is said and done, it’s the little things that make our world the way we want it to be. I have been pondering on the little things that I am so very grateful for. This past weekend I went to a friend’s house and it is filled with beautiful antiques and loveliness!  When I got home to our small, eclectic, sixty-year old farmhouse, I said, almost as a prayer, “Lord, I want to live little but have a BIG life!”  Does that make sense? I’m going to attempt to explain myself – to share with you the little things that help me have a big life, yet, still live little. These will not be listed in the order of  importance!

Sally Hansen® nail art pen (white) – my granddaughter left one here this summer. I decided to try it one evening. I like French manicures but don’t like spending the money and my nails grow so fast that almost weekly I have to snip them with clippers – so to pay for a manicure is a waste of money. The first time I used the nail art pen, the application was a bit jagged, but I have gotten much, much better and with a good clear top coat, my at-home French manicure lasts just shy of a week. A $6 product is a little thing that brings me great satisfaction.

Charitable organizations that take cast-a-ways!  A chore I have wanted to do and procrastinated on for too long finally got done. I went through every closet in the house and touched and considered every single piece of clothing, in this regard: do I keep or do I donate? I do not have a problem getting rid of things but that is not true of Sharpshooter…oh dear, he border-lines hoarding. But, he had no say in this closet purge. Four good-sized piles of very nice, wearable clothes are now on the racks at some Goodwill store – be blessed thrift-store shoppers, be blessed.

A clothes dryer and fabric softener – really needs no explanation; however, two weeks ago our 25-year old Maytag gas dryer quit heating and I realized once again the truth in the statement, Take anything you want just leave the clothes dryer! Maytag repairman, Brad, to the rescue and I was back in business!

Learning new things is essential to living little and having a big life. There is nothing new under the sun, but even an old tidbit of information is new when you are hearing it for the first time! Some old news I am just now learning:

• Oil pulling (don’t knock it until you try it).  http://www.oilpulling.org Informative website. Just a matter of FYI: I use extra virgin organic coconut oil.
• Did you know herbs stay packed with flavor and color when you freeze them rather than dry them? We grow oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme and this month, I chopped up all the gorgeous green parsley, spread it out on cookie sheets, froze overnight, then bagged up and left in freezer!
• One thousand uses for vinegar – do a search on the Internet, it is amazing! AND, cheap!

Some of my most precious things? My husband, children, grandchildren, family, friends, Sam, and mornings. Each one brings bigness to my life.

My Three Best Friends & Coffee!

My relationship with my three Best Friends (Father/Son/Holy Spirit)! I cannot imagine life without them – the great Three in One! Nothing appeals to me more than getting up early in the wee hours of the morning, while still dark, pushing the on button of the coffee maker and sitting with Them – talking, reading, listening and knowing that They are especially fond of me and enjoy my presence as much as I enjoy Theirs!

Honestly? I could get along without the nail pen, the dryer, the oil, the vinegar – these are the little extras that make life a little less complex – they are bonuses! But, the important things – those that we will take into eternity, our faith and values – I want those virtues to give my life the BIGness that I desire!

Psalm 19 says: The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple…The [reverent] fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever…More to be desired are they than gold, even than much fine gold; they are sweeter also than honey…