Baby Steps
Many people cannot stand the idea of “goal setting." I have a friend that never sets goals because she said “I have felt like a total failure with goal setting. It's like I set myself up to fail.” Oh, my heart went out to her. I do not believe that goal setting is to lead us to feelings of failure but instead to set a path before us. It can be used as an avenue of accountability, guidance or motivation. My friend has decided that she prefers the idea of “well formed outcomes” instead. I like that too! In either case, the Lord says in Proverbs 29:18 that a man without a vision shall perish. Basically “if you don't know where you are going then how will you know whenever you get there?”
Well…can I please talk to you about the power of “baby steps” in my life? This has been a game changer for me. Often times I dream big "God-sized" thoughts like having a great marriage till death do us part or like raising a God-fearing close-knit family… not to mention homeschooling our 4 children. You know…"God-sized" thoughts. What has helped me tremendously is the idea of eating that elephant just one bite at a time. Just do THE NEXT RIGHT THING! In the next 12 hours…do all the right and righteous things. Feed the dog, love the husband, feed the children, call your momma. Simple BABY STEPS! God says (Luke 16:10) that when we are faithful with the little things, that we can be trusted with much. All we have to do is a bunch of “little faithful things” consistently across our lives to end up with MUCH?!?!?! What a freeing idea. Not too overwhelming and very doable!!!
So today…if you are not interested in setting giant goals but you are interested in “well-formed” outcomes, may I invite you to embrace this simple idea of “BABY STEPS?" One of my new goals is to read through the Chronological Bible in one year. But today, I just read my Bible portion. I can't wrap my mind around eating the entire elephant but I can just read my assigned Bible portion for this day. And if I don’t even get that done, I give myself GRACE roll up my sleeves and start again tomorrow!
I invite you to join me! Big dreams starting with baby steps. Yes, we can take each day, each hour with anticipation for great things!
~Roxanne Parks
