Elissa Candelier
About the Author

Elissa, simply known as Lis to family & friends, loves Jesus, her husband Ivan, 7-year-old son Christofer, and cheese. In that order. Most days.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. It’s so easy sometimes to focus on the negative and the minor things! I find myself doing the same things, as I’m certain most of us do. Now when you look at your bedroom chest with the damage, it can remind you of the wisdom the delivery man gave you!

    Blessings,
    Mel
    Please feel free to stop by: Trailing After God

  2. I obsess and worry wayyy too much about what I think to be big things..like money..hubby not having a job etc. These are in reality small things in comparisson to what others might be dealing with right now. When I start to worry I pray and seek Him. It helps greatly and I find I have so much more peace. God is so good and whispers to our hearts to calm our fears. It’s wonderful to be able to turn to Him for help with the big and small things in life. Blessings, XO Vanessa 🙂

    • Well, those are things certainly that we need to think about! It’s easy to read scripture and hear people tell us NOT to worry, but in our flesh it’s so normal! But if you have learned to handled lesser things well, I am sure you are dealing with this setback with the peace God wants you to have.

      It’s encouraging that given what you are going through, you’re able to even identify people have it worse! What a blessing to have that outlook.

      Thank you for commenting! <3

  3. What a great post! I can relate–in fact, do we share the same husband?! 🙂
    Thank you for sharing some wisdom that I definitely needed to hear.

    • Haha! I think many, MANY woman on this planet might share the same husband!

      Thank you for the encouragement. 🙂

  4. Oh, I can so relate to this! Makes me think of she “who is faithfulnwith little will be faithful with much.” I’ve always thought of that in terms of blessings or work–but how we handle life’s little irritations really is an opportunity to practice being faithful too, huh? Thanks for the wisdom!

    • YES! That is such a good comparison! It really was the point I was {hoping} to drive home. My reaction to when my son spills his drink is the stepping stone to say…if I get into a car accident! If that makes any sense, ha!

      Thanks for the encouragement! 🙂

  5. “I’m type-A, obsessive compulsive, and neurotic all the way. And you know what? I think you need people like me in this world.”

    This made me laugh! I think that self-acceptence is a beautiful thing! 🙂
    I really enjoyed this message from you today. I agree that if I can’t handle the little minors with grace how will I handle the majors?
    This reminds me of when my kids were small. I found myself stressed about so many things with them…things that ultimately didn’t matter. Now that I’m experiencing the “majors” with teenagers….I’m trying to handle them WITH God instead of FOR God. I have a tendency to not want to bother Him and take over! 🙂
    Thanks for sharing this.
    Lovely way to start the day!
    Be blessed~
    Kristi

    PS You shared one of my favorite verses of all time!!

    • Self-acceptance, along with learning it is a balance! My former co-worker {now my best friend} was the complete opposite of me. She lacked any attention to details and preferred to fly by the seat of her pants! But what a heart she had. And her creativity and ability to think outside the box surely surpassed me. But when we worked together, it was a marvelous thing.

      Yes, so glad I really ‘found’ that verse! Thanks for the encouragement! 🙂

  6. Lis, you have blessed me with this post for I am also the type to swear the little things. There is so much true to “If I do not handle the “minor” with grace, there will be no hope for me to handle the major”. That definately spoke to my heart.

    May the Lord continues blessing you so you can continue to be a blessing to others.

  7. Nice post. Very real. A friend used to tell me to be thankful for the dirty floor because you have a floor to sweep. Grrr! But she was right.

    Yeah for the minors.

    • Yes! There is this well-known email that often floats around to that affect–be grateful for dirty dishes because it means you ate food; be grateful for climbing the stairs because it means you had legs to do so, etc.

      I say GRR too! I don’t want to be OKAY with some of the minors…but I have to be. 🙂

  8. Last night, after a long day of stressing little things…which I do so often…. I crawled into bed and grabbed my Ipod just to scan through the new posts to see if there was anything that seemed interesting to read before falling asleep… and there was this post. It was SO what I needed. I almost woke my husband up so he could read it and give me one of those looks like…hmmm… ya think God is trying to tell you something?? He had slightly lectured me over lunch about how I focus too much on the small stuff.
    Thanks for sharing… it was perfect timing for me.

