Doing Great Small Things

“We can do no great things; only small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa

When my first child was born, I quit my corporate job to pursue work as a full-time mom. I dreamed about how wonderful it would be to spend the day caring for my family and my home without the pressures of my office job looming over my head. Thoughts of afternoons in the park and play dates with other moms danced through my mind.

It was all perfectly lovely, until my husband and I went to one of his work functions and someone asked what I’d been up to lately. I faltered. Did she really want to know about my ongoing battle at mount laundry, or my pride and joy of the week—a new vacuum cleaner?

After spending so many years as the interesting woman with a story to tell, I suddenly realized what I became when I decided to stay home. Boring.

I recognized in that moment how my circle of influence shrunk exponentially when I left corporate America, and my impact on the world was now limited to my husband and my daughter. Yikes.

However, after giving myself about nine months to get into the routine of being a stay-at-home mom, I began reaching out of my own home. I joined a Bible study and a couple of mothering groups, and began connecting with my community in my own little ways. And over the years, my influence, as well as my friendships, has grown.

Yesterday, my pastor did a wonderful sermon on how God uses the little things we do to make a big impact for Him. He said the very word “ministry” comes from the Latin root for “small things,” as in miniscule.

Jesus gave us several examples of using small things for big purposes. In Luke 13:18-19, we read, “Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.” From a tiny seed, about the size of a pinhead, comes a twelve-foot tree.

From our own tiny efforts in our own homes and communities, we can grow and encourage many believers. A friend of mine once said she was disappointed she didn’t have the opportunity to become a full-time missionary before having kids, until she realized she did have a mission field—right in her own home, to three little growing Christians.

You are more important and more valuable to God’s kingdom than you realize, mom. Enjoy your calling as a missionary to your own family and in your own community, and live it out in your own small, yet great, ways.