Trusting the tiny drops.

I lean towards being an all-or-nothing type of person. 

It’s mostly a mind game for me but often find myself thinking that if I can’t do something 100% that I shouldn’t waste time doing it.  Which, for some people, might be true.  If you are in medical school becoming a neurosurgeon or a gymnast training for the Olympics, if you can’t go in 100%, perhaps you are on the wrong path. 

However, as a regular person, living an ordinary life, I’m learning to be ok with the concept that a little bit of something is better than none.

I’ve seen this play out in homeschooling time after time.  My natural inclination is to create elaborate lesson plans or find intricate printables with endless supplies.  Lately, though, I’ve been amazed that just a little bit of something each day (or at least more days than not!) can actually make a huge difference.  We might work on a new concept for 5-10 minutes and then put it away until the next day.  And, then work on it again and again and again.  And then, suddenly we’ve gone miles by taking very tiny steps.  This is how we’ve learned the alphabet and letter sounds, how we’ve learned the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23.  It’s how we are working on Australian history and our marine biology unit.  Just little tiny drips in the bucket, consistently, and over time, those dops fill up the bucket!

I wonder how this idea might also be true in other parts of our lives?  In our spiritual lives?  A project or something we wanted to learn?  Parenting and working on manners or character? Maybe a fitness goal or a health milestone? 

When I was pastoring, often people would come to me discouraged that they hadn’t learned all that they thought they should have about the Bible or that they hadn’t read enough scripture that day or week.  I used to tell them, “A little bit of the Bible is better than none of the Bible”.  While reading the entire bible in three months is an amazing goal, if you can’t get it done and so you quit, it’s not the best goal.  A little bit of reading the scriptures when you think you have no time is better than skipping the life-giving nourishment that’s on offer.  And, when the little drips add up, before long, you will have read more than expected or gone further than you hoped you could have.

I have a friend who says, “Most people overestimate what can be done in one month and underestimate what can be done over the course of a year”. I know it’s true of me.  I forget what can be accomplished in me, through me, and in the people around me with just a little bit at a time. 

So, take a deep breath. Keep on putting one foot in front of the next.  Don’t stop reading the scriptures with your coffee for 10 minutes, practicing a few letter sounds with your preschooler, memorizing a psalm half a verse at a time with your first grader, or exercising for 15 minutes even when you hoped for an hour.  

May we trust that God will take the little bits we offer up consistently and faithfully over many days and weeks and months.  And that He will use those little drips and drops to fill the bucket to overflowing.