Small Things of Family Life

Our entire life consists of various small things that we live through, produce, and receive. And all our time consists of short seconds and minutes that sequentially add up to hours, days, and years. Any construction of a large house begins with laying the first small stone, and a large city begins with the first house.

If you look at any oil painting, you can notice that it entirely consists of small strokes that the artist applied in a certain order, giving form and appropriate color to those objects depicted on the canvas. And the longest speech is made up of short words that give meaning to what is said.

A person lives and maintains their vital activity thanks to brief inhales and exhales, short heartbeats, brief meals. And a road of thousands of kilometers begins with the first small step.

Our families live by small decisions, cares, discoveries, events that bring something good and interesting, in which we then feel comfortable, or something sad and unbearable, from which we so want to run away.

Family happiness is not something huge that falls on us from Heaven as inevitability. This is what we begin to build together, applying small efforts day after day, stone after stone, stroke after stroke, and as a result we get exactly what we were creating.

One incorrectly placed stone may not so strongly affect the strength of the entire building, but it can spoil the entire appearance with its incongruity.

Small things of family life are important components from which, essentially, the entire family is formed. Small signs of attention, kind words, insignificant deeds and actions, small gifts, and many other barely noticeable things done in the spirit of love draw a picture of our family happiness, helping us construct something great and amazing from these small things.

I often noticed how some tiny good thought turned into a good idea and became a goal for achieving which great deeds were accomplished, consisting of small efforts.

What does it cost me, making a small decision, to wash dishes or take out garbage not according to schedule? Practically nothing, but this brings a small good stroke to the atmosphere of our happiness.

There are small things that need to be paid for with silver, for example, buying a bouquet of flowers, but they also gladden the heart and bring unforgettable good emotions.

If you don't attach importance to such small deeds of love and wait for something, as they love to show in movies, grandiose and pompous, without applying personal small efforts to fulfill insignificant tasks, then you can wait your whole life without getting what you desire.

One person decided to become a millionaire. He began to dream about what great deeds he could accomplish thanks to his fortune. And he became so mired in his dreams that he simply didn't want to spend his precious time on some small things of life, considering it not a "millionaire's" business to scatter over small things. As a result, he achieved nothing, but in his ambitions became an unreachable monument to human stupidity.

Another person, a friend of the failed millionaire, decided to set aside funds according to his ability each week and invest this money in promising projects. He studied the market and its interconnections, saw peculiarities and possibilities. Sometimes he risked something to understand what was good and what was bad, and drew conclusions for himself, choosing the right course for his investments. His capital gradually multiplied, and money worked and attracted outside investors. Having earned his first million, he didn't spend it on his personal needs, considering that not so much is needed in this life, but invested these funds in the next project, which brought corresponding profit.

If I decide to become a millionaire of my family happiness, then, in the big picture, I will begin to understand that the same principles and laws operate in this sphere as in any business, so big dreams won't change much in my life. But when I turn to God with small prayers, begin to study the market of family relationships, choose the one who is dear to my heart and maintains communication with God, then a long-term perspective of interesting changes in our life appears. If I begin to invest in this person my strength, my love, my material values, my time, and my life, then most likely, over time, these investments and insignificant contributions will begin to multiply and return to me with profit, which I can more successfully continue to invest in our relationships.

And if after some time we decide to create a common business called family, then we will have a joint goal for our combined capital investments, so that we receive all the profit that will serve us for further plans. And everything grandiose that we might achieve consists of small good decisions that we weren't afraid to implement. In this common cause we don't make a mountain out of a molehill, although we understand that elephants don't appear from emptiness either. And if we strive to get what we've never had before, then we need to begin doing what we've never done before.

Our wealth is in our power, and we understand the true value of those small things that seem insignificant but make a very large contribution to our happiness.

The most interesting occupation is extracting the precious from the worthless. Although we are a small family that externally differs in nothing from other families, inside our world we are very rich because we listened to the advice of the Faithful Witness from Rev. 3:18 and began to try acquiring what truly enriches us, and through us each other.

Love may seem to a person like some small thing of life, but we, taking it into our business, learned to extract the most precious treasures of knowledge and experiences that we didn't have before and about which we didn't even dare to dream.

Great love in our relationships consists of small signs of attention, of small good deeds and insignificant things that we accept in the spirit of love and agreement. We don't have a certain formula of happiness revealing our big secret. We rejoice in everything and give thanks for everything that happens to us, because for people who love each other, all things work together for good.

Eternity, however big and eternal it may be, doesn't frighten us with its scale. It too will consist of small deeds that we will accomplish day after day, gaining experience through solving small questions.

Any education begins with the first short lesson, which opens a small door into the big world of great knowledge.

And our spiritual life began with the first small prayer that was addressed to the Great God.

And we must accept that our earth and we ourselves consist of tiny atoms, which in interaction with God's power and wisdom composed what the entire visible and invisible world is created from.

Inviting such a Big and Great God into our family business, we are not afraid that He will bring huge happiness into our family that will crush us. We know that the Lord will give us day by day little by little what will become big and good.

1. Please read Gal. 5:9; Ex. 23:30; Eccl. 5:10; Rom. 8:24; Jer. 15:19-21; Ps. 36:16; Matt. 25:23; Luke 16:10; 19:17; James 3:4-5; 2Cor. 8:12-15; Isa. 40:26 in light of this lesson.

2. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

3. What did you understand from this topic?

4. What are the small things of life?

5. Is God interested in our small cares?

6. What do big things consist of and how do big deeds begin?

7. Is love something small or not?

8. How does love manifest itself in important and big deeds?

9. Where did you come from?

10. What does the Plan of Salvation consist of?

11. Are there any small things in your life that don't interest God at all?

12. Why is it necessary to understand the importance of small things in family relationships?

13. Can a small thing in your eyes be a big problem for someone?

14. What will a person become who won't react to family small things of life, but only solve global questions?

15. Are you interested in dealing with someone who isn't interested in your small things?