“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things . . . I am tempted to think . . . there are no little things.”  author and advertising executive Bruce Barton

“Little hinges swing big doors.”  W. Clement Stone

Eight years ago we were sitting at dinner with friends when we realized we needed to leave immediately in order to keep a commitment we had made.  We weren’t thrilled about this commitment and the company of friends was so enjoyable.  But we had made a promise and we would keep it, so off we went.  We had no idea how we would manage the task given us- make a 40-year-old male foreign student feel welcome in our town by spending time each month with him.  It would be awkward for me to entertain him, yet Husband worked long hours and likely wouldn’t be available much.  Well, the lot had fallen to us to do the job and we would do it as best we could.

“Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”  Matthew 13:33

We showed up on time at the meeting where we would be introduced to our foreign student at a local university.  American couples sat at tables waiting to be introduced to their charges.  Each couple would help an assigned foreign student, befriend them, and ease their transition into American life.  Other couples received their student, but we just sat there watching the happy chaos of strangers meeting for the first time.  We wondered what impact these new relationships might have in the years to come.  Finally, all the couples had their student.  Except us.  The forty-year-old male foreign student hadn’t bothered to come to the introduction meeting.  While we were waiting, we had noticed two young Chinese girls nervously huddled together in the hallway giggling and looking into the room where the Americans were being introduced to their students.  We wondered why they were still waiting when all the others had been matched up.  Our hearts had gone out to them.  So young.  So sweet.  Why weren’t they matched up with a couple?  Just then the director of the program approached us apologetically.  Our student didn’t come, he said. Then the director popped the million dollar question, “Would you be willing to take the two Chinese girls?  We don’t have an American couple for them.”

Our hearts leaped!  Would we be willing?!  We would love to!  They were ushered to our table, eager and smiling.  We were smitten.  We felt a bond immediately.  I wanted to clap my hands, hug them, and shout all at once.  And thus began a sweet story of loving relationships that have lasted past their graduations and have spread to many other Chinese students who we love to this day.

One small act of showing up when we didn’t want to.  Keeping a commitment, being faithful in a very small thing.  Going to that meeting that afternoon changed the rest of our lives for the better.  “Our” students have enriched our lives beyond telling.  I shudder to think what we would have missed out on had we not kept our word, not showed up, not been faithful in a small thing.  How many laughter-filled meals would we have missed?  How many quiet talks?  How much smaller would have been our understanding of another culture?  How much kindness, love, and friendship we would have missed out on without these students in our lives!  We feel that they are family to us.  Bonus sons and daughters.  Holidays, graduations, weddings, births, first jobs, travels- were all shared and celebrated together.  We are rich. 

  “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”  Luke 16:10

I bet you can look back on turning points in your life that hinged on a small decision to do the right thing.  Or the wrong thing.  I think of a teen who snuck out of her parents’ house to attend a party she didn’t have permission to go to.  That one bad choice put in motion negative outcomes that altered the course of her life.  She didn’t know she’d be introduced to alcohol and date raped that night.  In the months and years following, the secrecy, guilt, loss of self-esteem, the drinking problem, the run-in with the police, the sad moods that spiraled into alienation from parents, bad friends, and a bad marriage. And just when things seemed to be on a better path, her past pulled her crashing down, destroying the good things.

“Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?”  I Corinthians 5:6

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  We each have choices every day.  Each choice has repercussions, even if it seems like a small thing.  Choosing the right, even in small things, brings multiplied blessing.  Choosing the wrong, even in small things, brings multiplied heartache.  I know you, dear reader, already know this.  But perhaps there is someone in your life who just needs to be reminded of these truths.  What personal stories could you share with them to encourage them to do the right thing even in small things?  Remember that stories have great power.  Share one of yours today.

“Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’ Luke 19:17