It’s happened again. People killed without trial. Retaliation. Leading with fear. Responding with more fear.
I read the news and wonder, How long? How many times? When will we learn??
Sides are taken. Names are called. People refuse to budge on The Big Issues.
And the cycle continues and repeats.
And I wonder, again, and again, and again. What can I do???
And I learn again, and again, and again. Stop, listen, lean in. Support. Teach my kids a different way. A way that is not rooted in fear but in love and hope.
I’m learning that the way to change things is sometimes to rebuild entirely. And yet, we can’t rebuild entirely a system that is engrained. A system built on hundreds of years of fear.
So maybe we rebuild slowly. We dismantle one small stone and replace it with hope and love. We dismantle one small idea and replace it with one of hope and love.
I don’t like slow moving change. I want people to open their eyes. To see the need to replace fear with love and to act. But I see over and over that we need to work small. That change is in the small work, frustrating though it may be.
So, with my small children, I make small changes. I build and rebuild and learn and grow alongside.
And I fervently hope and pray for a future that looks at this time in history with disbelief and shock. Because small changes slowly give way to big ones.
Linked with Kate Motaung’s Five Minute Friday, a time to write without editing. Today’s prompt is “build.”
Annie Rim 
These are hard times. Thank you for the reminder of small steps of love and hope.
Work small, frustrating as it may be. I whole-heartedly agree. So glad to be your neighbor at #FiveMinuteFriday. Praying. Have a blessed week. xoxo
Thanks for the encouragement and for stopping by!
Annie, thank you for such a heartfelt post. Yes, we build small. Make small changes. I love that you’re starting with how and what you teach your girls. Changing our mindsets seems to be the first step toward building something better, doesn’t it?
Imagine if we all made a small shift in mindset toward love. I think we’d be amazed at the results. Baby steps, but powerful steps nonetheless.
I’ve been thinking the same thing, we’re choosing fear over hope, over love. I can’t begin to imagine what one people group has gone through but I know the answer isn’t violence and the “fix” can only come through the kind of love that gives hope. I know it doesn’t come quick enough. That’s the hardest part. You said it well.
I often think of love as benign but it is so, so powerful. I just want to see results, but I know that we are inching forward, and that gives me hope.
Oh yes slow changes do give way to big changes. So much THIS: “And I learn again, and again, and again. Stop, listen, lean in. Support. Teach my kids a different way. A way that is not rooted in fear but in love and hope.” Perfect love casts out fear. Over in the #5 spot this week.
Yes, yes. Perfect love casts out fear. May we love perfectly (or as perfectly as we can) to be a beacon to cast out fear…
Such wisdom. I’ve been saying the same thing. What can I do? You reminded me that I am doing it by building the good way in my family. By influencing the people around me with love and honesty and encouragement. Thanks for your perspective. I needed to read this. 🙂
Thanks for your encouragement. It’s hard to be content with small, but amazingly inspiring, too… Thanks for stopping by!
This is beautiful! As I sit here typing this, I am reminded that Jesus also started small. Hand-picking… calling individual men to walk with Him as disciples. One by one. And now as I sit typing this, a 39-year-old woman in Los Angeles, CA who has fully embraced His gospel, I realize the impact that starting small can have. It reaches…
Yes- I seem to forget that Jesus worked small, chose “small” people, and seemingly didn’t win in the end. Thankful that we know the ending and that those small things add up. Thanks for stopping by!
Love love love the simple reminder. How to turn a ship? Slowly. How to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. No need to be overwhelmed.
Thank you. (Coming to you from FMF#62 this week)
I still have trouble not focusing on the big task ahead, but you’re absolutely right: One small bite at a time…. Thanks for stopping by!