God Cares About the Small Things

Have you ever had a concern that felt too small to bother God? I have, more often than not. In fact, one such instance, involving my healthy mother, who could pass as my sister, happened a few years ago.

This meek woman is a sports fanatic, watching sports of any kind on her television: college and professional; men and women. The K.C. Chiefs is her all-time favorite team, though. Capable of remaining calm during the best of games doesn’t hold true with her Chiefs, where she has no control of emotions. She will actually make herself sick to her stomach, and let her cheeks grow rosy red with elevated blood pressure.

For every televised game, you will find her wearing one of their shirts or jackets, and a Chiefs throw covering her legs. Plenty of other memorabilia decorates her house. As long as I can remember, my mother watched football with dad on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights. The difference was dad fell asleep and mom didn’t. After retiring, her sports television watching increased.

Every Sunday, men at church seek mom out to discuss sports highlights. If the Chiefs play, the teasing rises, but all respect her knowledge of the game. After service, she eats dinner with us . . . except for football season. A recording of games is created so she can attend evening services, and finish watching afterward.

That Sunday was different. At the morning church service, everyone razzed my mother about the upcoming game. It was the first time, my mom said she might miss the evening service due to a game. I told her the pastor, her son-in-law, would forgive her and she leaned over to my ear and whispered, “I’m not worried about him. I hope God forgives me.” A non-disruptive chuckle escaped as she returned upright.

As people gathered for evening service, they all seemed to notice my mother missing at the same time. “We didn’t figure Rena would be here,” resonated from my right, behind, and in front of me. Chuckles, giggles, and full-blown laughter quickly followed so did chatter about the afternoon game.

Expected to be an easy playoff game for the Chiefs, fans quickly became distressed when they fell behind 21 points in the first quarter. Hearing this news again put me on edge.

“I’m always afraid mom will have a heart attack with these types of games,” I said aloud.

Someone else raved how the Chiefs came back in the second quarter, achieving three touchdowns in a few minutes before a louder voice rang out Chiefs won 51 to 31.

God Cares About the Small Things

Shuffling in twenty minutes later came to my mom. Her head hung low like a schoolgirl who feared to be in trouble. The detectable grin gave away her true feelings.

Once seated, my husband’s eyes and hers locked. A few teasing words were spoken from his mouth before she raised her hand in protest.

“I was so happy, I had to come to give thanks.” He lost control due to the roar of laughter. This was mostly out-of-character for my meek and humble mom.

Conversations ignited once again, hitting highlights. At the first calm, I stated,  “Mom, I’m always afraid you’ll have a heart attack from getting so overworked, so I had to pray you’d be okay.”

“Their losing bothered me so badly, I couldn’t watch, and fell asleep,” she replied. “When I woke up, the game had turned around, and I got to watch them score their last couple of touchdowns.”

“That’s one way for God to answer a prayer,” I said in relief, as another round of laughter erupted.

This funny story illustrates how much God cares for us. He loved me and my momma enough to let her sleep to prevent her blood pressure from rising too much. He kept her safe. God knows all of our needs and cares about us. Never think any concern is too small for Him. He protects. He provides. He loves and gives peace.

© 2022, Jena Fellers. All rights reserved.