Little Things Make the Difference...

Once again my six year old thinker showed wisdom beyond her years. Yesterday, it was she and I driving home from the dentist and asked what was the "biggest killer in Africa".

I have no idea what prompted the question. Perhaps a show on Animal Planet. Maybe one of the umpteen times her brothers have tried to freak her out replayed in her brain. ( ..."When we get to Africa, there are going to be HuGe creatures that could carry you away!" ... things like that. They are so sweet.) But whatever it was, my first answer was regarding the size of the killer. "Biggest."

So I said... "Elephants, for sure!"

Then she clarified, not size of the creature, but quantity of the kills. (She truly is the youngest child with three older brothers.)

hmmm? What was it? I didn't know, so I suggested snakes, lions, hippos, rhinos. None of them satisfied her.

She then said, "Mom, what about mosquitos? You know, Malaria?"

I really was impressed! It may have been what she was getting at all along, but it didn't even come to my mind until she said it. In truth (as far as disease spread by creatures) it is the greatest killer, and not only in Africa, but world wide.

The thought kept rolling in my head, and reminded me of a devotion I had done a few years ago. It was about how the little things make the difference between success and failure. Between a good testimony, and a bad one. The title was "This Matters".

There are many quotes, phrases or colloquialisms along these same lines of thinking.

"Good things come in little packages"

"Little things mean a lot."

"Little by little does the trick."

In Scripture, the Lord tells us to go to the ant. We can learn much from this bitty creature.

So what am I getting at?

First of all, just one more example of my child's genius. Did I mention she is only six?!?

Secondly, it was a great reminder that I need to pay attention to the little things. They can do great damage, or great good.