  9. Let me play “Devil’s Advocate” for just a moment. For the record, I 95% agree with this post.

    I tend to obsess over minor things too, there is no doubt about it. On the flip side, I have been told over and over again that I handle the “major” things with such patience and grace by many people.

    My husband had a heart attack at age 37, triple bypass surgery, and then a second heart attack and stent placement three months later. When the first heart attack happened, I was 20 weeks pregnant with our third child, and when the second heart attack happened (as a result of scar tissue over the one bypass grafts) I was 35 weeks pregnant. People mentioned how “strong” I was. I give all praise to God for that strength.

    I think that I felt the strength because I had no control over that “major” thing. No matter what I wanted, that was not in my realm of control. I had to “let go and let God”.

    The other “minor” things like food wrappers on the kitchen counter or jackets on the floor are all things that I can have some control over. I think that those that love us and realize that some of those minor things are important to us should respect us and put some effort into minimizing that source of stress (I know, weird sentence).

    Flip the coin, yes, we obsessive types need to have some grace with people who aren’t like us, but I firmly believe that they need to have grace with us too. Life is a two way street.

    • Rae, thank you so much for commenting and sharing your story. It is heartbreaking to read. How is your husband now if you don’t mind me asking? I hope well!

      I think if I could go back and edit the post or even expand it, I would take your insight {which are dead on!} and emphasize that the point I was trying to make was an adjustment in my attitude was needed.

      You are absolutely right that it easy to be graceful when there is nothing we can do but let God do His thing! I have noticed though that if I practice–and this might seem silly, but it works!–how I respond to say my son spilling something or disobeying me, it is a stepping stone to how I will react when someone does something EVEN MORE serious to me.

      I want my post to reflect the heart issue. And I hope people read your comment to know that absolutely–it is all us handling the minor for the most part–and only God can handle what us mere mortals cannot!

      Much love to you.

  10. So lovely, isn’t it? How God’s Grace keeps giving us the same test over-and-over-and-over-and-over-again…until we get it. He’s patient. His time table isn’t our own. He loves us whether we *get* it or not. Ahhhh…such rest we can find in His faithful guidance as our Daddy.

    Rich blessings…

  11. reminds me of the song “These are the things that drive me crazy…” God will use damaged furniture, unsuspecting delivery men and a speeding ticket to speak to us! love you Lis. Glad I took time to read. I was Incouraged!

    • I started loving that song recently, ha! It SO spoke to me!

      Thank you for taking the time to comment! 🙂

  12. Hi Lis! Good to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter today. I’m glad I saw your blog post. You’ve got lots of comments here! 🙂 Great job!
    I can identify with The Minor, too. In fact, I’ve written about it lots, since it is an ongoing process for me to enjoy “The Relief of Imperfection.” AND that’s the name of one of my books. The bottom-line that I’m learning is: When I believe the misconception that people and things have the capacity to be perfect I face continual disappointment. Yet I can believe the truth: People, organizations, families, homes, bodies, even faith do not have the ability to be flawless (or “just right”) 24/7 here on this earth–and then feel “relief.” AND Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful! Thx for giving that message so clearly today!

    • Thank YOU for taking the time to seek me out and for this encouragement! Look forward to connecting with you more as we seek RELIEF from this issue! 🙂

  13. I needed this. I was just lamenting to friends today that my kids had crumbs on the floor an hour after our cleaning lady came. I know I raised my voice to the kids about it. It is so minor. A wise faithful friend once said when I was weary from all the mom stuff, the laundry and more…to remember I am doing laundry for Jesus. I serve Him by serving them.

    I still struggling often with the little things but in those things I see Him.

    Thanks
    Jen

    • I believe the beauty of this community is things like this–remembering we are not alone. Let’s serve Him together!

  14. I so enjoyed your post,and I’m ashamed to admit–I see myself stressing over the “minor” things of life as well.

  15. What an amazing post! I am also Type-A, Obsessive Compulsive to a fault, and struggle “Major-ly” with the “Minor-ly” things of life!!! I am going to remember that little saying that your deilvery guy said to you. He was absolutely right!! 🙂