I journaled the bulk of this in February 2017: still good – still truth!

For me, some days are such a struggle! I know there are others that feel the same. Heartache can be devastatingly hard to overcome. Loneliness lurks around the corner. Everyone is moving along, and we are screaming inside “Stop! I’m in pain!”

There is an overwhelming emptiness to being a wife without a husband; a mother without a child; a daughter without a father; a sister without a brother; a homemaker without a home. Having no reason to fill the pantry, mow the lawn, or plant a flower. And no one to enjoy my fluffing of the nest. These are all heartaches that can overtake our thoughts and our days. But how can I possibly move on, how do I recover, how do find God when I cannot see Him? What do I do now?

I ask Him these things today, this is what he said:
His answer was simple, “Just put one foot in front of the other.”

Not the cliche answers of “one step at a time” or “one day at a time” that we all hear and speak. Not the answer I had preconceived He would give. Nope, one foot in front of the other. I’ll admit I had to ponder this a bit before I was satisfied with that being my answer. I needed further clarification. You do know, it is okay to have a discussion with God about a matter. If you are unsure of this, just read the book of Job.

As I pondered, I thought there are many ways of “stepping”. There is a sidestep, a backward step, the two step; there is leaping, jumping, lunging, and skipping a step; you get the jest.
For me one-step at a time indicates there is an outline of steps, a plan, some knowledge of the future, a goal or accomplishment that we are following the steps to reach.

And when it comes to “one day at a time”? I have found there are many ways to take or fill a day. In the past year and a half, I cannot say what a normal day would or should look like. Some days may be spent with as little effort as going from the bed to the couch and as night approaches back to the bed. Or as little as to get up, straighten the covers and get back in. To “take it one day at a time” does not indicate any interest or concern in “how” the day is actually spent.

But…. to “put one foot in front of the other” says two things in my assumption of Gods meaning to me: I must move, and I must move forward!

That’s it. Plain and simple. Move, and move forward! 

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you” Psalm 32:8 (NIV).

You Step: He’ll Lead