Little things matter: to encourage and to be encouraged

The Ng family had a very busy weekend. In addition to Ruth Chan's memorial service, we also celebrated our friend Renee's 40th birthday. Then on Sunday, our church was involved in helping out with the BMO Vancouver marathon. As if that weren't enough, we also went to the Vancouver Christ Church of China to hear Annie, one of Karen's relatives (and our friend) give her testimony.

Amidst the busyness though, one common theme stood out: little things matter. Some examples:

How could Ruth have known that a little known thing she said to me two decades ago would serve to encourage me and possibly many others at her memorial?

How could Karen and I have known that answering Annie's recommendation for a church years ago would lead to her coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ? (which in turn served as an unexpected encouragement to us when we heard her testimony!)

I also didn't realise that handing out gatorade and cheering on complete strangers by name at a community event I once despised and grumbled at (because of the inconvenience it caused me) would be so fulfilling and so encouraging to others in my community.

Even Erich soon got into it as he helped hand out water and gatorade to marathoners.

Little, seemingly insignificant moments in life matter. Encouragement, particularly when spurred on by the Holy Spirit, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant matter. We may not see or reap the results of what we we are called to do for years, but God does. Our job is just to obey his leading and his prompting.