Monday, July 16, 2012

six-dollar receipts


Working on our budget is depressing more often than not, but it doesn't usually make me tear up. But yesterday, while sorting receipts, I happened to pick up one from our favorite little coffee shop, La Spiaza in Wheaton. And it reminded me that two weeks before, I had sat there with middle child discussing literature, theater, and the likelihood that frying pans really would make great weapons in a pinch.

Which, of course, reminded me that she's not here, off to another corner of the world again, being young and adventurous. Hence the eye-moistness.

But this is not a poor-me-I-miss-my-baby blog. I mean, I've already done that. For me, its a reminder that the little things tend to turn into the big things.

The small kindness you show turns into a memory for someone that helps her turn a corner.

The meal you bring a couple college guys on their own becomes a thoughtfulness they pass on to the next person.

The compliment you paid someone who felt insecure with her self-image gave her the courage to hold her head up that day.

The two hours you spent tie-dying shirts with kids in a rough neighborhood made one think he had some value to someone after all. (Go, child #1!)

The six-dollar receipt you dig up from the bottom of a pile brings a bittersweet reminder of something very, very good.

I'm convinced that lots of little things make up the big things. Lots of little things can change the big things.

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” Mother Teresa  

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