(November 23, 2022) Mama Lava shares from her heart… about heavy hearts!

Hello, my precious readers, how are you going today?

Me? Okay… but I can recall sometime back feeling heavyhearted. I think I encountered too many little things without taking the time to process them with the Lord. And it occurs to me that I might not be the only one and maybe we can encourage each other to work through our little things before they grow any more burdensome.

When something big happens, most of us know we need to stop and pray and proceed with care. When it is a little thing, it doesn’t seem as necessary.

But… too many little things can end up weighing more than a big thing and we end up with a heavy heart.

What are these little things?
What kind of little things are we talking about? Any small grievance or irritation can hang around if we don’t deal with it.

Think about a grain of sand, or a kernel of rice. They are so small and insignificant that carrying them takes no effort. But when they pile up they are heavy!

Here’s a few examples from a beach trip that my husband, Michael, and I enjoyed some time back. It was a wonderful time…  except for a handful of little things. They would hardly be noticeable, except that they were added to an already heavy pile I had growing in my heart!

Four little things from that beach weekend…

1. Strange message
There were many digital message boards along the freeway on our route to the beach. Each had the same message, a warning: ‘Watch out for pedestrians!’

But we were on the freeway! If there were pedestrians at risk, shouldn’t the boards have read ‘Don’t walk on the freeway!’? I have seen messages like this near international borders, and they make sense in that context. But we were hundreds of miles from any border!

• It may have been just the littlest thing but after the 25th board with the same message, I was tired of it.

2. Withheld breakfast
The hotel where we reserved our room advertised free breakfast. It was reiterated in written detail on the flap of the keycard folder, which we were handed on check-in.

But when we got up in the morning and went to the dining room, there was nothing! Not even coffee. (Is a lack of coffee a little thing? You decide!) The service was likely halted due to Covid, but the change had not been communicated.

• I was disappointed.

3. Sneaky surcharge
We did have a delicious meal in an established restaurant.

When our bill arrived, a note at the bottom of it explained that a 4% surcharge had been added to cover costs necessary to run the restaurant. 4% is a small thing, but we felt it could have, and should have, been mentioned before we incurred the cost.

• It seemed a little sneaky.

4. Spat boba
We took a walk through a quaint little seaside town. A car filled with teenaged boys drove by and one of them spat a mouthful of boba tapioca pearls at us. My husband, in true gentleman fashion, was on the side of the walk closest to traffic and the boba hit him, sticking to his shirt.

We could hear the boys’ raucous laughter as the car sped away. It was a little thing only because Michael kept his composure. He could have picked up a rock and hurled it through the back windshield of the vehicle. I adored him for his self-control.

• Yet… another of those upsetting little things!

Why do we fail to handle the little things?
The above are just a few examples of many from a couple of (otherwise glorious) days. It is easy to see how the little things can amass quickly when we ignore them for weeks on end. But that is exactly what we do. Why?

Personally, I ignore little things for many reasons. I didn’t process my irritation in relation to the four examples I shared above because they felt petty. I was enjoying a weekend getaway and there were so many wonderful moments on which to focus instead.

Sometimes things are so little that we barely notice them. Or we feel them but don’t have time to deal with them. Maybe we think that admitting heaviness of heart over little things makes us seem weak, so we choose to ignore them. Whatever the reason, they do pile up. Suddenly, we have one little thing too many and the weight is heavy on our hearts and minds.

Are you there today?
I feel for you! Dear friend, we’re in this together! I encourage you to focus on the good things, little or not so little.

And more than that, always remember that God is in this with us. He cares about our little things. He knows about all of them. Jesus confirmed this when He said, ‘Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid…’ (Luke 12:7).

 Turn all those bothersome little things over to the Lord who said in John 14:27…

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Mama Lava believes in making the big world a bit smaller through connection. Believing that everybody deserves to be wrapped in maternal love when they need it, she regularly shares encouragements… telling life experiences from an unapologetically Christian viewpoint the way she sees it, just as a mother does. Link: Mama Lava’s Back Porch (A Dose of Maternal Love).
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