It All Really Does Matter

As most of you know my day-to-day job is being an Office Manager for a medical practice. Among the million things I have to do there is watching the little things. I must keep an eye on payroll, keep an eye on supply usage, and various things like that. That attention to detail can make a big difference to our practice

You see, everything really does matter. Every minute of overtime a person is paid goes against the bottom line. Keeping a close eye on our supplies allows us to keep a good hold on overhead. Making sure the doctor’s schedules are full can help to best utilize the staff.

In our lives the little things matter as well. It’s easy to get stuck on the big things going on in our lives while letting the little things slip. The problem with that is that all the little things add up to a big thing down the way.

An example of that would be my helping to coach my son’s baseball team. At every practice we work on learning how to hit the ball, how to catch it, etc. Yet, if we don’t take the time to also teach them where to go after they hit the ball, what to do when others players hit the ball when they are already on base, or where to throw the ball when they catch it, then we’re not really doing our job as coaches. Instead we would have focused on the big things, but given no instruction on the little things that could be the deciding factor in our winning or losing a game. Also we are trying to help the kids to enjoy the game throughout their lives not just hot to hit a ball or catch it.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to take a look at how much some things that we can easily take for granted really do matter. The key to all of this is realizing that they matter and making them a priority. I hope you take the time to come back here over the next few weeks and read some of what God has been talking to me about. My hope is that you’ll use some of the tidbits in your lives as well.

Next Week: Marriage Matters

Not Exactly The Plan

So I help out with one of my son’s baseball teams. I enjoy helping teach the kids the basics of the game and watching them develop throughout the season.

The other day we had practice on a cool, windy, and (go figure) rainy evening. We had plans on what to do with the kids but the outfield grass wasn’t in the best shape. So, now we have 10 kids and we’re trying to figure out how to keep all of their interest in a smaller amount of space. All of a sudden it hit me. We could split them up into two teams and play 5 on 5. This would give all the kids an opportunity to play in a game situation while only using the infield.

After splitting up the teams quickly we got to work with the kids. Now this is practice number 7 or 8 with this team and we’d done bits and pieces, but many hadn’t seen how it could all work together yet, as they all come from different playing abilities, backgrounds, etc. Well, it turned out to be the exact thing that all of these kids needed. They all really got involved with the practice. All of a sudden it wasn’t just doing drills, but instead it was game time. All of the kids had their chance to hit and field and all did really well. Sure there were teaching points that needed to be hit upon, but the overall response was incredibly positive.

The reason I bring this up is because there will be times in your life when things just don’t go according to plan. You’ll want to spend time doing a Bible study or at an event that you can’t attend. You’ll instead be interrupted, and that thing will eat up all the time you had originally set aside to do what you had planned.

I want you to know that God knows what your intentions were and He will definitely honor those intentions. It’s possible that He’ll find you in a different way that day that may be even more powerful than what you’d had planned. That distraction could lead to an encounter with a person who doesn’t know Him, and you could help them start their journey to a relationship with Him. Maybe it’s a child that needs your attention and that time spent with your child will be a chance for both of you to be closer to God, or a way that He’ll show you His grace in another way.

Whatever the reason that the plan didn’t go as planned, do not fret. It’s very possible that God had other plans for you at that time. Just like at our practice the other day, sometimes even though a plan changes, it doesn’t mean that something even greater won’t come out of it.