Day Thirty-Six

WORK IN PIECES

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

—PROVERBS 21:5 ESV

When I was teaching elementary school, I wasn’t dreaming of writing books. I could barely imagine writing out the story of how I wanted to tell stories! Then I started a blog that took courage every day to write.

I worked on that piece of my puzzle.

Then I wrote a Bible study for a group of high school girls who came over to my house on Monday nights.

That was the next piece.

Then those printed-out lessons became Perfectly Unique, a book read by thousands of girls around the world. And then came my next book, Speak Love. And then Let’s All Be Brave. And then Looking for Lovely . . . and then whichever one comes after this one (that I promise won’t start with an L).

In order to get to each of those pieces, I had to be brave enough to work where I was. Even if I could dream bigger or wish for a different situation, I knew the thing to do was write and speak right where I was, to be brave in the spot God had placed me.

And now we are here. You and I. And we are fighting against fear.

So what should you do today?

Do what’s right in front of you.

Do what’s right in front of you.

If your dream is to someday be the president of your company, don’t show up late to work every day now as an employee. Do your best today, in whatever spot or position you’re in. That will take you to the next piece.

Just like today’s verse says, good planning and hard work lead to prosperity. If you want to enjoy the fruit of working out of your calling, put in the hard work right where you are today. Work in pieces.

BE BRAVE: Looking at your life today, what’s one piece of your calling you can see on display?