Consistent small work multiplies

Yesterday, I shared the books that I read in May, and then later in the morning read the last few pages of Redeeming Your Time by Jordan Raynor. He compiled the wisdom of a handful of time management books into one system and a lot of it was helpful if you’re into that kind of thing. 

Yesterday, I also read (again) somewhere that what you do in small, consistent increments counts more than what you do every now and then for longer amounts of time. I would have sworn it was from that book. Matter of fact, I still do, even though when I just flipped through the end I didn’t see it. Either way, we hear this wisdom everywhere. 

Greek practice is my best reflection of this truth. I’ve wanted to keep up my Greek skills because I put a lot of work into my three Greek classes. I didn’t do that for grades; I wanted to be able to use Greek. After my exegesis class, I emailed my professor to ask for ideas and he sent back a lengthy response. I googled and then started slowly translating 1 John.

But it’s hard to find time to work on Greek. It never seems pressing. I have other deadlines and demands with school and the seminary cohort. I must see what’s been posted on Instagram in the past ten minutes. (Kidding, but not.) Translation is frustrating work because it constantly pushes my skill level. Finally, after months of inconsistent work, I decided in the spring that I wanted to fit ten minutes of Greek practice into my morning routine. 

Ten minutes is a short enough amount of time that it feels laughable. However, being a stay-at-home mom for years and pursuing work in the corners of life has taught me that ten minutes every single day turns into over an hour a week. I know that you think that math taught me that, but it didn’t. I knew math in my head, but I needed to experience that snowball effect in my life before I believed it. Of course, I believe that an hour of Greek study is beneficial, but that’s hard to translate from one chunk to a short ten minute slot every day.

This morning, I finished translating 1 John 3. I’m three chapters in and my skills are smoothing out. I’m able to sight read a little more of it, and even though 1 John has some of the easiest Greek of the NT, I’ll take that progress. 

Last night, I finished going through A Deeply Formed Life with a woman I’m discipling. Here’s the main premise we kept coming back to: the ordinary everyday is what God wants and is what matters. We are waiting for big moment, for noticeable things, and God wants our lives. God is present in that conversation, in my writing this one blog post, in the work that no one is applauding.

How you live today matters, even if all of it seems small. That’s it, that’s the takeaway.

All of it matters.