“that he may encourage your hearts”
Colossians 4:8b

I have had the privilege to watch God work through big and small ways over the years. Not everyone welcomes these moments as my friend Danny. He lay on the hospital bed waiting for a heart procedure. The whole time we talk and share stories. He always puts a smile on my face. Not just me. The nurses and technicians prepping him come in and out of the room. Each of them are exposed to his unique way of engaging people. “Do you live here in Waco?” he asks the nurse while she is reading his vitals. When they answer yes he immediately responds with, “Where do you go to church?”. “That’s our preacher” he says with his wired hand pointing straight at me. Those who worship at New Road know well the way that God uses Danny and Phyllis Paschal to touch the lives of those who meet there.
Preachers, pastors, church leaders get a lot of the credit and praise for the positive things that take place at church, but many times it is the small things done by the unrecognized that have the biggest impact. I have personally witnessed this. The fatherly figure who made you feel at home each time you walked through the church doors. The woman who cared enough to talk to you about church life and prayed for you. The Christian who shared a word of inspiration with you at just the right moment without even knowing the impact it made on you. It is in the small ways that God’s hand does mighty things.
Take time today to praise God for the little things that have made a big difference in your life. Make a point to thank the people he has used especially those who often go unnoticed. Seek to find ways to be an encouragement to someone. Life is too short to ignore the little things.