Just Ignore the Little Stuff (at Your Own Peril)

I woke up this morning to the season’s first snow and freezing temperatures (one of the disadvantages to living at 6,000 feet; also hard to grow tomatoes that actually fruit). I was feeling pretty content having had the irrigation system blown out early this year, then I remembered the guy who blew out the system reminded me to turn off the water source–I did–and to drain the remaining water out of the “backflow” (the backflow is the expensive-to-replace part of the system). I’d totally forgotten to drain the water. It was just a little thing, quick and easy to do, but I’d totally forgotten it. I immediately drained it and don’t think it was nearly cold enough to have cracked the backflow, but we’ll have to wait and see.

The experience reminded me how easy it is to focus on the most visible stuff in our lives and ignore the small things: sometimes (maybe often) ignoring them creates the big problems we face later on.

For me, a couple of the daily little things that bring happiness and help me avoid the big problems of life is thoughtful prayer and studying scripture. I can do everything else thoroughly–lots of good stuff, but if I don’t sequester myself to commune with Deity in these two ways daily, it’s at my own peril.