Well, I think I’ll start by boring you with the story of my Power Mac 7600. It’s five or six years old. This ‘puter was certainly a HUGE step up from my old Macintosh. With a clock speed of 120 and a 2g hard drive, WOW!!! I put everything that would fit on it and enjoyed the fool out of it.

A couple of years ago, some rather playful lightning came in the phone line and burned out part of the mother board. I lost all internet capability. What a horrible loss! (g) In just a short short, the Lord provided a G3 laptop I named “Poppy Jerry” (I name everything!). This was/is quite a machine. Now I was able to stay in touch with readers, friends and family while on ministry trips. Poppy Jerry also allowed me to take care of net stuff while home. So, I just kept using both ‘puters and having fun.

I know YOU know that there’s a Paul Harvey “rest of the story” hanging around the next bend, right? You are SO right! A couple of weeks ago, my external CD burner burned out! (Bad pun, eh?) When I found out how much a new burner would cost, I began evaluating my Power Mac, Moccodies II. I was faced with an impossible decision (total faith ministries don’t usually have some “magic” fund with which to buy new equipment), After deciding that somehow, someway, I had to get another computer, I was speaking on the phone with a good friend. He offered to cover the cost of a new ‘puter. I was in tears and found it hard to comprehend what had just happened.

Well, a brand new G4 Mac came to live at our home in short order. I’d really dreaded upgrading to a different ‘puter. The new OSX system doesn’t recognize most of my badly outdated programs. Some of the software was originally written by companies that have been out of business for years and years. Several of my peripheral devices are not compatible.

Since the “blessed event”, I’ve been cramming every spare minute (and some that aren’t so “spare”) trying to work out all the bugs. Some family members have worked hard with me trying to figure out solutions for the difficulties. I’m not anywhere near done, yet!!!

I’ll eventually get through it, but not without a few more gray hairs! (g) I’ve discovered that the original price doesn’t tell the whole story by a long shot. The old hardware had SCSI ports. The new Moccodies III has USB connections. To even try and swap info back and forth has required the purchase of several hubs, cables, adapters, etc. If none of this “technical” jargon makes sense, join the club. My learning curve is immense and still growing.

The Lord has been a help and is still guiding me in my hot pursuit of solutions. I’m counting on Him to help me finish the job at hand. Oh, yea, what was “The Last Straw”? This morning, my wife, Pat, started the day with, “Honey, my computer hasn’t booted yet and it’s been on for more than twenty minutes”. Well, when I went out to the den, it had, indeed, come up, but had taken maybe 45 minutes. After I settled down, I did the only brave thing I could do. I tried to fix it, then took it to a knowledgeable man who can get her machine straightened out. There just comes a time when enough is enough – the last straw! (g)

I’m sure you’ll see some really neat life/spiritual applications in this story. If you want to respond, use the “Leave a Reply” box below!  I look forward to hearing from you.

 – Love your site. Its a source of inspiration to me and I regularly access it. I also use some of your stories in the church services that I take. Keep up the great work.

     Another perspective on “don’t sweat the small stuff” could be that sometimes in church life and life in general we major in minor issues when all around us people could be suffering much greater drama than we are and we don’t give them the attention they need because we are consumed by our problems when compared to their problems, ours may hardly rate a mention on the scale of importance,

– Perfect sense! It was a great piece. I think Satan gets us through the small stuff all the time. We get in trouble because he majors, and we minor in small stuff.

– Enjoyed the piece, and it is so very true. I work in a copy shop and we provide tools for the customers to use out in our self serve area (scissors, rulers, tape, staplers, etc.) We are always replacing them because people walk off with them. People will make copies and set down their copy card without paying and walk right on out the door. Costs have to be covered somewhere and it is a shame that honest people have to pay for what other people do.

– Enjoyed not sweating small stuff or better named, “Little Things Mean A Lot.” I agree about the little things. Recently, I watched an obviously ‘money challenged’ man chowing down on fruit. He didn’t seem to be a bit worried that what he was doing was wrong because he was hungry. But there are bunches of people out there who have plenty who don’t seem to consider the consequences of their actions. It is attitudes about eating/stealing a few grapes or a few pieces of loose candy or eating a banana/apple (you supply the name), that has caused our grocery prices to sky rocket.

