When I place too many demands on myself, I slip into self-preservation mode and forget that God is the supplier of all my needs--nothing humble about that scenerio.

I'll be making some changes to my website over the next month, a process that has prompted me to review other websites to see what's out there--design-wise. This morning I visited the website of a woman who has been writing and speaking for over ten years. All I can say is, "Wow." My admiration quickly turned into narcissistic despair. Will I evolve like that? Do I have what it takes to do what she does? Will I ever be polished enough to speak in large venues?

A girl can only take so much of herself during moments like that, so off to the gym I went to take a step class. To appreciate why exercise would cheer me up, you need to know that I taught advanced aerobics for over ten years. So the odds were good that my self-confidence would be restored in less than one hour.   

The instructor introduced a combination with a lot of turns: 180's and pop-turns; all very confusing if you don't know the terminology. I found myslef holding back because I didn't want to make a mistake.

And then God ministered to me by prompting the instructor to yell, "Don't over-think it! Stop taking small steps with no energy because you're afraid of messing up. Take big steps with passion and don't be afraid. Besides, we learn more from the bigger mistakes and we're less likely to repeat them."

Thank you, Jesus. And forgive me, for forgetting that it's You who  empowers me to do new things and to take big steps with passion. The fact that I burned over 400 calories for the reminder is icing on the cake!

How about you? Are you facing new opportunities? Afraid that you're not good enough? Let's ask God to ready our hearts as we step out in faith and trust Him with the outcome. 

"A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps." (or in this case, her steps) Proverbs 16:9 NKJV