Posted in Words of Wisdom

I'm a little obsessive-compulsive, I think. I don't want to do something unless I can do it all at once, do it thoroughly, and do it perfectly. Maybe that's merely perfectionism. Whatever it is, I find its often more of a hindrance than a blessing. So many things go un-done in my life because I know I don't have the time to be thorough or because I start it and its not perfect so I give up on it. The Lord taught me something last year that is changing the way I think:

Start where you are.

See, I had this idea that I wanted to write a meal plan. I wanted to plan breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and evening snack for every day of the week. I wanted a plan that would give us a different dinner every day for 28 days straight. The idea being that I would save time making my grocery list because I would know what I needed for meals all week. I would also save myself the aggrevation of standing in front of the cupboards or refrigerator thinking, "Hmm, what should I make today?" And I would save my family the monotony of eating the same 4 meals for dinner over and over again.

There was one limitation preventing me from completing this meal plan, though. At the same time, I wanted to change our eating habits. So I wanted to include 28 dinner meals that were healthier and more nutritious than those that I usually made. This would mean taking the time to peruse websites and recipe books looking for new meals. I didn't have the time for that so I didn't make the meal plan.

At some point, I decided to ask the Lord to help me get this done and He spoke to my heart the words, "Start where you are." In other words, make the meal plan with meals I already knew how to cook. I would surely still benefit from it. Then I could look for new recipes at my leisure and slowly make replacements in my meal plan. This was much more do-able. I was so encouraged!

I made my meal plan last summer. I have made a few substitutions. I don't always follow it, but when I do it saves me a lot of time and aggravation. My latest project is working on self-discipline so I can stick to my schedule and meal plan.

Do you have a project you've been putting off? Or a project that seems completely overwhelming? Start where you are. What can you do now that will bring you one step closer to getting it all done? Think in baby steps. Think about the do-able, not the impossible.

~Layla