The Step-by-Step

I've been thinking about something. It's honestly a common thread that the Lord keeps bringing me back to.

He doesn't need me to build what we're building. He wants to build it with me.

I feel so challenged by the idea that my pride even believes I can go build this thing, that I need to go build this thing. In reality, God doesn't need me. He's God.

I think of Lego sets.

If you've ever built Legos, the end product is cool, but the intricacy and attention to detail of the actual build itself is what gets me.

Going page by page, step by step, building the interior of the cockpit of a racing car. Knowing you're about to encapsulate and enclose the entire inside of the car with its shell, and you'll never see it again.

Yet there are details that are laid and included, like the gear shift or stickers on the dashboard, that show the intentionality behind building the final product.

It's not that God doesn't care about what we're building. It's that He cares just as much about what He's building in us along the way.

That's a super cliché thing to say. It's not about the end goal, it's the process, whatever. Insert the Instagram reel-worthy clip there.

But in reality, the best part about building Legos is the slowing down and paying attention to the details.

So often I get going, focusing on the end result. Building my home, building a ministry, investing in friends.

In reality, having a healthy family at the end of it takes step-by-step choices of intentionality along the way.

I'm thankful for the step-by-steps.

Bonus: The TYJ List

I do this thing called a TYJ list. A Thank You Jesus list.

It helps me center myself in gratitude, being thankful for every step along the way to the end goal.

I often find myself not actually being thankful along the way.

I should say, I am thankful for the finished product. But I am far more thankful when, along the way, I've been thanking God for each individual step, as opposed to waiting to thank Him when it was finally done.