Start Where You Are

Gene was a big talker. He always had some big deal under way. One day he would be building a rocket. The next day he would be figuring some way to motorize his coaster wagon. Before he was through the sixth grade he was trying to read high school science books. He wrote to colleges around the country and asked what they had to offer a fellow who was in a hurry to get to the top fast in the field of space exploration.

When anyone at home asked him to help with the dishes, run the sweeper, or trim the grass along the walk, he would grumble and growl like a bear with a sore paw. He felt that such earthly jobs were for other people and not for a fellow who planned to explore the dark side of the moon some day.

Gene's dreams were all right to a certain point. We need to plan for the future, for without dreams we might still be riding in ox carts and cooking our food over an open fire. But dreams are not a substitute for action. Just because a fellow thinks big he is not excused from taking his part in doing little things down here on earth.

Big things are made up of little things. We can learn about the sun from studying a candle. The toy magnet is a step in man's conquest of outer space. The song of a bird and a blade of grass tell us something about God.

Dream all you have time to dream. Plan to do big things, by all means. But let's never forget Christ's advice to be faithful about little things before we tackle the big projects.

When I look at thy hills, O God, help me to see the sand.