One Little Light

My daughter is home from college.
It is her fall break.
Since she is an RA this year, she has been at school since mid-August.
It has been two months since she has been home.

I saw her when I went to campus for parent’s weekend.
I saw her when I watched her sing during her half-hour time slot in the courtyard.
I texted her, talked to her on the phone, and emailed her.
But she has not been home, here at the dinner table and here in her own room.

And it is nice.
It is so wonderful to have tea together and share hearts.
It is so wonderful to hear the squeak of her floorboards as she walks in her room.
It is so wonderful to hear the shower and her music playing.

It is so wonderful to have her home, if only for a long weekend.
It is different for her, being the youngest.
Whenever her siblings came home for a college break, everyone else was home.
There was still lots of activity and a full dinner table.

However, when you are the youngest, you inevitably come home to a lot more quiet.
Everyone else is working and busy with their own lives.
The banter that was customary when the others came home from college is missing now.
I recognize it and I’m sure my daughter does as well.

But our house has a revolving door.
Not a literal one but a figurative one.
My older daughters live locally and are always coming and going.
They pop over for dinner or just to talk.

My sons are not too far away, but not close enough to just pop over.
Each of them love to come home and they schedule time to do that.
They try to get home to see their sister when she is here.
I love to watch their relationships deepen as they get older.

My daughter really enjoys college but she was ready for a break.
Being responsible for 43 girls on her floor is a big job.
She has prayed for them and with them and the floor really bonds well together.
She seems glad to be home and just be still for a while.

We have a shopping day planned and we will go out to lunch.
It is so important to have those one-on-one times.
It always amazes me what gets discussed during those times.
We all need the freedom and the space to be heard.

As I was getting ready for bed, I walked down the hallway to her room.
I saw a light but it was not the bright light I am used to.
Look what I did, Mom, she said as she motioned me into her room.
Remember those lights that I bought for the study room on the floor?

They look wonderful, I said admiring them.
She wanted little white lights for her dorm room.
She found two types: one she bought for her dorm room and the other for the study room.
The ones she planned to put in the study room just didn’t seem to fit the space.

She asked me to bring those little lights home with me.
They were the ones she strung on a shaker peg shelf in her room.
The soft light was warm and welcoming.
She had music on and with the soft glow of the little lights, it was charming.

One little strand of lights.
Even without the main lamp on, her room was lit.
The regular light bulb seemed stark against the glow of the little lights.
The soft light still illuminated the space.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

Did you ever think about your light?
Are you the bright spotlight that shines very noticeably?
Are you the stark light from a light bulb?
Are you the soft glow of a small string of lights strung across the room?

Each gives off light.
Each illuminates.
The amount of light differs but the light shines nonetheless.
The room goes from darkness to light in seconds.

Isn’t that what matters?
Isn’t the illumination of the place the most important thing?
Even if you lit a small match, the darkness would be dispelled.
One does not need a spotlight to see clearly.

In the darkness, any light will do.
As long as it shines.
That is the most important thing to remember.
The light must shine.

Are you shining?
Are you worried that your light may not be as bright as someone else?
Are you concerned that your light is dim and will not shine as adequately?
In the darkness, any light will do.

As long as it shines.
As long as it shines.
Say it again: as long as it shines.
The light must shine.

Don’t worry if your light is dimmer than someone else.
Don’t worry if you are just a string of little white lights casting a soft glow.
Sometimes that soft glow is the sweetest.
Sometimes that soft glow puts a welcome perspective on things.

You don’t have to be a spotlight that everyone notices.
You don’t have to be stark light bulb that lights up every corner.
You have to be you with your unique light.
You have to shine.

I actually prefer the string of small white lights more than an actual lamp.
There was a certain ambiance in the room that wasn’t there before.
The little white lights were not ostentatious.
They were subtle and hardly noticed.

Yet they shined.
Yet they illuminated.
Yet they dispelled the darkness.
And they did it excellently.

The amount of light does not matter.
The degree of brightness is insignificant.
The quiet, unassuming nature of your light will still guide someone who is stumbling.
That the darkness is dispelled is paramount.

One little light and the darkness is eliminated.
One little light makes a difference.
Shine!
The light that only you can give is needed.