Leaf on Water

Leaf on Water photo by Marcia Lee Laycock

by Marcia Lee Laycock

I thought it might be the last day in which to enjoy our beautiful autumn so I took my camera and went for a walk. The sun was still high, making the trees glow as they shivered in a cool breeze. A single yellow leaf floated down from a poplar tree leaning out over the pond. Landing on the still water, it created a slight ripple. It was more like a tremor, really, that shimmered and radiated out across the pond. Such a small thing, I thought, yet it created a still moment, a focus of beauty caught by my camera that triggered thoughts which carried me on for the rest of the afternoon.

I’ve recently made the decision to launch my own publishing company, Small Pond Press. As the name indicates, this will not be a grand effort. The company will mostly publish my own work and the work of other devotional writers I will mentor in the future. But I have no doubt it will, in its own way, cause a tremor. It will publish, Lord willing, words that are a focus of beauty, words that will create still moments, moments that will carry readers into new streams of thought, new perspectives, perhaps even new awakenings.

I love what the great artist Vincent Van Gogh said – “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

I like to remember that when I feel that my writing career, my body of work, has been too small to have any affect at all. And I remember what Mother Teresa once said – “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”

Jesus continually asked His disciples to do small things: “Let down the nets for a catch,” He said in Luke 5:4 and His sovereignty over all things was revealed. “Take and eat ... Drink,” He urged them in Matthew 26:26 & 27 and they learned what dying to self was all about. “Give them something to eat,” He commanded in Matthew 14:16 and showed them a generosity of provision that was astonishing. “Wash in the pool,” He directed in John 9:7 and revealed the depth of His compassion. Such small, ordinary actions. Such wide-reaching ripples when they were obeyed and executed in love.

Has God placed you in a small pond? Has He given you seemingly insignificant things to do, to say, to write? Do you wonder if what you are doing has any significance at all?

Remember His words to the prophet Zechariah - “Do not despise these small beginnings,” He told the prophet, “for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin” (Zechariah 4:10).

Small things done in obedience, in love, leaving tremors that may very well create ripples that will never end. Like a yellow leaf landing on still water. 
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Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone. The sequel, A Tumbled Stone was short listed in The Word Awards. Marcia also has two devotional books in print and has contributed to several anthologies including the Hot Apple Cider books. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan.

The ebook  Abundant Rain, a devotional for writers of faith, can be downloaded here in all formats. 

It is also now in Journal format on Amazon. 

Visit Marcia’s Website

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A Silent Voice in a Small Box

In his article, Rock in the Rain in Servant Magazine, Philip Yancey mentions the elections in Ukraine after the Soviet Union fell apart. 


He details how Victor Yushchenko opposed the standing regime, was poisoned and almost killed for his efforts. Undaunted he recovered and stayed in the race for the presidency. On election day he had a clear lead but through “outright fraud” the government reversed the results and declared him defeated.

But they had forgotten about a small detail on their national television broadcast – a small screen that appeared in the corner, providing translation for the hearing impaired. The translator, the woman who appeared in that small box, signed a very different message than the one the government wanted heard. Her communication, the truth that Mr. Yushchenko was indeed their new president, launched the “Orange Revolution” that eventually toppled the government and established him as leader of the country.

Mr. Yancey likens that small box in the corner of the big screen to the church. I would liken it to communicators of faith, including writers like you and me. In the midst of the barrage of lies that scream at us all continually, we are small, we are barely audible at times; yet, because we are speaking truth we are working for God’s kingdom and eventually it will prevail.

All it took in that time of deceit and tragedy in the Ukraine, was for one person to have the courage to do what she could to get the truth out there. God did the rest. We may be small. We may be almost unheard. But God will use our voices to accomplish His purposes.

Keep signing from your small box. You never know who might see, who might hear, who might respond.

"Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. " Zech. 4:10

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Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone and also has two devotional books in print. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan. The sequel to One Smooth Stone will be released in 2011Visit her website at www.vinemarc.com 

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