Starting Small

At my church, Pastor has been talking about just starting. Need to get a job done? Start by taking one step. Then, complete another step. Then another until the job is done. Need to learn to do something? Try. Then try again and again and again until the job is done, until the practice is mastered. Practice; then do. Small tasks eventually yield big results. I know because I've practiced with a pan of brownies, and sure enough--I ate the whole thing!

Forget the brownies. (That part might be rhetorical.) The point I am trying to make is that sharing love doesn't have to be a grand gesture. Julie and I often do skits when we are getting ready for an event. We want to draw the women in and encourage fellowship with other Christian women. On the Sunday before our Share the Love event, Julie and Jamison (Julie's son) taped bags of Hershey's(R) Kisses under some chairs. Members of the congregation pulled them out from under their chairs and passed them around. Pastor got ahold of a bag and gave a good candy toss! Chocolate goes well with coffee, so many in the congregation seemed to appreciate this sharing--regardless of how the "love" (a.k.a., the chocolate kisses) was received. Those little pieces of chocolate went a long way to letting others know they were considered, cared about, loved.

This is just one thing, but these little things begin to add up pretty quickly. Here are some ways I have shown love in small ways:

• Helping my mom with a task.

• Writing a card to someone in my congregation.

• Making a recipe for lemon bars my dad asked for.

None of these things cost me money or even a great deal of time; all of these things brought someone else joy.

Sometimes, God shows us love in small ways. If you look back in my blogs, you can read about the leaf-a beautiful moment I shared with God. Yet, God's grandest gesture of love was the sacrifice of Jesus:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16, NIV

By sharing His love, God gave us eternal life, or life in preparation for the ever after in God's paradise: heaven.

Friends, Valentine's date may have passed, but easter is coming. The King is coming again. I encourage you to share the love you have for your neighbors today in some small way. Or some grand way. You choose, but choose love.

Best,

Michelle