Someone said to my kid today that all of the things she is doing for acting are baby steps and to be patient, they would all lead to something big one day. I never really thought of it that way, but it is so true. Her performance at  Strathmore and GW and her current production are great experiences and resume builders if she wants to continue acting, which she does. I didn’t tell this guy that she did a commercial for 2 weeks ago and that she is in a web series and will film an independent film in June. I don’t want to tell everyone that we know all that she is doing because they will only think that we are bragging, or try to be in close company with us for the wrong reasons, or just because they are plain jealous.

Nevertheless, no matter how big or small things are that we do, they lead somewhere. This can work in a negative sense as well. If someone has had a few arrests and a couple of drug charges, they are probably taking baby steps into the prison system. I started thinking of this as I watched the video of the mom in Baltimore beating down her son in the streets for participating in the looting. I am sure that when she went through the pains of labor, which led to her raising him as a little boy she did not think that those steps would lead her to the scene in the streets of Baltimore yesterday.

Though God’s will is for real, God gives us free will. He allows us to do things that may or may not be good for us, hoping that somewhere along the way we will turn to him for guidance and discernment. I can admit, that I have made a lot of bad decisions in the past and have not always turned to God. Heck, now I do things and do not even once pray to God before, or speak to God about what I am going to do. I am so used to doing things my way because I feel that I do not have many people to lean on. I used to even have this guilt for turning to God with my problems because I didn’t feel like I was living up to expectations that HE had for me. Silly I know, but it was hard to ask for help when I felt undeserving.

My whole post started out to be about my daughter’s acting and parlayed into wrong steps that people make in their lives. I guess subconsciously, I know that I have had so many chances and opportunities that I myself have screwed up and if I had taken steps in a different direction or had stronger faith in GOD, then I would be in a different place. But then I wonder if taking baby steps backward can actually be good for us. If we always took the right baby steps to the perfect situation and destination, then would any of us appreciate it or have humility? Would we appreciate God’s wonderful and beautiful grace?

I have a long way to go to get to where I want to be and I think that if I took as many well-thought out and prayerful steps for myself as I do for my daughter I would be a great success! But because my daughter is the center of my world, the steps I take will be slow and small, but I am looking forward to seeing where they will take me…

Simply~

Dee