One Step at a Time

Ever started something before you had any idea where it was going or how you were going to finish?

Unfortunately, I do it all the time. In fact, I like to joke that I would never start most projects if I knew how hard the project would actually be and how long it would realistically take. But since I just keep leaping before I look, I’ve got to say, we’ve conquered a lot of projects that way.

But this week, Matt and I tackled a project in one of the strangest ways possible, and as soon as I took a step backward from our strange little project, I realized that it was more than just a leap of faith. It was the first step to a spiritual picture.

And this time, it was all on Matt.

Three years ago, we moved our family into a beautiful two-story home with a binder full of dreams for renovating each room and a limited budget to do it. We had some immediate projects that demanded our attention like replacing our washer and dryer that had broken in storage, re-carpeting the forest green carpet in our master, replacing broken fixures in the house, and a full internal paint job.

But one of the things we dreamed of doing was pulling up the filthy carpet on the stairs. I think we priced the project before we ever moved in, but there were just so many other things needing our attention.

And, as it turns out, there will always be so many other things pulling at our attention. So two days ago, Matt texted me a picture while I was out grocery shopping that thrilled my adventurous heart and shocked me at the same time. After all, usually he’s the voice of reason in my crazy schemes. But this time, he was so sick of the carpet, he leaped.

With one stair.

Yup.

We still can’t do all of them right now, so we just started with one. Matt was really hoping there was some kind of real wood tread underneath when he pulled up the carpet, but it was all icky plywood.

So here we are, renovating our house one step at a time. We bought one stair tread, sanded it, stained it, sealed it with polyurethane. But every time I think about our one step or look at it, I feel this burst of excitement and this thing in my spirit that says, “That’s it. That’s the picture.”

And here’s what I think God is saying. Sometimes we can’t do the thing that we want to do all at once in our lives. And sometimes that keeps us from ever starting or eternally waiting until everything else comes together. Only it never does.

Sometimes the key between someday and soon is being willing to live with a little mess and the uncertainty of only knowing the future one step at a time.

Sometimes, it’s only when we begin that we find a way to see the ending.

Is there a dream in your heart you’ve been putting off for someday? Maybe you’re waiting for your finances to all be perfect, or that you’ll start when you lose weight, or when you figure it all out, or when you finally get married, or when your kids are potty trained, or when they leave the house… the list goes on and on. What I want to challenge you with today is—what’s the next step towards your dream? Just one step.

Pull the carpet off of one and see what hidden fear is lurking underneath. You may be surprised by real wood, or you may just be so thrilled to have begun that you end up doing two steps.

Whatever it is in your heart, take the next step and quit looking for it to happen all at once. Because life rarely happens like it does on HGTV. It happens in pieces. Children grow in increments, love flourishes in the little things, dreams are realized in small begins, and sometimes houses are only renovated one step at a time.