How could I spend so much money at a place where things cost only one dollar?  I went in to buy paper cups and craft sticks for a church project, along with Spanish moss, if they had any pretty gift bags.

Turns out the store had all of these things — and much more.  Like this cool nail file that has green sparkly flowers on one side.  Paper towels, sunglasses, a magazine that’s only slightly out-of-date.  Chewing gum.  I even found a darling yellow hat for my granddaughter.  And this purple pill organizer that lets me put all my supplements for the week in one place.

Wait.  I’m beginning to see how I could spend $43.87 at the dollar store.  I did it one dollar at a time.

Little things tend to add up.  A cookie here, some ice cream there — a pair of jeans that won’t zip.  A week too busy for devotional reading, a day so crowded that there’s no time for exercise, an evening when one TV show turns into hours spent staring at the tube — then I wonder why I’m feeling sluggish, physically and spiritually.

But it works in a positive way too.  One little act of kindness, one smile at a hassled clerk, one card sent to brighten someone’s day — and the world doesn’t seem as hostile, as hopeless.  So here’s to little things.  Well managed, they can have big results.  Mary Lou Carney

“For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the LORD has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?” Genesis 30.30

–Mike Benson