One Step at a Time

Hi Onesies,

It’s been a while. I hope your year is going well! Mine is…okay? I use the question mark because I’m honestly not sure how I feel right now. Half the time it feels like the world is on fire and other times, I feel this overwhelming sense of peace. Sometimes I feel both on the same day. It’s overwhelming to say the least, but today feels pretty good.

As part of the decor in our house, my roommates and I have a marquee board. Each year, I add a phrase I feel is going to encompass the mood for the upcoming year. I usually go with what’s in my spirit, but this year was hard. Up until the very early hours of the night, I questioned what our phrase should be for 2026. It’s funny because the Lord had already whispered it to me, but I didn’t want to accept it. He said “One Step at a Time.”

Now, in the past, our phrases have been a mixture of humor, inspiration and even sass. We’re “zellenenials,” as the experts call babies born in 1996, so our household is committed to growth, but deeply unserious. Outside of making a great Jordin Sparks joke, “one step at a time,” felt so bland. It felt vague. It made me anxious. The only time we need to take something “one step at time” is if we’re facing a challenge. Twenty- twenty five had already posed a challenge with the shift in political atmosphere and my own personal issues. It felt like I was picking up problems like Ash was catching Pokemon. I honestly couldn’t imagine climbing a steeper mountain. Yet, that’s exactly what was going to happen. In addition to the steep mountain, the wind was about to start blowing and the ice cold wind was going to hit us directly in the face. We would have no option, but to take life “one step at a time.”

So, on December 31st at 11:45pm, I picked up our board and (unironically) added the phrase. Usually, finishing our marquee board makes me excited for the year. This time, I felt nothing. My spirit wasn’t set on it, but I had to roll with it. Midnight was coming! On this present day, April 22nd. I understand, more than ever, why God chose that phrase. One of my roommates was laid off. The combination of tedium and busy-work at my job, makes me want to pull my hair out and the external world seems like it will implode anyday now. It feels like chaos is all around. Most days, if I try to think further than the next couple hours, my body starts to panic. Then, I remember: “Take it one step at a time.”

I’ve said before that I’m not officially a type A person, but I do love data. I love having enough facts to make a good plan, and thus, convince myself I have some control of the outcome. Of course, like time, control is an illusion. If I’ve learned anything post-pandemic, it’s that humans have very little control over the future. All we can do is make a plan, prepare for our goals, trust God and ultimately…endure.

Endurance is hard. It’s hard because the only way it’s built is through resistance. We can’t get strong enough to withstand the icy wind if it never blows. We certainly won’t appreciate the wind blowing at our back if we never confront it, face to face. It’s another conundrum, if you will. Unfortunately, we must lift heavier to get stronger and the first few times, we may only be positioned for one rep. In the words of Cady Heron, from Mean Girls, “Sometimes, all we can do in life is try to solve the problem in front of us.” Hopefully, the limits of our future really don’t exist. (You see what I did there? lol)

Seriously. Solve today’s problems. Be present with the people directly in front of you. Do what your spirit craves, not what’s cemented into your schedule. Embrace limitation. Control what you can control. Most importantly, take a deep breath. It will be okay. Make our girl Jordin Sparks proud and take it one step at a time.