I'm blessed these days by a rich friendship with a family in my church.

Basically, they feed me.  And I entertain their small children while they get important things (like replacing brakes or painting murals or folding laundry done).

Now, to be honest, I would probably pay to play with small children.  And these are particularly cute small children ... so this is really an easy gig.  But the surprising thing is how much it means to them.  Which got me thinking about how many other ways there are to bless people in small ways.

Starting with kids: just paying attention to them, getting down at their level and (with a minimum of babytalk) taking an interest in what interests them.  Sure, this painted rock is really not that special - except to this 3 year old, it's the greatest thing since slice bread! (which she discovered at lunch, btw)  Release the inner child and you encounter a world full of marvelous things: toes, babyfood, bugs, rocks, dogs, small plastic animals (mommy, daddy, and baby versions of each are a necessity), hide and go seek, etc.  The simple joy of being first to finish supper: "Me beat you!"

Moving to teens: there's an ad running on the radio currently in my area, "What's the biggest reason teens don't use drugs ... ?  You.  Talk to your kids."  I'm fortunate to be part of the administration team for our church's youth group, and I have the opportunity to just have conversations with these kids.  Am I transforming their lives?  Probably not.  But how many of us have been influenced by the example and interest of an older person in our life?  How has that shaped you?  A couple hours once a month opens doors for me to have those kinds of conversations and influence ... a little thing.

Adults: part of my routine at their house is to help with dinner dishes when those need doing.  Often, with chasing small children into bed, and administrating a charity food distribution group, the dishes don't get done on a Sunday night until late.  I am a trained dishwasher who looks on the chaos left by 35 people at Thanksgiving and laughs.  So the leftover dishes of a haphazard Sunday supper are easy for me to take on (thanks Mom and Dad for all the dishes you made me do, they have bourne fruit!).  Yet that's a major blessing to them.  Just as them feeding me is a major blessing to me.  It's a little thing, but it makes such a difference to another person.

Most of what I do - at work, at home, at friends' houses, at church - is (relatively) little.  It's easy and only takes a few minutes.  Yet if I were to try and measure its impact, I doubt I'd be able to.  Not that this is designed to be a puff piece for how great Thor is.  Rather, I'd like to encourage you to be on the lookout for those little moments when you can serve someone else.

That's the essence of what I'm trying to say: look for ways to lay down your life, your desires, your time, your leisure and like seeds, which are sown and must die - there will come a rich harvest of good works.

The prime example of this?