Life's biggest blessings are the smaller ones

I’ve long thought that, in so many ways, the biggest blessings of life are the small ones. The weeks we’re living through right now underline that, don’t they?

If, just a few weeks ago, you were a little bored and tired of the “normal” routine of your life, I’ll wager that is not the case now.

I admit that I can hardly understand ever being bored. I’ve always got more to do than I know how to get done, and, if I’m ever caught up with work and duties and that sort of challenge, I’ve always got waiting for me far more interests and projects than I can possibly get around. Bored I am not. Ever.

As much as I have to do and want to do, I try to find at least a little time, regularly, to be still and quiet. That’s not boring, either.

Reading. Rocking. Napping. (Well, reading is an essential part of my work, but a whole lot of reading is also simply refreshing.) Some such is essential. Even if the rocking and napping and quietly musing is just for a few minutes, it’s needed. Anyone who doesn’t rest some can’t be worth what they should when they’re working.

Even God rested. And that we rest regularly is still his wise injunction, one which we ignore at our peril.

I hope you get some extra rest during this coronavirus mess. OK, I know, some of it is externally imposed. Our kids are expected to be back at school, from home, this week. School sports and league sports just aren’t happening right now. Restaurant dining rooms are closed. Take-out is a lifeline and a blessing to all concerned, and we pray for restaurant owners and staff even as we find a blessing also in remembering what it’s like to eat together at home some.

And churches? We surely didn’t expect to be doing variations on “remote” or recorded or live-streamed worship. For lots of church leaders, our “normal” routine of getting ready for Sunday worship, leading Bible studies, being together, eating together, and so many of our activities, are not “normal.”

Not much is normal. Everything we do seems to take more time, more thought. Even something as small as rolling off a little toilet paper!

Very little.

Not much is happening on “auto-pilot.” “Normal” means, in so many ways, that we go through our usual paces without a lot of extra thought. Right now, we start to do something and ... then ... realize ... that ... we ... can’t do ... this ... like ... normal. What it certainly is, though, is ... slow ... and ... kinda ... hard.

Whether going to work, running a business, heading to the bank, taking a trip, getting ready for a meal, planning worship or even writing a church bulletin, and so much more, everything seems to require intentional, and different, thought.

Normal it ain’t.

It’s as if you were typing along on your keyboard and suddenly QWERTY is YTREWQ. The letters and characters are all there, but not one is in its usual position.

Life can surely be frustrating right now. And it’s hard to do anything fast. But it’s also not bad to slow down, even if we don’t have much choice. We’ve been moving way too fast for way too long. It’s good to tune more into each other. It certainly can be fine to attend activities and watch with a lot of other folks, but we’ve had plenty of that kind of time; we’ve long needed more time at home talking and getting reacquainted with our families. It’s good to think about how precious our relationships with family and friends really are.

And it’s good to think about what really is most important in our lives that hasn’t changed at all. On top of that list, I believe, is the love of our Father for his children. It hasn’t changed a bit. It never will.

And God will get us through this and teach us some things that will bless us along the way.

Curtis Shelburne writes about faith for The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at

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