There are plenty of things my parents taught me growing up. Some went in one ear and out the other while others took up deep roots. Recently, I’ve thought a lot about one piece of advice my dad gave me several years ago.
As a 19 year old, I was preparing to move overseas alone and the magnitude of what I signed up for hit me hard one night. I remember feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders and there was no way I could ever do what I committed to doing. I began to panic. My dad, as calm as ever, looked at me and asked “How do you eat an elephant?” I couldn’t fathom why my loving father would be telling me a joke when I was that visibly upset. Before I could snap back a snarky response he finished, “One bite at a time.”
Flash forward to today- sitting in my car weeping after a very unsuccessful attempt to find a hiking backpack for the World Race. I held in my hands a binder full of lists, deadlines, and documents and thought about everything that has to be accomplished in the next 5 months. Allergy testing, immunizations, training, blogging, thank you notes, finding my gear, meetings with my mentor, and huge fundraising goals. I sat there in my car and cried. Then I remembered what my dad taught me.
When looking at the World Race as a whole, it is overwhelming. I have no problem admitting that I am terrified. I’ve taken many leaps of faith in my life. I’ve followed God to some pretty crazy places. But dedicating a year of my life to living out of a backpack while I wander around the most unreached parts of the world sharing the gospel… That is a jump that doesn’t seem possible.
A leap of faith is never as quick and instantaneous as jumping off an actual cliff though. Having faith in what God calls you to is a process. It’s a series of obedient steps more than an actual jump. It’s choosing every day to do a little bit more. To keep pushing on that mountain even though it doesn’t seem moveable.
It would be so easy right now to just stop and be paralyzed by fear. But in the wise words of my first crush, John Wayne, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”
Today I’m choosing to saddle up. To keep pushing on this mountain. And to eat this elephant one bite at a time.
*No elephants were harmed in the making of this post*
