Trifles

All weeks are crowded with eventful trifles;
at least we in our blindness call them trifles,
although we are constantly discovering their importance
and being constantly astonished over them.
(from Ester Reid Yet Speaking by Isabella Alden)

Trifles. Little things. Why are the little things sometimes the hardest? This week I have been struggling, getting bogged down in the monotony of life, finding it hard to live inspired and energetic. Many days, while I do not live at the height of inspiration and motivation that I want to, I am excited about life, motivated to strive for excellence in what I do, to find ways to go to that next level in at least Something that day. But then there are the OTher days - like this week - days when I am tired, bored, when I cannot find the deeper meaning, the inner inspiration to reach higher, push harder, live. laugh. love. MORE. I lose that zest, zeal, zip for life, and daily living becomes a chore - a bore. But the truth is...life is made of little things - lots of them - they are what will define the majority of my life. Little things...listening to a student with all the love and compassion I can muster as she shares with me her tragic weekend (in which she didn't get enough sleep, lost her DSI tournament, and didn't get to have that party - all tragedies in the mind of a 5th grader.); trying to make phonics flashcard drills just a little less monotonous by pretending we are relaying a secret code through the blends; hugging a little brother as he greets me eagerly when I arrive home; trying to make the house a little more of a haven by whisking away some of the clutter; laughing as a little sister sassily marches out in *quite an outfit*; pushing myself to squeeze in just a bit more practice time, to play that scale just a bit faster, to play the Chopin with even more passion; sipping a cup of fragrant coffee as I attempt to finish that paper; all of these and many, many MORE little things that fill each day are what define my life - are what define ME. And yet seeing their significance and seizing their potential is difficult. At least some days. But that is what I yearn to do - to grasp those little moments, those little things, and squeeze every drop of joy and passion from them.
Oswald Chambers said:

Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking
on the water is easy to impulsive pluck, but walking on dry land as a
disciple of Jesus Christ is a different thing....We do not need the grace
of God to stand crises; human nature and pride are sufficient--we can face
the strain magnificently; but it does require the supernatural grace of
God to live twenty-four hours in every day as a saint, to go through
drudgery as a disciple, to live an ordinary, unobserved, ignored existence
as a disciple of Jesus. It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional
things for God; but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the
ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, and this
is not learned in five minutes.

Yet that is just what I want to do - be exceptional in the ordinary things, in the little things, in the dailyness of life. The Trifles are what we must overcome - not the Mountains, not even the valleys, but the plains, filled with miles and miles of sameness, of dailyness, of little things. And yet the trifles also give us the greatest opportunity to Shine, to be a consumed candle that keeps burning, burning, burning, burning, yet does not give out. Trifles = Opportunites to be Exceptional.