First step gets you to the door, second step gets you through it.
(Picture by Lisa R.)

So today I had this thought. “The first step is scary. But the second step gets you through the door.” I am not sure where the thought came from (well that’s not 100% true. Duh, God), but it has permeated my day invading my thoughts. I have accomplished a lot more in the last three weeks than I have in most of my adult life. I let go of my past and took the step necessary to grab a hold of my future. That’s quite an accomplishment, that is not to say that where I came from was bad. On the contrary I left a great job, great patients, and great friends to embark on a journey to find God’s “best” and not just live in “great”. Now that I have made the first step, moving. It is time for the second step, acclimating. The culture in Western, NY is a lot different from South Florida. For example last night I left my house at midnight to run out and get something. I was shocked to find that there was no one on the road. WEIRD!!!! I mean that literally NO ONE was on the road, just me (this makes me wonder why they have 24 hour anything here). Midnight in Florida the roads would still have tons of cars, and not from people going home, but from people going out. Clearly this part of New York is the part that does sleep, a lot. As I have been thinking about the things I miss the most, ie., my church home, my hairdresser, and my friends. It dawned on me that those are things God wants to give me here as well. Granted they won’t be a replica of what I left behind, but they will be exactly what I need for this leg of the journey. How do I get them? Take the next step. Step one gets us to the destination, but it is the second step that gets us through the door. This is not just true of life, but of our walk with God as well. Many times we’re comfortable with the first step, asking God for help. But it is the second step, doing what He says that tends to give us pause. Life is about the journey, that’s true. But journeys are meant to bring us to a destination. Don’t just take the first step, take the second as well. Don’t just arrive, thrive.

“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:1).

Lesson: The second step is just as important as the first. The first gets you to the door, the second gets you through it.