Sometimes we qualify things with the word just. It was just a hello, just a simple card, just another unnoticed and unimportant action or moment.  Is it really that simple though? Is there such a thing as just a whatever? How many times can a small thing in our eyes actually be significant? We think when that when a stone is thrown into the water of someone’s life there will only be a tiny wave but really it can creates a tsunami that changes everything. Before I go down this road too far, I’ll tell you what made me think about this.

A long time ago when I was a young teenager there was a lady in my church. God had laid it on her heart to reach out to me. I don’t know why she reached out and listened to God on my behalf, but she did. She gave me a Christmas card. Just a Christmas card. We developed a mentorship and friendship relationship. One that meant so much to me that I shared it with a lot of people around me. Our small ragtag group would meet at her house on Sunday to have lunch. The group got larger and larger as I brought more and more people and they brought people too. She never complained, she simply prepared more food. She always had open arms and an open heart for me and for so many others. It started with just a Christmas card. How many other times had she given out a Christmas card and it didn’t have the same impact? Somehow though, that time it changed my life, and it changed her life too. Sometimes we do a very small thing, and we don’t realize the weight that it carries. It’s almost like the things that we do are all stones or seeds. Maybe they all look the same size, but some are heavier than others creating more waves and impact on our life. Some seeds take root and sink deep. She most likely thought the small pebble that she threw would just make a tiny wave but instead it made such a significant difference that it didn’t just change my life, but it changed so many others. From that one seed, so much fruit came. All from just a Christmas card. 

When I was in college and interested in my former spouse it happened to be Christmas time. A friend of mine gave me a card and said here take this card to him. Simple right another Christmas card, just a Christmas card. That Christmas card though began a series of events that would lead to a 15-year marriage and four children. 

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience in your life. Where it was just a simple thing, a small act, or a gift that seemed at the time so insignificant that you would never know it really mattered. It’s like we spend our life throwing these stones but not understanding the weight or the significance of the stone when we throw it. Maybe this is why the Bible tells us to take every opportunity that we have to share the love of Christ. It’s like we are spreading seeds of kindness and throwing stones of hope and love into people’s lives. We don’t know which will have the greatest impacts.

Maybe that just a hello that you speak will give someone the hope they need to endure one more day. Maybe that just a quick stop to check on somebody could potentially change the course of your life or theirs. Maybe we should stop saying it’s just a whatever and realize that every moment and every action we take is a stone that we are throwing or a seed we are planting. All of them will have varying degrees of significance, and we don’t get to choose which ones hold more weight or which ones take root. That’s why we have to be really careful about not holding them back when we have the opportunity, because only you can throw the stones that are given to you in your hand or plant the seeds God has given you. 

You see I don’t know if anyone else ever would have done what my friend did for me when I was a teenager. Reaching out, taking me under her wing, feeding me not only physically but spiritually as well, talking to me about the Lord and life, listening to my incessant silly concerns from a very immature and young heart and never making me feel bad about it.  All of that didn’t start with just a Christmas card.  No, it started with the Christmas card, the one small pebble thrown that carried more weight or the seed that would take root and produce abundant fruit. It’s impact was greater than she could have imagined

Do you see what I’m saying? Don’t dismiss any action you’d take as insignificant. You don’t know which of your actions will be life changing for another person or even for you. Don’t hold back and not take a chance and do that small thing because you think it won’t matter. That moment was given to you to throw that stone or to plant that seed and God’s counting on you to do it. If you don’t, maybe no one will. It could be a tragic opportunity lost, and you’ll never know the impact that it would have had if you had just taken the chance.  You will never fully understand what could have been if you had just taken the time, and if you had just realized that every single small act of kindness can impact so much more than just that one moment that it’s done in.  

There’s no such thing as just a. There are seeds and stones. Opportunities to love and chances to show kindness and grace. No opportunity is insignificant or small.  Thank God. Where would you or I be without the love and kindness that has been shown and shared by others in seemingly unimportant ways? Where would you or I be without the just a (you fill in the blank) in our lives?