You have approximately 936 weeks with your child from their birth until they turn eighteen.
When we dedicated our daughter Hayley at Browncroft, they handed us a jar of 936 marbles as a visible reminder of that stat. I have an app on my phone that counts down the weeks.
Parents have shared with me how daunting and downright miserable that number seems. Yet, in another sense, I find that weekly countdown freeing. It keeps me focused on the time that I spend with Hayley and Robyn. I remember the prompt when I see #ItsJustAPhase and #DontMissIt.
The small investments in your life matter. Having enough for retirement starts with putting away a little money in each paycheck. Getting healthy requires a routine of exercise and dieting choices. Authentic relationships happen over hours of spending time together.
Goals give us a vision for the future, but they mean nothing if you cannot execute them in small daily or weekly investments. They hang over the horizon rather than us making progress towards them.
Jesus talked about small investments when he said this in Luke 16:10, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…”
As we move into reopening, the shutdown and quarantine provided us with a gift; we had to embrace the daily task of small investments. The uncertainty of the future clarified the relationships and tasks that matter the most. Looking too much into the big picture often invites us to procrastinate rather than take small investments.
You might feel daunted by the big picture today. I want to offer you a few questions to help you make the small investments to make a difference:
- What’s one thing on your mind you can pray for today?
- What’s one Bible passage that you can read today?
- What’s another step you can take towards a project at work?
- What’s one question you can ask your spouse to start a conversation?
- What’s one way you can spend time with your child today?
- What’s one exercise and meal choice you can make to get healthier?
- What’s one way you can save money?
- What’s one relationship you can have a brief conversation for a positive influence?
Over time these small investments begin to accrue interest. We can succumb to trying to win the week or month without winning the day. The small investments make a remarkable transformation over time.
What’s one small investment that you can make today? Share in the comment section below.
Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash