Do small things with great love.
I’m like a grain of sand on the beach…so tiny in this immense world. But in the Bible it says that God knows every hair on my head. I have very thick curly hair…so that is a lot of hair He has gotten to know! So, I must be important, even if I am small.
If I listen to the news too much, I get filled with anxiety. I’ve learned that I need to not worry about the big picture of the world, and focus my sight on my corner of the world…my family, parish, friends, neighborhood, and business. This is where I can have influence and maybe indirectly, influence the world. This small corner is where I can do small things with great love.
When my children were young, that was my world…we homeschooled and I loved being a full time mommy and wife to my best friend. My small things were loving our children, raising and teaching them, and doing it with great love. But now my children are mostly grown…my youngest (of six) is fifteen and attends the local high school. Though my children still need me, they need me in different ways…not guiding them continuously throughout the day. So I needed new “small things” to do with great love.
I’m a storyteller and stumbled into working with dementia residents in senior homes doing interactive storytelling. I loved it. Though the residents didn’t remember me being there a few hours after I left, the fact that I made them happy and feeling good about themselves stayed with them the rest of the day. This was my new, small thing. Then Covid hit and sadly all my work with dementia residents came to a screeching halt. (Thankfully, in March of 2021 I started to be allowed to work with them again.)
The Infant of Prague at this point took over. There is a statue of Him at our church and I began praying for His help. What do I do now? Eventually He put on my heart, “Do something with your storytelling skills and puppets to teach the faith.” This was the beginning of my business Faith & Puppets. My goal is to make learning the faith fun for children through videos in which I tell saint stories and teach the faith. My “sidekick” is Billy the puppet who is trying to learn the faith. Kids can relate to him and laugh at his silly questions.
The saints are amazing and they did small things with great love. Through my stories, I make the saints “come alive” for children. I don’t use fancy props or cartoons but through my skills as a storyteller, the children are able to imagine the saints and their lives. They see how the saints were real people like them. If children fall in love with the saints, they will want to imitate them, and thus be on the right road to heaven.
I’d say my favorite prayer is the rosary. We try to pray it every night as a family. As for my favorite saint? I don’t have one. Each time I research one for a video, I fall in love with him/her! I can’t choose a favorite! I often call on Saint Anthony because I continuously misplace my cell phone. I also pray to St. Maximilian Kolbe when I struggle with technology. When I have questions or concerns about my business, I pray to the Infant of Prague…(since He is the one who inspired my business I figure He has a special interest in it.) Mother Mary I call on for everything else.
Everyone has their own small things to do with great love. Don’t look for the mountain to climb, God will show it to you…it may even be that anthill in the front yard. Be open to what God is calling you to do. It will probably change at different points in your life.
You can find out more about my business at FaithandPuppets.com. I’m on Instagram and Facebook @FaithandPuppets. Feel free to email me at FaithandPuppets@gmail.com
