Taking the Next Step

I’ve determined what I believe is God’s purpose for my life. But without a plan to make it happen, I’m stuck right here. I feel like I’ve been stuck for a while now, with a broad idea of the kinds of things I want to do but no idea of how to make them happen. I know from experience that when I look only at the big picture, I feel inspired and excited—but also terribly overwhelmed. So overwhelmed that it overshadows my inspiration and excitement, I’m overcome by fear and discouragement, and I end up getting complacent and doing nothing.

As someone who likes to plan and set goals, I know that I have to take things one step at a time. In order to make my vision a reality, I need to make goals. To review, here is the mission statement I came up with: I want to live out love and mercy toward people who are hurting and struggling, encouraging and helping them in the ways they need it most, in order to help them through their circumstances and into a better place. At the same time I want them to be able to see and feel God’s love, mercy, and grace through me, and be drawn closer to him. And I want to encourage and empower others to do the same.

So what do I need to accomplish to move from where I am now to where I want to be? Obviously there are a lot of goals and steps toward those goals, and I won't go into all of them here. I don't even know what they all are yet! But this is where I will start...

I will get my priorities in order, and one of the top priorities is organizing our local missions at church. This is something I volunteered to take over, but I’ve let a lot of things get in the way and I’ve lost focus, and as a result it isn’t anywhere even remotely close to what I envision.

I have already taken a few steps toward this goal. I have put together some information regarding food donations for The Caring Place, and basic info about The Caring Place and Habitat for Humanity, and I also have a comprehensive list of food assistance ministries/organizations in our area. The next step is to put together a local missions table that is specifically for that information and for talking to people about opportunities to get involved in our community. I'm also working on getting a comprehensive list of resources and organizations that address other areas of need in the community. I want to free myself up to be at the table on Sunday mornings to talk with people; however, I do not plan to have the table completely up and running until around the beginning of January. The baby will be born any time now, and I want to be sure I've given myself time to rest and recover before I commit myself to something every Sunday morning.

There are plenty of steps beyond this; I can think of several more off the top of my head. But I have to start somewhere, and this is where I'm starting. Once this step is taken care of, I'll move on to the next step. I'm excited! :)