I have been finally getting around to doing some gardening: weeding, trimming, getting our porch and patio set-up and watering. The gardening hose has been and continues to be the bane of my gardening existence. It is such a pain to lug it around and I never have known it not to leak around the spigot or sprayer/sprinkler connection. We have tried the collars to tighten it and while they work for a while, it inevitably will drip.

So this Saturday, as I was hosing off the collection of detritus from the patio chairs, I wasn’t even thinking about the drips from the connection of the hose to the house. On a quick glance, it appeared that things were tight. It was only later when I was coiling the hose around the hose holder, that I noticed a standing puddle of water on the ground. It appears that the hose was leaking at the house connection, ever so slightly.

Got me thinking of how small things, whether positive or negative can add up to either wonderful situations or a disaster.

A stitch in time saves nine.

Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

Don’t put off until tomorrow what you should do today.

One year’s seedings makes seven years weeding.

In Proverbs 6:10 the Hebrew wiseman admonishes the reader that little sleep/little naps can lead to a little idleness and before you know it, problems arise. It is in the small things that we deceive ourselves by telling ourselves that it is just small and therefore not necessarily worth noting. But if we are not careful before we know it, disaster has befallen us.

Just one more drink.

A quick glance at the text while driving.

What harm in texting the female colleague about non-work things?

It’s just a coffee meeting ...

There are many positive and negative references in the Bible of small things leading to larger ones. One may only have a small faith- like a mustard seed yet it may develop into something mighty. One might only have small provisions-five loaves and two fishes yet that can supply one’s needs. One might only have small stones yet they can topple the giant. One might use the tongue- a small body organ yet it can do a world of damage.

It sometimes takes a lot of effort and control to monitor the little things in life. Just like breaking down a large project into smaller ones helps accomplish it, so too is the inverse: maintaining and keeping things under control with smaller tasks prevents it from becoming too large and unwieldy.

What about you? Have you ever had something build up to the degree that was too much? How did you handle it? Do you practice preventative maintenance with your home? Your health? Your relationships? What are some expressions about small things that you know?

When it comes to keeping a handle on life’s predicaments, perhaps it is helpful to be “small-minded”?