The next in our series of Lent Devotions comes from Isobel Kerr, Habitat ReStore Ballymena's Store Manager.
During the recent cold snap, when snow forced schools to close, I received the now-familiar text message from my daughter’s primary school: Closed tomorrow due to weather conditions. As you can imagine, this was met with great excitement by all the children—my daughter included.
On her “snow day,” she spent the day with my father, who had recently been unwell and hospitalized and was now recovering at home. Most of the day was happily spent outside in our village, playing in the snow with her friends. It couldn’t have been more perfect—until a van arrived, and out stepped a BBC reporter and camera crew.
They had chosen Cullybackey as one of their locations for the day’s news bulletin and wanted to film and interview local children about their experiences in the snow. The excitement was overwhelming. She was going to be on TV—interviewed, no less! She could hardly believe it.
But then came the condition: the reporter needed consent from a parent or guardian.
Her friends quickly ran home to fetch a Mum, Dad, Granny, or Granda. But her Granda was unwell, still recovering, and it was far too icy for him to risk coming outside. In that moment, despite how much she wanted to be part of it, she knew deep down what the right thing to do was.
She chose to step aside.
She sacrificed her own happiness and excitement because she knew it would be too much to ask of her Granda. When I came home from work later that day, I was greeted with tears as she told me what had happened. She was disappointed—but she also knew she had done the right thing.
In the grand story of faith, her sacrifice may seem small compared to the greatest sacrifice of all that Jesus made for us on the cross. Yet it reminded me of the words of Oscar Romero: “We cannot do great things—only small things with great love.”
Every day in ReStore, I see people doing small things with great love. Donors giving what they can. Volunteers giving their time, like the older volunteer patiently explaining a task to a younger volunteer. Shoppers supporting our mission. Staff serving with kindness and commitment.
Praying for our work, shopping in ReStore, donating items, or volunteering your time may seem like small actions—but when they are done with great love, they become great things.
May this Lent be a time when we all learn again that love, offered in simple ways, has the power to build hope, dignity, and homes.
