How To Eat an Elephant

I have to admit I'm not very good at tackling those bigger jobs on my to-do list in manageable 24 hour increments. Actually, I take that back. I'm terrible at it! My whole life I've avoided the baby steps approach and have catapulted, long-jump style, into the big picture post haste.

It's gotten me into a LOT of trouble.

Being a visionary, which only my mind convinces me I am, means I am much too prone to focus on the ends without fully considering the means.

That also gets me into trouble.

I am willing, at the drop of a hat, to dive into some huge undertaking without always thinking it through, counting the cost, etc., etc., etc. In my defense, I'm a 'leaper" not a "looker."

I suppose I ended up this way simply because thinking too much about a project can derail the whole thing for me, and that's the last thing I want to do. I flounder in the weeds of scope and magnitude. I mean, if I were to calculate the man hours, the cost, the toll on my body when all is said and done... I'd abandon most ideas before they ever got started!

What fun is there in that, I ask you?!

Take, for instance, our latest project. We are painting the Casita. "It'll be a snap." "It's gonna be so cute!" "I'm thinking...six weeks, max!!" "I've already got all the Home Depot gift cards I need for the supplies."

This. This right here is a perfect example of leaping, just so you know.

This drives my poor husband nuts. He's definitely a "looker." I think God brought us together just for a little extra entertainment every once in a while. See, us "leapers" tend to get in over our heads which requires those steady, calculated "lookers" in our lives to bail us out, and Tom has bailed a-plenty!!

For all my "big picture" diving and leaping talk however, you still can't eat an elephant but one bite at a time. Just as a vision can be squelched by too much analysis, so can a vision be thwarted by not nearly enough. Mammoth projects... "in it for the long haul" projects... need to be broken down into those proverbial baby steps if one wishes to succeed.

I have met my nemesis.

Problems will inevitably surface. There will be set-backs. Speaking of the Casita, we've already discovered some rotted window sills and rusted gutters I was not anticipating. Those will be taking a healthy bite out of my "six weeks max" timeline and my Home Depot budget. Will it still be worth it? You bet!! This is our home, a home we've come to love and enjoy. Whatever we do here will always be worth it for the pleasure and protection it offers us in return.

This painting project, though, is nothing compared to the more important things in life that require extreme amounts of patience and commitment... and, yes, even sacrifice. Completing an education, cultivating a marriage, raising children, ministering to aging parents... these are all worthwhile endeavors that require both looking and leaping. You can't broad jump your way through any of these. You must take things one day at a time, one step at a time, to see the grand design emerge.

Anything worthwhile in life -and there is SO MUCH that is- is worth the time, energy, and resources to do well. We mustn't let the cost of such treasure deter us from the "treasure" we receive by sacrificing the cost.

So, now I'm off to trade my fork for a paintbrush and my elephant for a sweet, little house. I still give thanks to God for making me a "leaper"... and for for blessing me with the best ever "looker" to keep me in check!

I wouldn't want it any other way.