It All Begins With Small Steps

Image by Paolo Màrgari

14 years ago I picked up two massive books at a Barnes and Noble while living in Springfield, MO. We were newly married and had bought ourselves a computer with some of the wedding money we had received. I was intrigued by the titles, “Teach Yourself Web Publishing in a Week” and “Teach Yourself More Web Publishing in a Week.”

I sat down over the course of the next couple of months, pouring through the some odd 900 pages between the two volumes and began learning how to build websites. As time went on, and as I began learning more and more, steps started falling in place that I wouldn’t recognize until many years later:

• I developed a guide entitled, “Being a Light to the World Wide Web” which helped collegiate ministries get online and build websites.
• I determined to start my own web development company when we moved to Fort Worth, TX to begin seminary. I never actually got started, but that initiative helped me get hired full-time by the seminary as their first webmaster. Part of that role was consulting in the development of their online learning platform.
• When we moved to KS to begin serving on staff at my home church (working with students and leading worship), I found myself using that very learning platform to finish my Masters degree.
• I began a side business developing websites for churches, businesses and non-profits.
• Seven years after moving to KS, God opened the door to work with a web development company in Oklahoma City called Multiply. While only a short period of our lives (roughly 6 months), my skill set exploded and I was able to deepen my web design knowledge even further.
• Moving halfway across the country, I became an Internet Producer for LifeWay Christian Resources, helping develop the online presence of Threads, their young adult ministry imprint. My knowledge of email marketing/communications and design skills deepened even further.
• A year and a half ago what began with two books picked up on my own out of a curiosity and hunger for growth landed me a position with a global learning development company overseeing all their Internet properties, development & strategy, as well as their online marketing & communications.

The steps were, for the most part, small ones. But even small steps can carry large weights. Some were easy - some were difficult and time-consuming. Some steps were accomplished in the midst of where we already were with what we were already about - some required life-altering decisions.

At no point could I see what was around the corner, though, nor how what I was currently doing and learning was going to play a part in our future. We stepped out in faith because of the opportunities which lay ahead.

What are the small steps you are taking today out of a drive for growth? What path can you now see by reflecting on your past of the big impact on small steps in the past?

Posted 06.16.2009

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