– You’ve got a point about doing things right the first time. During the past week I had a project of collecting signatures from every household where I work. While I do, in fact, want the signature, it’s important to treat each person, each encounter as an opportunity – not just a detail, a mark tallied toward the completion. I want to treat each person with dignity from the first word to the last…that’s not small stuff, by any means.

– AMEN, PapaJ……….They surely do……..Every last little tiny thing means A LOT!!! Just as every last little hair on our heads means the world to the Lord. Great Read!

– I love your articles and look forward to getting them. I agree with “little things mean a lot”. But I can also see where “don’t sweat the small stuff” is coming from. Waiting in line is small stuff. Getting stuck in traffic is small stuff. Spilled milk at the dinner table is small stuff. Sometimes we get so upset over the little stuff we miss out on life. So, “little things mean a lot”, but “don’t sweat the little stuff”.

– As a music teacher, I know that it’s the little things that make the music musical – I agree with your philosophy on this one!

– That was a good article. I don’t know for the life of me why people think all these “little things” are nothing. I believe that parents need to teach their children from early on right and wrong. Contrary to what the “experts” say, children are never too young to learn “right and wrong”.

     As I read this I was reminded of something that happened to M___, our oldest son, who will be 44 this year. When he was about 4 years old, we were in an old fashioned 5 and 10 cent store, where they had the candy bends where you asked for so much and they weighed it up and put it in a little sack for you. Well, Mike went behind the counter and helped himself and filled both of his pockets with candy. When I noticed his pockets and him eating candy, I asked him where he got it. When he told me, I made him go over to the counter and tell them what he had done. I paid them, but the part of him having to admit what he’d done to the lady, just about did him in! Yes, it was just a “little” thing, but what if I had not let him know then that it was wrong to do what he had done?? He says he still remembers that incident! Now here is something!! In May he will be with the Children’s Home where he has worked for 18 years! Many times now he is faced with similar situations.

– You are right. Everything is small stuff and little things DO mean a lot. Your article touched my heart and made me stop and think about the little things that I hadn’t thought were so important until I read your words of wisdom. Thanks for the insight and sharing.

– I totally agree with you. I am fond of the saying that “Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us every day.” It’s certainly the little things that count in His sight and significance is not necessarily prominence.

– I loved your article on the things people just sort of “PICK UP.” I have also noticed that it goes on in the work place in an even larger scale. The things people take home and just figure that “I didn’t get a big enough raise, anyway” so this is a given for me. At our place, it is anything from toilet paper to office supplies. The list just goes on. I think the reason I noticed this was because, on a small scale, I, too, have been to blame for this. I guess we sometimes just don’t notice because it has always been done. My mom used to feed me grapes in the grocery store. She was not a thief, nor was she a dishonest woman by any means. So, just when did all that start happening??? And how does it all stop??? That is the question that plagues me. Even the cameras in the stores don’t keep the shoppers out of the grapes!!! Anyway, thank you for listening.

– I read your article on the small stuff and I fully agree with your take on the message of taking the little things in life for granted at the expense of others. However, there is another view to this adage. I recently read a book titled “Don’t sweat the Small Stuff and It’s all small stuff.” I read this book as I was dealing with an illness that would cause me to be infertile after trying for a baby for 6 years. I had to have surgery to correct a condition that was slowly poisoning my system. I was so distraught, angry, and lost I could not function. I am a Christian, but I could not place my worries in God’s hands, and I was angry with our Lord for denying me a child when so many girls are throwing their babies in the trash. After reading the book, and adopting that philosophy, I finally found peace. You see for me the phrase is more aptly put as: ” Don’t sweat the Small Stuff and It’s all small stuff when God is in charge.” So when I see that phrase hanging anywhere, I find comfort and have a small smile as I know God.

– It bothers me, too, when I see people snitching things at the grocery, or dumping their junk on someone else’s property. It’s like they have no regard for other people’s stuff. Recently, I saw a fellow helping himself to the bulk candy. I said something to him and he acted like “what’s the big deal”, I tried to convey that it was stealing if you don’t pay for it. Perhaps people wouldn’t do it as much if other customers would call them to task.

– Jerry, thanks – it was an excellent message. In the madness of day-to-day life, we too often compromise our values and take the easy way out. I teach 7th grade inner city immigrant children and every day I see the ravages of broken homes. Repairing the damage takes years and most kids won’t survive. It is truly heartbreaking and the extreme result of “not sweating the details”.

