One Brick at a Time

I was reading the September/October 2009 issue of Home School Enrichment Magazine (I had picked it up at the library). The letter from the editors was titled "The Power of the Small Things." The article compared parenting to building a building with bricks. A bricklayer does much tedious work - one brick at a time. Progress can be very slow. It may seem like very unimportant work.

The Lewis family wrote:

Your job is like that bricklayer's. But instead of a beautiful building, you're seeking to raise up godly children. Every day you go forth to lay a few more bricks. A kind word, a home-cooked meal, patience during long division - small, ordinary tasks. Another trowel of mortar, another brick. Today, tomorrow, the next day. . . .

The extraordinary power of small things is that they begin to add up - slowly, perhaps, but steadily - until the accumulation of all these small things results in something magnificent. . . .One day you'll be able to step back and admire the beauty of what stands before you.

Something to think about on days when the parenting journey seems long and unrewarding.