GC: Go just one step at a time…for one step at a time is the best way to cultivate Faith.
At work, I make a list of all that is expected of me to do for the night. As it is accomplished, I cross it off the list. But as my shift gets closer and closer to its end, I begin to panic. My stomach knots up and I sweat, because time is against me. With an hour left on my shift, there is always 4 or 5 things left to do. “I can’t do this! There is no way! A sucky job that I suck at!”
It’s weird. If I have prayed before working, prayed for integrity and His work ethic, (“I know Lord that this work sucks and its beneath You, but do You want to help me?”) I always finish everything on the list, though I still consistently panic.
But if I have hurried to work, if I have not taken the time to pray for His help and His presence, then almost immediately panic sets in while eyeballing the list, and the negative self-talk begins. Those are the nights that work is torturous, less so when I realize what is missing and stop to talk to Him.
When it comes to work at home, the pace is different. I’ve prayed in the quiet morning light. I have spent hours reading and journaling. I have sipped through three or four cups of coffee. And there is a peace beyond my understanding all around me.
Then…
I write out my to-do list on a whiteboard, that long list of chores which includes exercising, bringing up wood for the woodstove upstairs, laundry (mine and theirs), dishes, cooking up my lunch and dinner, picking up the kids from school, trash, watering the plants, going to the pool with the youngest, going to the library with the oldest, writing, reading…the normal to-do list. And groceries. banking, getting ready for work…
My list…your list…we all have one…or many…
Sometimes I get a really late start…
But I always do completely one task at a time even if that completed task takes hours, like the laundry or escapades with the kids. And I don’t seem to stress over the unexpected interruptions like the pipes freezing or the car breaking down. When I have spent tat time with Him first thing in the morning, taking life in stride one step at a time seems natural.
I cross off each chore as it is finished…sometimes I just add little do-nothing chores so I get to cross off something to make me feel like I have done something productive.
But at the end of the day, when 5pm hits (the magic hour when I have had enough of running around ) I just stop.
“If you ask me something right now I’m going to lose it and I don’t want to be angry with you…but it’s five o’clock.”
“But it’s battle time!”
“You said you’d watch me play Roblox.”
All I have to do is clear my throat and the kids disappear…lol
I sit.
I sip another coffee and look at the scribbled half finished list.
And I am at peace.
I think it is because the mood was set by God Himself when I spent the time with Him in the morning. He knew what I would expect of myself to get done. He knew what the results would be. He knew what hiccups would occur.
Though it is a chore list, it is a walk in faith, one step at a time, one chore at a time, with Him.