With Heart and Harp: Little Things

I recently read a beautiful poem by Helen Steiner Rice. Admittedly, I don't usually read much poetry. However, Helen Steiner Rice is a poet I stumbled across many years ago through a delightful book my mom has, and I love her poems. They touch my heart in a special way.

I had a few "little things" to share on this blog and decided that "Little Things" would be a fitting title. Ironically, I read a portion of a poem that someone shared recently by Helen Steiner Rice that mentions "little things" - something I call a "God thing".

This poem appears to be, more or less, about Thanksgiving. Even though it's far from our Thanksgiving right now, being grateful for the little things God gives us every day is something my heart resonates with, hence this blog post.

Below is this poem along with little things in my life last month. If you read my post about God being our Provider, this poem fits well with the surprise I was blessed with last November. The miracles that the poet references in the last stanza of this poem reminds me of the miracle of spring.

Thank You, God, For Everything

Thank you, God, for everything,

The big things and the small.

For "every good gift comes from God"

The Giver of them all.

And all too often we accept,

Without any thanks or praise,

The gifts God sends as blessings,

Each day in many ways.

And so at this Thanksgiving Time,

We offer up a prayer...

To thank you, God, for giving us

A lot more than our share.

First, thank you for the little things

That often come our way,

The things we take for granted

But don't mention when we pray,

The unexpected courtesy,

The thoughtful, kindly deed,

A hand reached out to help us

In the time of sudden need.

Oh, make us more aware,

Dear God, of little daily graces

That come to us with "sweet surprise"

From never-dreamed-of places.

Then, thank you for the "miracles"

We are much too blind to see,

And give us new awareness

Of our many gifts from Thee.

And help us to remember

That the key of life and living

Is to make each prayer a prayer of thanks

And every day Thanksgiving.

~ Helen Steiner Rice

The first color of spring showed up on Saturday, April 1st. Though little, this tiny, pink flower made me smile.

A few days later, I noticed this small, white hyacinth
that came up near our front yard.

The white hyacinth was so beautiful, I cut a small stem and
put it in a little vase to enjoy in my bedroom on my dresser.

On the night of Passover, I remembered God's deliverance - the miracle of the coming out of Egypt, and Christ's sacrifice in dying for us - both of them on that very day. I ate bitter herbs and unleavened bread that night, two things Scripture mentions for Passover.

Unleavened bread has no yeast (leaven) in it - a perfect picture of Christ - completely sinless.
Christ died for our sin, our disobedience to God.

I read many beautiful chapters of Scripture out loud in my bedroom that night. I celebrate Passover every year, and I would've enjoyed celebrating Passover with others, but I didn't know of anyone else celebrating Passover in my area that night. So I celebrated Passover alone. Jesus is our Passover Lamb. The New Testament says this. (1 Corinthians 5:7) When Jesus said "This do in remembrance of Me", He was referring to Passover which is what He was celebrating with His disciples. (Luke 22:14-19) Basically, Jesus was saying, "When you celebrate Passover every year, remember Me."

My Bible on my dresser on the night of Passover.

As is tradition for me, I went outside on the night of Passover and looked at the full moon that was rising over the horizon. It was under that same, full moon that God delivered Israel from Egypt over 3,000 years ago! It was under that same, full moon that Christ laid, dead and buried, in a tomb in Israel over a thousand years later.

And under that exact, same, full moon, thousands of years later, a single, 40 year old, Christian woman, living far away in the state of Colorado, was remembering the high price of her salvation - the blood of Christ, our Messiah, Who was crucified and died on the very day of Passover. I'm eternally grateful for the blood of Christ - that's not a little thing, but a big thing! Without Christ's blood atonement, we would have no redemption. Hallelujah for the blood! (Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14, Hebrews 9:12)

The full moon rising that night.

On Saturday of that week, I was remembering Christ's resurrection! If you read my recent blog post about "first fruits" in the Bible, I believe Jesus rose from the dead around sunset on Saturday evening after being in the grave for exactly three days and three nights. When did the women in the Bible realize Jesus was alive? Early the next morning, Sunday morning. Today, it is very fitting that we remember and celebrate that Jesus is alive on Sunday morning, but I believe He rose the evening before.

That Saturday was a cloudy, dreary, overcast day here, and I was hoping and praying that the sun might come out that evening. God answered my prayer! As the sun began to set, it came out from under the clouds that evening!

I sat behind my large harp in our living room and played "Up From the Grave He Arose". As I played, the sun shone brightly through our large, living room window and onto my harp strings.

Jesus is alive forevermore! Hallelujah!

The sun coming out from under the clouds on Saturday evening, April 8th, 2023.

I'm always amazed in the spring time when I see new shoots of green life bursting forth from dead, barren trees. It is new life, new plant life. Spring really is a miracle from God!

I don't think it's a coincidence that Christ rose from the dead in the spring. He came to give us new life, new life in Him. Jesus called it being "born again".

Have you been born again? Does God’s Spirit live in you, giving you new life in Christ? God loves you so, so much! He gave His Son for you!

The tree in front of our home shooting forth its new, green leaves and getting ready to blossom.

Smoothies are a taste of summer to me! Any kind of berry smoothie or tropical fruit smoothie is my favorite! Even though summer isn't here yet, I had a craving recently for a strawberry smoothie, and I couldn't resist making some. To me, strawberry smoothies are hard to beat!

What was in this one? Frozen banana, frozen strawberries, almond milk, and flax seeds. (flax seeds are very good for women's health - something I plan to share on my health blog in the near future.) This smoothie was naturally sweetened by the banana - delicious! I felt good after drinking a fruit smoothie, something I don't usually make in the winter.