My awesome husband is currently away on a 2 week missions trip to Fiji - I'm counting down the days to when he will be coming home!

Our 4 children have been awesome while he has been gone, helping out and doing all of their chores - one hangs out and gets in the washing each day, another takes care of the pets, one sets and clears the table for meals, and another takes care of the dishes - along with their usual making beds and tidying their rooms (ahem... when this actually does happen it's a miracle).  So when it comes to the every day family duties, everything is fine, but it's the little things that I've been missing while he is gone,

It's amazing how you can take the little things for granted, and when they are gone, suddenly you realise the big hole that they've left.

I read something awesome in The Word for Today the other day - how much of what we do each day doesn't seem to matter until it's evaluated as part of a larger picture, and I loved this excerpt..

It's like the difference between filling bags with dirt and building a levee to save a town. There's nothing glamorous about filling sandbags, but saving a town from the ravages of a flood is another matter entirely. Building a levee gives meaning to the drudgery of shovelling dirt into sandbags. And it's like that with your vision. Many times the everyday routine of life can feel like shovelling dirt. But take those same routines and view them through the lens of a God-given purpose, and suddenly everything looks very different.

So to all the mums, dads and caregivers out there doing those day to day monotonous tasks, that face wipe and nappy change may not seem like a very important task... just like filling a sandbag... yet you are helping to raise an amazing person, someone who is a future history changer.

To the worker who is clearing rubbish, or the person sitting in an office filing and photocopying day after day... lift your eyes and look at the big picture every so often.  You are making a difference, you are impacting people, towns and nations.

To the nurses, doctors, teachers and caregivers... those little things count.  Those little things save lives and change destiny's.

To the home group leader, the youth worker, the mentor, and the grandparent... your word of encouragement, your advice and your listening ear is vital.  You don't realise the impact you are having.

And to my husband - although you are messy and funny and always creating things and dreaming dreams (especially when it comes to renovating old houses), thank you for your humour, your kindness, your faithfulness and helping hand.  Thank you for being the best dad to our kids, and best husband to me.

Every little bit makes the biggest difference - part of building something great.