Tiny Wheels and Open Doors

“Whoever is faithful in very little things is faithful in big things too.” — from Luke 16

For many years Betsie helped Papa in the shop, and Corrie did the cooking and cleaning. Then, around 1920, Betsie was ill for a while, and the sisters swapped jobs. Betsie found that she loved making the house cosy and beautiful. Corrie found that she loved the shop, and most of all the workbench.

Papa taught Corrie to mend watches, and she went all the way to Switzerland, the land of watchmakers, to learn more. A watch is full of tiny parts: springs as thin as a hair, and screws so small that you need tweezers and a magnifying glass to hold them. One speck of dust can stop the whole watch! Corrie learned to work slowly, carefully and patiently. In 1924, the museum in Haarlem says, she became the first woman in the Netherlands to qualify as a watchmaker.

Corrie had lots of energy, and she used it for others. She started clubs for girls, with sport, music, crafts, camps and Bible study. The clubs had a triangle as their badge. Its three sides stood for body, soul and spirit, because God cares about every part of us.

She also held special classes about Jesus for people with learning disabilities. In those days many people thought that they could not understand the good news, and kept them out of sight. Corrie did not agree. She taught them patiently, and helped them get ready to join the church.

The ten Booms took in children who needed a home, too. Some of them were the children of missionaries working far away. The narrow house squeezed them in, and they became part of the family.

None of this was famous. But Jesus says that whoever is faithful in little things will be faithful in big things too. The small jobs you do carefully, and the kindness you show to people others forget, matter very much to God.

Dear God, help me to do even small jobs carefully and well. Help me to notice the people others forget, and to be kind to them. Amen.