One Bite at a Time

I took a minute the other day to look at my garage. What a disaster! Dark and dirty, stuff piled everywhere. Could I even find something if I needed to? What was that stuff on that shelf back there I couldn’t get to?

I know; it’s January. Time to shape up and get organized!

But it looks too hard for me.

What is it in me that makes me want to give up before I have even started?

Faced with this seeming overwhelming task, I am reminded of the old saying: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. But how to start? How do I take that first bite?

I am fascinated by the space between idea and action. For some people, this space is large and extended; for others, it seems almost non-existent. This space is the home of intentions; and intentions can be messy. Intentions elevate manslaughter to murder, and recklessness to bravery. Sometimes bad intentions hide in kind acts. Sometimes, a lack of action negates good intentions. Are your intentions honorable? Are mine?

For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. Matthew 12:34-35

For now, I intend to make my garage an inviting space. One bite at a time.

So on Day One, I spent an hour in the attic. It’s a walk up attic; very handy, but everything gets piled at the top of the stairs, and the back half of the attic is almost empty.

If I was going to save some of this garage stuff in the attic, I needed to make room!

It amazes me what an old lady like me can accomplish in an hour! It’s encouraging. That elephant is tasty!

On Day Two, I actually began moving things to the attic; mostly things I had taken out of the attic and not returned. I intentionally did not put them at the top of the stairs. The picture above is after day two; only to say that it had been worse! I am not turning this into a garage blog, but I’ll keep you posted!

This little success has encouraged me. The untilled garden space in the backyard looks like another elephant, especially since last year’s garden was such a failure. Perhaps my intentions were askew last year. I was more interested in writing about my garden than actually growing food. I was more interested in your approval than God’s.

One bite at a time; one day at a time. The garden, the garage, spiritual growth, life.

God does not ask us to solve all the problems of the world. God does not ask us to perform herculean tasks. God asks us to search our intentions, our heart, and take the first bite.

They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat? And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Mark 6:37-38

Not enough to feed five thousand or more. Not an obvious solution. Just one first step, good intentions and faith in Jesus.

Wherever you are, whatever you are facing, whatever elephant stares back at you, even if it’s as seemingly insignificant as a messy garage, you can trust God to help you face it, tackle it and conquer it.

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37

Betsy