Corners of a blanket

This is my first post, and your expectations are probably high. If this were an opening scene to a play or a movie you would want it to be captivating, something that would grab the audience's attention to keep watching or in this case, keep reading. I could have and probably should have started this post with a vivid humorous story with a great climax and a sweet sounding ending. Just hearing the sound of that makes perfect sense and makes me want to clear the page and start over. There’s an inherent pressure when you decide to start something new. At times it can feel paralyzing to take that first step…and then procrastination kicks in. If I’m honest, at times I haven’t believed that my thoughts are worth sharing. Doubt creeps in and threatens to steal what is most precious, our time. Doubts have a way of stalking into the corners of our mind and steering the ship of your thoughts ever so slightly. 

The bible paints a picture of waves on a sea that is controlled by the wind, and compares it to a doubtful person (James 1:6). I think it would be fair to say that we all experience moments of doubt from time to time. But the thing is, doubt creates a home in our minds for insecurity to live. Sometimes the only way to overcome doubt is to take action into that very thing that you are scared to start. Maybe you’ve heard that phrase “Do it scared”. Yeah, it’s not particularly my favorite phrase either, but I have to say, it is valid. There are times that we will have to step into places that no one we know has ever been and it can be scary. 

But, by taking the plunge into the waters of newness, someone else’s life could be altered. By “doing it scared” you change the story of those around you and after you. Because here’s the thing, we are all puzzle pieces of this huge masterpiece called humanity, and if you’ve ever done a puzzle, you know that sometimes it takes putting one piece in place to see where the others belong. And by overcoming doubt, you and I  have the potential to bring light into someone else's darkness and offer them a place of belonging. You see, it’s not doubts’ absence that allows you to start. It’s the very realization that doubt can still exist in the moments you decide to take action. When my son Elijah was learning to walk, I could tell it was a bit terrifying for him. I helped him by holding one corner of a small blanket and giving him the other corner of the blanket. The blanket was really an illusion of safety, but it gave him the confidence he needed to finally take his first steps. Here’s the best thing though, God doesn’t give us an illusion of safety. We are actually the most safe we could ever be since He is the one holding the whole universe in place. It may sound corny, or too big to comprehend, but it is pure fact and truth. You are safe to take those first few steps. So, I hope you take the other corner of this “blanket” and let it offer you the confidence to start. Start the health journey, start the business, start the blog, start the therapy sessions, start whatever you know has been a long time coming for you. It doesn’t have to look or sound pretty, it doesn’t even have to be big. As a matter of fact the bible says “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…”(Zechariah 4:10). After all, some of the biggest things in life start with small beginnings. And if you think about it, life itself is made up of many small beginnings. You, my friend, are witnessing firsthand my own small beginning. Maybe like myself you expect the beginning of something to look or sound differently than it does, but isn't that just like life? It’s never what you thought it would be, but in the end, it turns out to be just what you needed.