Big Love Happens In The Small Moments

Last year we took Lucy to the orthodontist for the first time. After looking at her teeth, the doctor told us she had four baby molars that were fused to her jawbone and would never fall out on their own. She would need oral surgery, and would need to be put completely under to do it. 

I scheduled the surgery several weeks out, and it loomed on the calendar like a dark cloud. With every passing day, I dreaded the event a little more. The big day finally came, and Lucy was a real trooper. She faced it like a champ and everything went smoothly. She already had two loose teeth going into the procedure. One of them fell out during the surgery and the second fell out later that day. That means she lost 6 teeth in one day, and they were all on the bottom! That left 4 adult teeth in the front and two molars in the very back. Nora said Lucy looked like a llama, and she wasn’t wrong!

Later that night, I told Lucy how her courage blew me away and the biggest toothless smile filled her face. Then a serious look came over her as she said, “Yeah… but I really wasn’t THAT brave because I started crying a little when we walked into the doctor’s office.” I told her that that was EXACTLY what being brave means: being scared and doing it anyway. You can’t really be brave unless you’re a little bit scared first. A look of understanding and accomplishment came over her face and she gave me a huge hug. 

Lucy and I talked about all the people praying for her that day and as she flexed her muscles she said, “Yeah! And that’s what helped make me brave!” As I closed her bedroom door, I had to shake my head in wonder at how the day turned out. This surgery was something I had been dreading for months, and somehow God transformed it into a sweet moment that I will remember forever.

God is funny that way. He gives us sweet moments like this when we least expect it. I don’t know if you have something scary on the horizon or a really great vacation planned, but maybe these ordinary in-between moments are just as important as the “big” things. There is so much beauty around us, whether it’s a sunset or the way our child laughs. I’m learning to keep my eyes and ears open for these little gifts. I wonder how many beautiful, mundane moments God has in store for us in 2019.

You’ll find big magic in the mundane

The big picture in a small frame

Everything is sacred when you take time to notice

Big love happens in the small moments 

Big love happens in the small moments

JJ Heller