Love in the Small Things

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love." Mother Teresa

Many days at Treefort it feels like we are doing small things...lots and lots and lots of small things.

It's really not unlike parenting your own children. We feed them, clothe them, help with homework, nag to get their chores done, create sticker charts to encourage them to make good choices, play a game with them...

deep breath...

feed them some more, insist they take a shower, give them a piggy back ride, break up an argument, tell them to share, go on a hike together, run to the store, tuck them into bed...

Exhausted yet?

Treefort parenting is hard work, but it's not like one big project is hard work. It's more like doing the same small things day after day after day is hard work. It doesn't feel huge, it doesn't feel big, it doesn't feel like that one great thing, because it is not! It is small things done day after day after day with great love and as American writer Willa Cather once said, "Where there is great love, there are always miracles."

Treefort parenting is rewarding, but again it's not like that big reward at the end of a project well done or a game well played. It's rewarding because over time doing the small things day after day after day with great love, we get to begin to see the miracle. The miracle of a life changing, a boy's path taking a new and better direction. The miracle of a child learning how to give and receive love and relationship.

The reward is in a child saying, "This is the best day ever" when you've simply stopped at McDonald's for a coke. The reward is in a child saying, "I love you" even if he is a child who pushes every button you have.

The reward is in a mom telling you, "You have changed my son's life" after over 365 days of doing the same small things day after day...and doing them with great love. Therein lies the miracle.