The little things

By Jeff Becraft

Hudson Taylor said, “A little thing is a little thing. But a little thing done faithfully is a big thing.”

A recurring theme you will see in Friday emails (or Thursdays in MidlandsBiz) is the importance of little things. We keep looking to grand big things and may overlook that there are little things that can have a big influence.

My wife used to often say to our kids, “Attitude is a little thing that has a big impact.”

I once said to an intern who was doing various jobs such as filing, shredding, putting things away, etc.: “You know… it takes a lot of pieces to get a rocket to the moon.”

Now, she would not have been very familiar with the Saturn V rockets that launched the Apollo missions to the moon. But I remember reading years and years ago about one of the missions being delayed because of a piece that cost less than a dollar. A Saturn V rocket is 363 feet tall, weighs 6.2 million pounds, and generates 7.6 million pounds of thrust (that is equivalent to 160 million horsepower)… and a multi-billion dollar operation was pushed back because of a single missing or misplaced piece costing what could be counted in cents.

“So you see,” I shared with her, “every little thing you are doing is important. It is not just miniscule work. Every piece fits in to accomplish a greater mission. And what you are doing is helping to make that mission happen.”

So whatever it is…big or little… let us be faithful in doing what lies before us today. The person who is faithful in little things, will be faithful in bigger things.

There is no item for us to do that is not worthy of us doing it with excellence.

Jeff Becraft is the Director Emeritus for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. Youth Corps is a life-changing leadership development experience that inspires high school students to be leaders in the Midlands and beyond. You can connect with Jeff at [email protected].