Significance in the Small Things

We all want to feel significant don't we? We want to feel like we have something to offer. We want to feel like the work we are doing is important and carries weight. 

Selfishly, I think that was part of my reasoning for coming to serve with Mercy Ships. Yes, I wanted to help people who otherwise would not receive much needed medical care. But I also wanted to feel like I was actually making a difference in the world; like the work I was doing actually mattered.

But what happens when you don't feel this way? Feelings can be misleading can't they? Feelings can be fleeting. Always look to truth instead of feelings.

I have had some hard moments in the last several weeks; there were times when I have felt like my individual work did not carry much weight or significance. But I have been reminded of this quote several times...

"There are many people who can do big things, but there are very few who will do the small."

-Mother Theresa

I do love this quote. It has been very convicting but also very encouraging to me. Sometimes doing the "small things" is a lot harder than doing the "big things." It's hard passing out vitamins and coloring with patients while I see other nurses take care of critically sick patients (just as one example). I so want to take part in the "big things" that I forgot how important the "small things" can be as well. The small things, like coloring and playing with balloons, may be what our patients remember the most. Why is it that we so easily equate "small" with "insignificant?"

I hope that even in the small tasks, small moments, and small interactions that I would not lose sight that this is a task, moment, interaction ordained by our Heavenly Father...that even in these "small moments" we can still show those who do not know Him, a glimpse of Him...a glimpse they might otherwise never see. I'd like to think God can move more in those small, intimate, brief moments than in the grandiose ones. After all, God did send his perfect son into the world on a cold, silent night in a lowly manger...no grand entrance, no spot lights, no formal recognition.

But I am encouraged when I take a moment [to look outside myself and my own doings] and look at how are collective efforts on this ship are making a difference in patients lives.Though it may not be easily seen through monotonous tasks of vitamin administration, lotion application to skin grafts, or just spending time with patients coloring... Lives are being changed. In a few months, the lives of these patients will be drastically different than when they first ventured up the gangway of the ship. And thirty years from now, our efforts of today will still be making a difference in their lives.  It is amazing to think about. Here are a few of those lives changed...

This is Christian playing jenga. He spent several weeks on the ship after having burn contracture releases. A life changed.

Photo Credit: Mercy Ships.

This is Orlando playing up on Deck 7. Orlando spent several weeks on the ship for an ear reconstruction surgery. Another life changed.

Photo Credit: Mercy Ships.

This is Antonio playing on deck 7. Antonio also came to the ship for several weeks for burn contracture releases. Another life changed.

Photo Credit: Mercy Ships.

This is Zoeline...known by all in the hospital! She came to the ship to have a surgery to correct a burn to her foot that left her big toe completed contracted backwards. Her twin sister Roseline stayed by her side the entire time. Lives changed.

Photo Credit: Mercy Ships.

Seeing these faces and how their lives are already changed and imagining how their futures will be altered is inspiring. This is accomplished by the collective efforts of many; these verses come to mind...

"For by grace given to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts according to the grace given us."

-Romans 12: 3-6a

We each have our own talents and gifts that we contribute here on the ship. We each have our own tasks and functions that we perform as well. Though these individual tasks may feel insignificant, they are not. They are all necessary to achieve a common purpose and goal. Here that common purpose and goal is to "bring hope and healing to the world's forgotten poor."That is not just accomplished by the hospital crew that have direct patient contact here on the ship: surgeons, medical physicians, nurses, physios, dietitians, occupation therapists, daycrew, hospital chaplains, dentists, dental assistants etc. But it is also accomplished by all the other individuals who keep this ship functioning: dining hall staff, Ship Shop and Cafe staff, engineers, teachers, deck hands, accountants, electricians, crew chaplains, medical capacity building staff, advance team members... and the list goes on!

How lovely it is to see how the "small" works of many different people with different occupations results in one "big" beautiful masterpiece... the changed lives of so many precious patients. What a privilege it is to take part in this work. I recently discovered these verses and I have found myself coming back to them repeatedly...

"As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower 

and bread for the eater

so is my word that goes out

from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

-Isaiah 55: 10-11

He is always in control and will accomplish His purpose... and He graciously allows us to contribute our "small" efforts to be a part of His marvelous work. What great truth to remember.




Lindsey