It’s the little things

It’s the little things

28.9.2022

T-3 days until September ends

Foreign word of the day:

Swedish: the little things//de små sakerna

Small, but memorable.

When I look back at my life and all the change that has happened, I am comforted by the little things. For me, the little things are all the pieces of my life that bring me joy; they make me nostalgic; they remind me of what I’ve learned and how much I’ve grown.

Redeemed

When I was younger, like early high school, I was “dating” this one guy. Eventually, we broke up and I found myself so upset that I began to disassociate with anything that had to do with him. This meant avoiding anything that was his favorite color, a place we had gone together, or even food he liked. My life then got even sadder because we had bonded over having shared interests, and I was now avoiding some of my favorite things too. 

Fortunately, these things that I disassociated with back then are now some of the little things that are special to me. They are parts of my life that initially brought me joy, then joy turned to sadness, and now they are joyful reminders of growth. While I was healing from one of my first heartbreaks, I began “redeeming” these little things. I revisited some of the places we had been together and made new memories, I ate his favorite foods with good friends, and I wore his favorite color with confidence, un-phased by his memory. These little things in my life that caused pain now reminded me of new people and places and held new memories. They reminded me of how much I grew and how much healing had taken place as time passed.

It’s similar to the way that the Father has redeemed each of us. He took something that was sinful and consumed by our sinful flesh and He redeemed us for His goodness and His plan. He has a new purpose for us. Over and over again the Father reminds us of His eternal redemption for us. Because of His great love for us and His death on the cross, we are redeemed. We are brought back to Him and into His grace. We are forgiven. We are delighted over, we bring joy.

Now does that mean that we are perfect all the time? Not at all! I am far from perfect and sin daily. I constantly need to be forgiven and brought back into His love. Similar to this, sometimes these little things that have been redeemed in my life still bring me pain or sadness when I see or think about them, and so I redeem them again and again; just as I am forgiven by the Father again and again.

Remembering

These little things also exist in healthy relationships.

As an ex-pat, there are various parts of my life that remind me of my community of friends and family that span the globe. In my first year overseas I needed to purchase sheets for my bed. The store was unfortunately out of any matching sheet sets, so I had to choose two sheets that didn’t match, but it was an easy choice. My mom’s favorite color is blue, so I got one blue sheet. During that year, every time I saw my random blue sheet, I was reminded of my mom. I thought of how much I loved her and how much she had taught me.

One of my friends is amazing with plants, so every time I see a cool plant, especially a succulent I think of her. One of my other friends and I have a running conversation about the status of our hair, so whenever I try something new or cut my hair, I think of her. Other friends come from rich cultures different than my own so when I get the chance to eat foods they introduced me to, celebrate traditions we’ve celebrated together, or use words they’ve taught me I leap at it in remembrance of them and our happy memories together. These little things and little moments are accompanied by rich joy.

There are also little things that I do in remembrance of people who used to be in my life but have passed away. This summer my grandma passed away, and I have found myself gravitating toward yellow, one of her favorite colors. Even though yellow is one of my least favorite colors, I’ve accumulated a yellow dress and random little yellow items. She also loved sweets of all kinds, so when I’m feeling low I’ll have a little something sweet and think of her, what she taught me about life, and how much she loved me.

There are countless other examples of these little that bring me joy as I remember the people in my life that they are associated with. They remind me of how much I have grown since those little things caused pain, and they bring joy in remembering the people they represent in my life. These little things are a small way to carry these people and redeemed memories with me.