Little is Much

I know there are many people who have done great things for God. There are just as many who do little things that inspire others to greatness. Guidepost magazine as well as Chicken Soup for the Soul are filled with stories about people who do big and little things in this world. I'm about to tell you about another lady who inspired me.

Just a little background before I jump into the telling. Our church was founded in the 1906 Pentecostal fall of the Latter Rain in Los Angeles. It's a fascinating story in history. It changed the gospel and five of the big name churches were also formed from it.
Our leader, Florence Crawford, began her work in Portland, Oregon and in about 1920 bought property in SE Portland. Later they built a huge tabernacle still in use today.

When I grew up our family attended campmeeting held in the tabernacle. We stayed in the rustic cabins on the grounds and ate in communal kitchenettes. Inside the Tab (as we call it now) were rows of benches which were later changed to (old style) theater seats, after they took up the sawdust and poured a concrete floor. During this time the Tab was used for services every night, but Saturday, for services. It changed to the present schedule of twice on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday nights. Each service night someone walks the rows, returning the song books to their holder and picks up anything that's been inadvertently left. In the sawdust floor days, the song books were collected each night and set out before meeting the next night. Those attending were in the hundreds.

In 1983 the new church was completed across the street. We only use the Tab at Christmas and for the two weeks the first of July for our annual International Campmeeting.

Now that you understand the back ground, by the 1970's the song books had been the same ones used for twenty or thirty years. A woman in her mid to late seventies took it upon herself to repair the songbooks. Every Sunday or midweek meeting she collected a number of torn and well used books in her bag and took them home. She spent time re-gluing, used book binding tape to cover torn edges, and repaired the books. Then on Friday night she'd bring the books back and replace them in the holders. This went on for a few years. When she was unable to come to church someone asked her what she missed. "I miss repairing the songbooks." This comment lead to a bit of research and finding all the books she'd repaired.

I don't remember the woman's name now, but I will never forget her legacy. Her faithful duty kept the songbooks in good use. I'm often reminded that nothing is too little in God's sight. Your willingness to offer yourself for His service won't go unrewarded. If you're too big to do the little things, then you're standing in someone's way, move over.


WC 505