Thursday, October 14, 2010

Haba Na Haba

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The leaves are starting to fall from the trees; yesterday, the two oldest were raking them into enormous piles. Will took his time jumping into the huge, crunchy piles, then decided to help by putting leaves into compost bags. His little hands couldn't pick up many leaves at a time, but little by little he filled a huge compost bag to the top with leaves.

Haba Na Haba. I learned this phrase at Collin's choir concert. Little by Little the rain fills the cup. Little by Little.
We are a culture of instant gratification. Little by little isn't part of our mindset. When you think about it, though, the majority of our lives and the lives of those around us happen in just this way: Haba na haba, little by little.

We start out as babies and little by little, over a long time, turn into adults.
We learn little by little, from ABCs to Tolstoy.
Our days come at us little by little, moment by moment.
Little by little we heal from illness or hurts of the past.
We rebuild little by little, until our communities hit by disaster are strong again.
I remember being a child going Trick or Treating with my Unicef collection box. Little by little, those boxes filled with pennies. We'd bring them back to school, where our pennies were counted, and those pennies turned suddenly into hundreds of dollars. All the schools sent their money to Unicef, and magically, that little box that I carried became part of hundreds of thousands of dollars. We were feeding and educating children around the globe, though I'm not sure I quite understood that at the time. Little by little.

What are you putting off because you think that your small part will make no difference? What is your haba na haba? Little by little, the water fills your cup.

16 comments:

Plantress said...

what a great and inspiring post. Little by little the water fills the cup. Lots to think about. Here is my question; why did God make it almost impossible for us to live in the moment? When some danger scares us we can live in the moment for a little while. When a friend dies we remember. Why can't we feel that way all the time? Not scared, but alive to all around us and all the possiblities

Becky Jane said...

I'm hoping that little by little my kind words of love and encouragement will help my 3 struggling sons (men) once again find their way back home...Thanks for your post!

Katiebee said...

erin~ you have such a beautiful way with words~

t does wool said...

yes,inspiring,Erin..UNICEF...how I remember that.I was just talking yesterday about this instant gratification world we live in.

beth said...

your words are so heartfelt and warm and wonderful while being full of questions....

and yes, we really all do want immediate gratification....which is why i'm trying to be more patient....and whoa, it's not easy.

Char said...

it is lovely that shiny penny - picking it up when so many people toss away pennies these days, thinking they are of little value.

mine, the smiles of my nieces and nephews and knowing what beautiful people they will grow into.

ds said...

haba na haba. Words to ponder. Little by little. Beautiful post--I remember carrying a plastic jack-o-lantern like the one in your photo for Halloween!

Thank you for becoming a "regular" at my window...

arwen_tiw said...

Thankyou! What a timely reminder to practice patience with slow progress.

Unknown said...

This is exactly how I need to think while working through the big things in my life. The tasks that seem enormous, overwhelming, 'undoable' are made easier by this very phrase. The french say "peu un peu". Thank you for sharing this beautiful post.

Moon Mommy said...

Don't know why it took so long, but once I hit forty I was able to bask in life's moments. I am acutely aware of so many things, especially how fast the cup is filling.

Beautiful post and photos, Erin. As always.

Anonymous said...

Great post! Thanks for sharing!

Dawn said...

wow ~ what a divine post, so much beauty in the photos and words!

Douglas Dahl said...

Yes, things do come little by little and we can be quite impatient in, as you say, this instant gratification culture. Sometimes though, when we look back, it seems like it came all at once. Odd. Isn't it. Thanks for the post.

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! The first picture of leaves is just sooo amazing!

Myrna R. said...

This was a beautiful post Erin. Little by little so much can be accomplised. My little by little process is, I suppose my entire life. Little by little I hope to elevate myself, to exhaust my potential etc... Writing is one way for me to do this.

Sharon said...

Good reminder. Little by little we succeed. I get impatient with myself: always think I should be doing more and doing it better.

Little by little. This may become my new mantra. Thanks, Erin!

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