Start With What You Have

Start with what you have…. That is sometimes easier said than done. We get this idea or dream in our heart and we become really excited. We start to plan out things on paper, we research til we fall out of our chairs, we become ready, but through all that planning and research we probably came across a few other people that are doing the thing that we have been dreaming about.

So at first we were inspired and found encouragement in what they were doing. They are doing the darn thing and you realized that you could too. Only afterwards you were left feeling that you are not equipped.

You don’t have that kitchen aid mixer to make those cakes.

You don’t know how to write that book.

You don’t have an iMac computer.

You don’t have an Ipad to create designs.

You don’t have a printer.

You can’t afford for someone to create a website for you.

Your home isn’t big enough to bring people in.

You didn’t graduate high school.

You don’t have the most reliable car.

You don’t know how to run a business.

You freak out in front of crowds.

You don’t have the money to start.

These are all lies to keep you small so that you don’t start and rise to the person you were created to be. Lies to keep you in a box and complacent.

Truth is, you don’t need to have it all together in the beginning. You just need to start. Start and us what you have right in front of you.

In 1 Kings 17: 8-16 Elijah asks the widow to bring him a morsel of bread. She replies that she has nothing baked, only a little bit of flour and oil. He tells her its okay, just use what you have and basically it will never run empty. So she did and sure enough what she had never went empty.

And Elijah said to her “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth’ ”
1 Kings 17:13-14

We think that we have to have the top notch stuff in the beginning because we are looking out at others and comparing our chapter 1 to their chapter 20.

Chapter 1 is your beginning. You are just starting out with whatever has been placed in your heart.

Someone that you have been admiring is on chapter 20 because they have been at it for 5, 10, 15 or more years.

Or let’s twist that into another possible truth. There are some people that will go out and buy what they think they need in order to make it seem like they are more than where they are in their present moment. Many times they go into debt.

For some it actually works, but for many it still leaves an area in their life empty.

There is lessons to be learned along the way with humble beginnings. They journey is so worth it. God uses us in so many ways and allows us to go to different levels as we start with what we have. He has already given us what we need with our own personalities to bring who we are to what he has called us to do.

Along the way we will discover new stories. We discover more truths about ourselves as we face different challenges and work through them. We grow through the hard things of putting one foot in front of the other.

I have to say that I have had those thoughts that I wouldn’t be good enough if I didn’t have xyz. But each time, I used what I had to get started.

I used an old hand held mixer and bowls when I did cakes. I baked in my apartment in my small kitchen that was more than enough.

I used a cheap laptop that I found at Wal-Mart. A computer is a computer and will do what you need in the beginning until you grow into more.

I used a camera that many people would consider “not professional”. I fought with that for a bit. But I had to accept myself and my own gift. I had to learn to walk with confidence with what had.

It wasn’t about the camera. It was about what I was able to produce with what I had.

Sure a better camera provided more, but as I grew, my grew into a newer camera.

One last truth is that the lies that are whispered in our ears can cripple us from stepping into the Truth of who we are and going for the thing God has called us to.

Don’t let that be your truth.

You were created for so much more than you can see for yourself.

God sees it. He knows it. He created it. He designed it. A beautiful life for you.

You CAN start with what you have. You can do it afraid. You can push through any challenge.

No, its not always easy, but my love it is worth every challenge, every tear, every breakthrough, every victory, every story.

It is worth the journey. Start with what you have, and over time you will see that was more than enough to get started.

Much Love,
Crystal