Little is Much When God is In It

When I first started telling people that I wanted to tap my maple trees this year, everyone's first reaction was, "You realize you won't be getting much syrup right?" I assured them that yes, I did realize how much sap it took to make one gallon of syrup (50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup) and I would be shocked if I was even able to make a few pints of syrup. It was just a fun project I wanted to do, and I thought it would be neat for the girls and I to do together in future years.

My expectations however about how much syrup I would be making have seriously changed. Perhaps because of the strange cold and warm snaps we've been having, perhaps because I prayed I'd make enough syrup that I'd have an abundance to share, my home is literally inundated with buckets, bowls, pitchers, coffee cans, quarts, milk jugs, old ice cream gallons that are all filled with sap.  We've collected 36 gallons in all, and we aren't even near the end of the sap collecting season!  I've already canned several pints of syrup and plan to offer the next batch to our church's Christian school to sell as a fundraiser.

The fact of the matter is all these gallons of sap (and I expect I have about 4 more waiting for me this morning) collected one slow drop at a time.  Just a drip, drip, drip in a bucket.  It didn't come gushing out of the tree the minute I drilled in the spigot, rather it came slowly out, which made me start thinking...............

Sometimes we feel like our efforts for Christ aren't worth it.  We feel like our testimony, whether we share it in written form, personal evangelism, or perhaps the classes we might teach at church aren't making a huge impact for Christ.  We feel like the tracts we leave for people to find, or even just a smile we give to encourage a stranger don't mean anything.  The fact of the matter is: Our efforts add up! Just like the drip, drip, drips in a bucket of sap, flowing slowly one drop at a time, our work for Christ does make an impact.

Even though what I write may not affect thousands of people, the other Christian mom's who write and encourage are dripping in the same bucket.  We're all impacting the world for Christ and our efforts add up! 

Even though my smile might not melt a cold heart, the other smiles from Christians, and a word of encouragement could just change a life! Our efforts add up!

Even though I haven't personally seen some of my Junior Church kid's get saved while I've been teaching, I've gotten to see almost ALL of them be baptized (almost ALL!) because other people have ministered to their precious spirits as well.  Our efforts added up! (Read my update here)

Even though I will probably never be able to purchase a home, or a van, or build a school for missionaries sharing the gospel all over the world, I can give what I do have.  And you can give what you have, and our efforts will add up, and God's word and grace can be shared with those who so desperately need it.

Press on Christian! Do right, seek God, do what he asks you no matter how small.  God knows better than we ever will the affect of one single drop in the bucket. So, let's impact the world, one drop at a time!