What I do...does it really matter?

I first met her in 2011 at a blogging conference. She was warm and welcoming and gave me a big hug in the hotel lobby as soon as Michelle introduced us.

I saw her at couple of conferences and then in June of 2014, John and I had breakfast with her and Michelle in their hometown. We were passing through on vacation.

I knew Deidra was under
contract to write a book and as we left the restaurant that morning I
told her that I would like to be on her launch team when it was time to
launch her book.

in June 2014

Well, her book launches today and I got the opportunity to be part of that team!!

Since I first met Deidra back in 2011, I have followed her blog and her writing. She always writes with an open heart and an open mind. She is not afraid to write about the hard stuff and at the same time she encourages you to recognize the fact that you matter. No matter how small your life may seem to you, you matter. No matter how small or insignificant what I am doing seems to me, it matters.

The idea behind her book is this…if you are wondering who the next Mother Theresa is or who the next Ghandi is, then maybe it is you.

We all have a tendency to look around and

see things that need done and think:

“Someone really should get to work on that.” pg 23

Maybe God is calling you and me to be brave and get to work on that.

But I am just a mom or just a dad. I’m just a secretary or a plumber. I’m just a teacher or a janitor.

It doesn’t matter WHAT we are. It matters THAT we are and that we remember

“No life is so small that God doesn’t notice it.” page 21

Using Bibilical examples, Deidra took me on a journey. She convinced me that my life DOES matter. What I do DOES make a difference.

“God sees something in us that doesn’t reflect in a mirror.

It’s the person God knows we can be when we surrender our lives to him.” pg 23

That is what she writes about in this book

Every Little Thing Making a World of Difference Right Where You Are.

I believe there are many of us in this world that not only think what we do doesn’t matter, we think no one notices, so why bother.

We believe that waiting in carpool lines, doing laundry, preparing dinner, being a greeter at church, gathering the carts from the parking lot at the grocery store….whatever our job, we believe it doesn’t really matter in the big scheme of things. These “I don’t matter thoughts” are not of God, they are of the devil. And we know that he is the father of lies John 8:44. One of my favorite quotes from the book is:

“Lying, for the devil, is not a second language he’s trying to master. Lying never gets old to him. He is not bilingual. He knows no other language. When he speaks, he speaks his native tongue, and while it may look like linen and silk on the outside, on the inside it has been eaten away – decimated…” page 54

It is important to remember that no matter how small we feel, we have an impact on this world. And no one can make the impact God designed YOU to make. And no one can make the impact God designed ME to make.

Near the end of the book, beginning on page 159 Deidra writes “Is it only a miracle when Jesus spits in the dirt and then smears mud on a blind man’s eyes and restores the blind man’s sight? Why can’t it also be a miracle when you press through the doubt and fear and step from the dark recesses of the cave and into the light of God’s invitation to you? Why can’t it also be a miracle when we put away our tape measures and our calculators and stop comparing our purpose with someone else’s purpose? Why can’t it also be a miracle to stand up on our two feet and celebrate the gift of every little thing God calls us to? Even if no one notices but him? Wouldn’t that be a miracle too?…” (emphasis mine)

God did not call me to do your work.

God did not call you to do mine.

But God did call each of us to do a unique job. And we have to ask ourselves…

I was so moved and challenged by this book, that I am giving away not one, but two copies of it. To enter, please leave a blog comment. You may get extra entries for tweeting about the giveaway and/or sharing on Facebook or Pinterest. Please leave an extra comment for each share, letting me know. The giveaway is open until midnight Monday, October 12th. The winner will be chosen by using random.org.

I was given an electronic copy of this book, but I preordered my own copy months ago. This post does contain affiliate links. All that means is that if you click and order the book through one of my links, it costs you nothing extra, but I make a few cents.