I’m getting my license next week. (To drive, not to kill as a friend teased.) And for a long time, yellow lights stumped me. What exactly do they mean? As a kid, I thought green meant go, red meant stop, and yellow meant go slow.
“Go” and “stop” are both pretty clear. I’ve been asking God for some green or red lights in my life lately, but instead, I’m getting yellow, which is . . . well, what does it mean exactly? When you’re driving, a lot of times it means “prepare to stop.” But other times, it means speed-up-or-you’re-going-to-get-hit.
Also, what exactly is the miles-per-hour speed of slow? Anyone?
A mentor of mine recently told me not to think of it in terms of speed, but rather in terms of steps. Her words made sense to me. One step at a time. One conversation at a time. One business training at a time. One inside joke at a time. One day at a time. She was talking about investing in relationships.
Another mentor of mine was sharing a similar lesson yesterday in the context of outreach ministry. Planning ahead is really important, and planning is part of knowing what small step to take next. But we also can’t do everything right now, today, overnight. Each day has enough worries of its own. (See Matthew 6:34) In her book Fiercehearted, Holley Gerth described opening a door with your hands full. To open the door, we might have to put some stuff down and pick it up later, once we’ve stepped out into the morning sun and the way is clear.
Over in the Author Conservatory, Brett Harris and Jaquelle Farris are taking their intensive students and teaching us how to slow down. Helping us step back and go through the basics. Like The Karate Kid, “wax on, wax off” is being ingrained in us so that when the time comes to jump into the chaos of book publishing, we’re prepared and ready, our muscles and technique firmly, reliably developed. He also frequently tells us something his dad shared with him; that we don’t get it together and go, but that we get it together by going. Going slow still means going.
This time of preparation and small steps is beautiful and precious.
“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?” Zechariah 4:10 (NIV)
It’s tempting to charge ahead, to pick up every single thing that comes our way. Especially if there were times when you couldn’t. Or if there are people who need you (they don’t, they need Jesus).
But dear one, let’s rest. Let’s process. Let’s feel. Let’s think deeply. And let’s stop overthinking so much. We get to remember and learn the foundations. We get to build the foundations before trying to build all the rest of the crazy stuff that everyone sees.
Building foundations is a beautiful time when we get to be led and guided. When we get to wrestle privately, without everyone watching so intently. A friend reminded me recently to enjoy the season. And she was right. This season is good, and even simply delightfully fun. I was so stressed about every single detail and what exactly a yellow light meant that I forgot that I was driving a car alongside some very cool people.
Which is fun.
Brainstorming a new book is fun. Getting closer to friends for the first time is fun. Creatively building a ministry team from scratch is genuinely fun. Doing things that your health didn’t let you do before is fun.
“Don’t be hasty.” -Treebeard
