Five on Friday: Small Things, Great Love

This week I was going to list all of my favorite beauty products, but I’m going to have to put that on hold. Because y’all, I have been the witness to so many beautiful things these past couple of weeks I can hardly stand it! They fill my heart with so much joy, almost making my heart want to burst. Blessed Mother Teresa once said “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” Small things. Great love. Indeed, sisters. Indeed. Here are my five favorite (small) things that have gone on lately.

This past week the weather has been absolutely gorgeous here in the Houston area. It has been clear and sunny with a temperature somewhere in the 70s. In the evening, we have a nice cool breeze, making the temps drop even lower. This is unheard of in these parts during the month of May. So we have definitely taken advantage of the beautiful air and enjoyed our nice family walks around the lakes in our neighborhood. The family time we spend together out in the fresh air, enjoying God’s creation, is one of my favorite things we do as a family. Chapman (our Bichon Poodle mix) loves being taken on a walk, Charlotte loves the outdoors and looks around in awe, and MJ and I enjoy our conversation away from the distractions of the TV and electronics. It’s great. Not to mention, time is fleeting as Charlotte seems to be growing at warp speed these days. Can somebody make that slow down? I cherish every single moment we have together, especially as a family.

I first heard of Lysa TerKeurst by listening to KSBJ, a Christian radio station here in Houston. She is a speaker and writer with a great way with words, and I love following her on social media. Her messages are always so timely. On her Instagram page last week, she shared a five-day devotional called The 5 Mom Prayers You Need. All five were amazing and brutiful (brutally beautiful), so if you would like to see them all, just click on the link to see these wonderful prayers. I think you can still sign up for the devotionals here, too. This prayer below was the third one in her series, and it was my favorite.

The prayer went like this: Dear Lord, You made me in Your image and that is something I seem to forget daily. Please help me remember to celebrate and live in who You made me to be and not in what I wish I was. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Yes, Lord. Yes. Thanks to Lysa, I am praying these moms prayers with great love.

This next small thing is done with such great love; this video is so powerful. I first saw this when Momastery and Jen Hatmaker shared it on their Facebook pages. Sarah Bessey, an author and speaker, created this video with an important message: We are not forgotten. What a powerful message of God’s truth. She says in this video that, “All we’re longing for is for someone to see us and to say that we are not forgotten.” She is so right. What a beacon of light these words are, because in Him, we are never forgotten. No matter what circumstance we may be going through, God NEVER forgets about us. I loved hearing this reminder. 

This is one of the pictures Momastery shared to spread the news about this week’s Love Flash Mob.

You know how people say, “I can’t even”? Well, I can’t even. Cancer sucks. My dear, dear father-in-law lost his battle to colon cancer 20 months ago, before Charlotte was born. So I showed up for him. It was a small thing, but it was with great love.

You guys, this event that Momastery created to help these beautiful people ended up on the Today show’s website. As of Thursday, this was the update. Momastery reached their goal and then some. I love my brothers and sisters on this earth, and it just makes my heart want to burst because there is so much love to be had in this world. Forget the hard times, because like Glennon always says, LOVE WINS.

So with all of that going on, my heart is full. Small things. Great love. Let everything you do today be done with love.