– I think you are right. My Mom used to go through the grocery store and stuff her pockets with candy, even though she could very well afford to pay for it. When I had my children, I used to have to watch them so that they didn’t do that. I told them that it was stealing. Thank God they don’t do that anymore.

– Small stuff may be small stuff until you multiply it many times. Stealing an acorn is the same as stealing an oak tree. Theft is theft no matter how you slice it.

– Your article on the small stuff was right on. I agree totally. I never got in the habit of eating fruit at the grocery store and don’t see it happening locally. Maybe that “bad” habit hasn’t caught on here, or maybe they know that the store owners around here wouldn’t put up with it. I know that my children don’t do this, either. Parents are the ones who set the pace for a lot of these negative behaviors. You are right, the small things in life are many times most rewarding, giving quality to our lives, while we sweat and groan over a lot of the big things that don’t have any lasting benefit.

– How true, how true. As farmers all our lives we have had people come in and pick corn, watermelons, etc., all without even asking. Just a couple years ago my daughter had a beautiful long row of green beans that were full of beans to be picked. She was out looking at them and decided to wait until morning. There was a big pole light right over the garden and when morning came there was not a bean to be had. Someone had come in during the night and picked them. We have experienced so many things that are just like you mentioned. The thing that troubles me is that many parents are not teaching their children about taking things that don’t belong to them. But then a lot of parents don’t know any difference either. Let me rephrase that they know the difference, but do it anyway.

     Although I get your point about the grapes and newspaper, thefts, and wanting those we hire to do our repairs properly, whether in body, property, or other, I feel you might be missing the point that I personally receive from the phrase “Don’t sweat the small stuff – and its all small stuff”.

     What I get from the phrase is that my Father in Heaven is in charge. No matter how big my worries/concerns are, they are small to Him, because He is hugely awesome. I should turn all of my problems over to my Lord because it doesn’t do anything good for me to “sweat” them when I know that I trust in God and have faith in His strength.

– Hey! I finally got your web page for Inside Out! Yipee!!! What a long wait! Little things do count…but instead of looking at grocery stores getting ripped off and mechanics doing a poor job…I’d like to take another view. Small stuff takes time, but small stuff counts!

     When we don’t take the time to write a small note to someone who is elderly or sick or in the hospital, thinking it a small thing, think again! Small stuff counts and maybe your card or note will make a difference to that person.

– Well, I loved your article. As a newer Christian (2 1/2 years!) I have learned about integrity and living. Doing one’s best, work as unto the Lord, for example. Christians have to be better than the world, don’t we, to be a good example. NOT easy, but “thems the facts”!! Many don’t want to be. I do. I have to watch myself

– Too true. All too often these days you see someone excuse what they do, though they know it’s wrong. I remember a time when I was given too much change at a local store. I took the money back and gave it to the teller, she almost fainted, couldn’t believe someone would come back because they got too much change. My “friends” told me I was crazy to do it. They said that it was her fault that she miscounted, and they said I should have kept the money. 25 years ago I probably would have, but, there was a little incident that changed that. I stood still long enough for Jesus to find me and convince me I needed Him. Even though what the teller did was a mistake, and I might have never noticed it, I did notice, and if I had kept it, all that God had done in my life to make me a better person would have gone down the tubes.

– I’m responding to your article on “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”. I think you are right on! I have been turned off by the variety of books – family, marriage, etc. containing that title. There are MANY small things in life that are VERY important and need to be given time, attention, and effort in order for life to run more smoothly, healthily, and in a godly fashion. I appreciated your article!!

– Surely I agree that small stuff does matter, or why would we have the admonition in the scriptures to watch out for the little foxes. It is surely them that ruin the vine. Thanks for the truth of the grapes. I’ll definitely be back to your page.

– Just checking up on neglected mail and read this article. You are so right. It’s not all small stuff. I was scheduled for hand surgery, but wasn’t happy with my doctor because of his lack of responses to phone calls and questions, even neglecting to tell me that surgery was scheduled for a Surgery Clinic instead of the hospital I had thought I went for a second opinion to a doctor recommended by three friends who had had similar surgeries. Result: Change in doctors…to one who answered all my questions, told me the elbow needed surgery as much as the wrist, based on a nerve conduction test. The first doctor never even mentioned the elbow! So, I have had surgery on wrist and elbow. It’s only been a week so not much change yet. I’m a church organist/pianist so I’m praying for full recovery. Thank you, again. M___ (an 8-finger typist right now!)

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