“In this house there is a constant succession of small events.” — Jane Austen

The small events make a large life, I think.  We celebrate the huge events, the births, the weddings, the deaths, and rightly so. But I wonder if it is in the small everyday happenings where we are shaped.

It is the simple conversation over a shared table.  It is the daily activities, like making the bed and making breakfast.  It is the kind word, the helpful deed, the simple smile that make a difference.

We remember the big events.  We remember where we were when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, when Princess Di was killed in her fatal accident, when the twin towers fell.

We recall the fire that took our home, the storm that devastated our lives, the tragedy that changed the future.  And we are affected by those, no doubt.

But perhaps it is the nightly tucking in of the children and hearing their prayers that will shape them the most.  Maybe the kiss good-bye and the “Be careful – I love you” said at parting will make an imprint on the heart.  And could it be the daily quiet time with Jesus that sometimes seems just a habit is where we grow strong?

Sometimes we dream of doing something big, something outstanding, something others will notice.

The “uneventful” day when we go about our daily tasks may not seem like it is changing anyone’s world.  But maybe it is.

Maybe the one small step taken in the direction of obedience is what will change my life and someone else’s.

The daily, the routine, the normal.  It is the small events that make a life.

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin . . . ” — Zechariah 4:10