**just some thoughts on what I have been learning this week**

When I was living in Cedar Falls, Iowa, I attended a Women of Faith Conference with about 30 other women from my church. While in this conference I was listening to Luci Swindoll. She was telling the story about how she was in Antartica, and with her camera up to her eye, was looking for whales. She sat there in the same position for 2 hours, waiting for that whale to come so she could have the perfect picture.

After waiting for so long, she put the camera down and noticed on the glaciers they were passing by, were many penguins looking at her, waddling around with the attitude of "Hey look at me! I am here too!"

She said so many times we go through life looking for the Big things- the "whale" of the trip, when they do not happen that often, all the while ignoring the little penguins along the way- when the penguins are all the little opportunities that we don't even notice or pass up, all because we are looking for the Big things in life.

Today we heard about Big days and Small days. Big days can consist of the day you graduated, your wedding day, or the birth of your children.

So which day do you think God says is more important? The Big days or the Small days?

The speaker talked about in Zechariah when they were rebuilding the temple- everyone was concerned about when it was going to be completed when God said, "Who despises the day of small things?" And he talked about when Zerubabbel was holding the plumb line next to the wall- a very small, ordinary thing during construction, yet God pointed out that it was much more important than the completion of the temple.

What is so important about small days?
In small days you set direction. God is the one who determines if big days will happen- we do have the small days in our hands. God has the Big days, and gives us the responsibility for the small days. It is in those small days that we need to diligently obey day after day.

What does that mean? Well, for me in Africa that means that I need to wake up and say, "Lord, today is for You." This means that I am going to do what He wants me to- regardless of what my schedule looks like. If that means I am going to change my plans because He is leading me to meet someone else, I will do it. If that means being uncomfortable for Him, I will do it. If that means eating foods that seem weird to me, or I don't really like, to build relationships to advance His kingdom, I will do it.

That is what being a Living Sacrifice is all about. Instead of us waking up and saying, "Ok Lord, I am going to be a sacrifice for you, so just let me die now!" we are saying, "No matter how uncomfortable it is going to be, I am going to do it- because that is what you call me to do- to be a LIVING sacrifice."

You also make progress in the small days.
Did you know the Hebrew meaning for success is "to push forward" ? Wow, what a contrast to our western way of thinking- success to us means you have arrived! So think about that- if success to God means to push forward, then the small days are MUCH more important than the Big ones!

The small days give the history. For example, your wedding day- it didn't just happen, it happened because of the 365+ days of your relationship with your husband or wife before the wedding!

So, don't overlook the mundane days where it seems like you are not doing anything "big" or important, God tells us that those are the most important days. Don't miss the penguins!