Children were everywhere, laughing and playing. It was my daughter’s first day in the preschool class at church. Another milestone. I fought tears as I watched her timidly join the chaos.

Get a grip on yourself! I took a deep breath and scratched her name in black marker on her bag of oatmeal cookies. It’s not like you’re sending her to college. This is Sunday school, for heaven’s sake!

As a parent, I understand that my primary purpose is to train my children to be independent, properly functioning adults. But sometimes it’s hard to let go.

On Sunday, it was hard to let go.

When I picked up my daughter an hour later, she clung to me like I had been gone for a month.

“How was class?” I asked.

She laid her head on my shoulder and didn’t reply.

“What did you do today?”

“Nuffin.” She put her thumb in her mouth. It had been an adjustment for her too.

“Did you do a craft?”

She pulled her thumb out and looked at me. “No. My teacher asked me if I wanted to colour but I said no. I didn’t want to colour. I fell on the carpet and got boo-boos. Jesus prayed wif me to heal the boo-boos on my knees.”

“Oh, you mean your teacher prayed with you, right?”

“No,” she replied. “Jesus prayed wif me.”

Obviously it was one of the teachers who prayed with her. Regardless, the fact is that someone took a few seconds away from the 24 other children in the class – for her. She was just one little girl in a crowd of kids, but someone took time for her.

As a mom, that means more than words can say.

Sometimes we get caught up in the idea of doing something big with our lives. But what if it’s the little things that matter most? Taking the time to care for someone – isn’t that what the bigger things are made of?

My daughter does not remember the lesson that the teacher taught on Sunday. But she does remember that someone took time for her when she needed it.

Who needs your time today?