Packing Lunches

Most mornings I drag myself out of bed, slow and grumpy, after hitting the snooze button at least two times.

I shuffle to the coffee pot, grab a Diet Coke from the frig., and swig it down for my temporary caffeine hit until my Starbucks House Blend is ready. In the meantime, I wake up our daughter, make her breakfast and stare at her lunch box.

After years of packing lunches, I've run out of ideas. We've gone through the PB and J phase, the Spaghetti O's season, and the very short-lived carrot sticks era.

Packing a lunch has become a mundane task, seeming so unimportant, especially when the lunch box returns home with half of the lunch still intact. Making a sandwich, heating soup, or slicing apples is part of my routine.

Moms go through routines like this every day. Changing diapers, wiping noses, buying groceries after clipping coupons, balancing a checkbook, sitting at a computer at work.

The little things we do each day seem so insignificant. Are they?

It was an ordinary day. Jesus had been speaking for hours to a large crowd. The people grew hungry and tired. The disciples were faced with the task of feeding them, wondering how they would find or pay for a meal for so many.

Then something remarkable happened. Andrew found a young boy who offered his lunch. Jesus took the lunch of fish and bread and blessed it. This little boy's lunch fed thousands of people and his disciples gathered the leftovers. (Reference John 6)

I think about that little boy's mom. She got up that morning and packed his lunch, just like any other morning. She had no idea what God would do with her efforts. She may not have been making a PB and J or packing Fruit Roll-Ups, but she was much like you and me, doing what God had called her to do.

Jesus took what she did that day and blessed it. The results were nothing less than miraculous.

God can use all things. Everyday things. Big things. Small things.

That lunch you pack may never feed thousands, but what you do today- no matter how small- has a big significance in God's Kingdom.

And God can and will take what you do and bless it.

Be encouraged in doing good for Him.

"But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good." 2 Thessalonians 3: 13

Something to ponder:

How have you seen God use the small things in your life?

Join Melanie at her personal blogspot, "This Ain't New York."