The Power of Showing Up

Ninety gallons is a lot of blood.

It’s a weird and gross way to start a conversation but its TRUE! If any of us tried to give that much all at once, we couldn’t do it. It’s physically impossible, but Chris Orr did it. One drop at a time. 

She just became the first woman in Colorado history to donate more than 90 gallons of blood. She’s 72 years old, and according to reports, she started donating back in 1975. She’s gone every two weeks (with a couple of interruptions) for the last 50+ years. 

One donation.

Then another.

Then another.

Over decades, those small donations became something massive.

Reports put her total at more than 700 donations, which is almost hard to wrap your head around. That is not one dramatic moment. That is a lifetime of showing up. 

“So you’re saying its time to donate blood?”

Sure (if you want to), but that’s not my takeaway. I keep thinking about how small things add up. 

We all know its true but we act like it isn;t. We want the big transformation. The big answer. The big breakthrough. The big dream. But most big things don’t arrive big. They start small.

They start with going to the gym on the days you don’t want to.  They start with putting your phone down for ten minutes so you can listen to the person in front of you. They start with reading one chapter.

It’s the part we struggle with.  We want results we can see immediately. We like effort that has a receipt. One and done. 

Most of life doesn’t work that way.

God built this pattern right into nature. Trees don’t start out as trees. They start as tiny seeds. Small enough to hold in your hand. Easy to overlook. Easy to dismiss. With some water, some sunlight, some time, and a lot of days where nothing looks very exciting, that seed becomes something sturdy enough to give shade.

That’s how so much of life works. Big, impressive things start small. If God is willing to start small, we shouldn’t be afraid to follow his lead. 

Pray that prayer. Have that conversation. Show that kindness. Pick up that weight. Take that jog. That habit that feels so insignificant now is a seed you are planting. Each time you choose it, you water it and make it grow. 

Chris Orr didn’t donate 90 gallons of blood because she had one enormous burst of generosity. She did it because she kept showing up. One day at a time. If we keep showing up for the little things the big things will follow.