Series of First Steps

I have been thinking quite a bit about our time here and the feedback we get. I do often here things like "I don't know if I could do that!" or "You are one of the few families I know who could have done this" or even "How did you do this?" At this point in the process I don't know if I could give a complete answer, but recently I have been thinking about the start of this whole journey.

About a year and a half ago Joy and I, independently and then together, heard God say "Go". We didn't know where he was telling us to go, but we knew he was saying "Go". On this occassion, we felt we needed to listen. So what did we do, we took the first step and we said "We are going". This was months before a country or destintation had been chosen. God had said something and we decided to listen. We took the First Step. We decided in our hearts to take the first step of obedience and everything since really has been a roller coaster that I don't think any of us will understand for years to come if ever.

Now regretfully I can say on other occassions I have felt God leading me to do many things throughout my life and many times I have ignored that urging. I failed to take that first step. Maybe the step seemed to big, maybe too impractical, maybe it just wasn't convenient at that time or I was really too busy in life to give it a second thought. I hate now to think of all of the things I missed out on by not taking those first steps.

I really think life with God is just a series of first steps. We either take them or we don't. We here Him speak and we say "Yes" or we say "No". It really is all about the first step. Often when we take it, the rest of that journey is a roller coaster ride of seeing God work in our lives and the world around us. Taking one first step often leads to being presented with another and then another first step. As long as we continue to take that first step, the question of whether we will continue to take it in life becomes less and less in doubt. We begin to learn to wait on God for direction for every step. I dare say this leads to a beautiful dance. A practice in faith where we the bride are led around the dance floor quite gracefully by our incredible dance partner. Following God we are allowed to take part in something so exquisite that reflecting upon it simply blows our mind.

I want to be a man of first steps.