Small Beginnings

An ode to small beginnings. What does it look like to connect the dots with God when He invites you to begin something new? Why is prayer a vital part of this process?

Photo by Sushobhan Badhai on Unsplash

Hey friends!

This past weekend London welcomed me with open arms, sunshine, and warm summer weather. No one takes the sunshine for granted here in the UK— the parks were full of sunbathers, pub gardens were packed to the brim with people celebrating, and the playgrounds were full of kids frantickly embracing the outdoors.

Although the grey skies seem to be creeping their way back into spring this week, the joy is still lingering in the air. Lots seems to be lingering in the air these days. I’m on the precipice of a new beginning in many ways. On Thursday, I will collect my Biometric Residence Permit, which officially allows me to live and work in the UK. Next week, I begin a new job — a role I’ve never done before and my first full-time job since my sabbatical. I’ve also been nurturing a small beginning with my writing here on Substack and with the books I’m working on.

If you asked me a few years ago whether I would leave teaching and begin an entirely new venture, I would have laughed in your face. But, on the road to calling, God may disrupt your status quo and ask you to pivot into something new, and obedience to the new beginning — no matter how small or large — is vital.

This week, I want to talk with you about small beginnings. You see, when God invites you into something new, it often begins with the little things. But, the little acts of obedience are what open the door to God’s purposes and plans for your life. What does it look like to build something small and believe that in God’s timing, it will grow?

Let’s dig in together…

The most beautiful things in life have small beginnings.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”¹ Everything starts with something.

During our quest to discover our calling, we frequently find ourselves following a road map without seeing the final destination or comprehending the full scope of the journey. Along the way, there are moments when God asks us to leave the familiar and head out into uncharted territory—sometimes, transition into the new beginning happens without full knowledge of what the new will entail. Often the mystery is because the new beginning takes time to build and develop, and other times it’s because it takes time to build and develop us.

When we began our move to London in April of 2023, I knew it was a new beginning of sorts. You know when you feel deep down a stirring of something shifting? Like, suddenly, nothing feels familiar. I didn’t know yet what God was going to ask me to do, but already I began to feel in my body the waves of change.

The very first week I arrived in London last year, I began writing in a new notebook. Today, I looked back on that first page and reflected on where I was. It was April 11th, 2023. Here is an excerpt from those first few pages:

Here I am in London — my first official week. Already I feel God stirring something new within me. I feel drawn to writing again with an anticipation for the doors it will open.

As I ask God for clarity on my next steps, he softly whispers, “Your writing will pave the way to what I am calling you into next. Write your story — Christians and non-Christians alike will read it and know my love for them. Your writing will lead to retreats and speaking engagements, which will eventually lead to charity work. Your foundation is laid and the framing now begins. You don’t have all the keys yet, but when it’s time for the doors to open, you will have everything you need.”

When God shared this truth with me in prayer, I had no clue what the next thirteen months would bring. I know I didn’t expect to wade through a wilderness season like I would have to. I didn’t know how much healing God would invite me into and how hard it would be. Nor did I think I would have to wait an entire year to apply for my visa and shuffle between countries every few months. I didn’t expect Dan’s work situation to change drastically a few months into my unpaid sabbatical, or the financial stress we would experience. I certainly didn’t think God would ask me to lay down my teaching.

I could have never predicted the next year.

As I reflect now, it was this wilderness season that God used to speak identity into me. It was this wilderness where God’s well spring burst within me allowing the seeds of my calling to sprout in the desert. It was the surrender not only to my season, but to the self-sufficiency I held tight to. It was this surrender that allowed the growth and maturity I needed in order to walk in what God was calling me into next.

My small beginning began with an acceptance of my season.

It began with laying down my own expectations as to what I thought my sabbatical would be or what I envisioned my move to London would look like.

My prayer in the end?

God, my life is yours. Whatever you want to do, I’m all in.

My small beginning began with a yes.

Prayer is the single most important part of your life with God, and it’s especially vital when you begin something new; God is the great connector and he will always speak to you about who and what will be part of your small beginning.

God will never leave you completely clueless as you navigate your new beginning; He will always provide you with a next step (however small it may be) and connect you with the people who are necessary for your journey.

But, you can’t figure any of this out unless you are spending time in prayer with Him and learning to recognize His voice. Depending on the type of season you’re in, time spent can vary, but setting aside time in the day to pray and be with God is more important in your life than the very breath you are breathing.

Creating a rhythm of prayer is essential as it allows you to tune into God’s voice in the day-to-day moments. Familiarity with God’s voice will allow you to make decisions in the present that shift things as you enter your new beginning.

In the summer of 2023, I was writing consistently. I had no idea what any of it would become, but I found myself drawn into writing about all sorts of things — a memoir about my journey back to faith, stories from women of faith and their experience with obedience, God’s voice in identity and calling, wisdom from the wilderness — I wrote constantly about what I was experiencing. I never called myself a writer before, but every day in prayer when I asked God what it was he wanted me to do, he continued to ask me to write.

Your writing will lead to speaking which will lead to the non-profit space.

I had no idea what this word from God over my life meant, but he often reminded me of it in prayer. All I knew was that I was being obedient to write and I hoped that he would highlight to me what was next when it was time.

My interest in identity and calling began to grow rapidly in my writing. As I wrote my memoir and journaled my experiences with God, I began to see puzzle pieces fit together that I never saw before. In my prayer time, God continued to speak truth into my identity and share bits of my calling. And from the conversations I had with people around me, it seems others were just as hungry as I was to know what God says about them — what he is calling them to do.

One afternoon, I attended a women’s breakfast at my church in London. I barely knew anyone and was struggling to build community because every few months I was shuffling back to the U.S. Toward the end of the breakfast, a woman named Deepa came up on the mic and shared about a non-profit she started called WELL, which seeks to bring women leaders together in community to support one another. She was organizing a conference called the Wise Well Woman Summit which was slated to take place in March of 2024.

I felt a nudge from God to chat with her at the end of the breakfast. For me, this feels like nerves sometimes. I get this tingly feeling in my stomach, heat moves through my body, and my heart burns ever so slightly. Everyone is different in the way that they recognize God’s presence, and this is why prayer is so important because it helps you become familiar with it. I was sure that God wanted me to speak to Deepa, but I had no clue what I was going to say. I was in the middle of a season which was still a great mystery to me. All I knew was that I felt this stirring in my spirit that we were meant to connect.

I’m pretty sure I sounded like a complete fool when we spoke. She asked me about myself, and I rambled a bit. I shared how I was on sabbatical but not sure what I would do after; I was writing but didn’t quite know if I was going to be a writer; I had a memoir in process, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to publish it; I would eventually have a visa but didn’t know when I would be able to apply. Basically, I was on my own journey of identity and calling which was shrouded in mystery.

I then shared how I felt God prompt me to connect with her and I cared deeply about the work of her non-profit — I knew intimately how important it was for women to have community and I wanted to get involved in some capacity.

I imagine she thought I was crazy. Or, at the very least, scattered.

Her response was sweet and thoughtful — I would find out later that she is just always this way. I gave her my number, and she asked me to pray about how I would like to be involved and she would do the same. We would connect again and talk about what we sensed God was inviting me into.

As I prayed about it for the next few weeks, I felt certain God wanted me involved in some way. I was pretty cautious about what I decided to give my time to during this season because I had committed to a sabbatical for 6 months, and I wanted to honor that. About three weeks later, Deepa sent me a message asking if I wanted to get on a Zoom call and share what I sensed God saying.

We talked for an hour and I shared my heart with her. I said how I am passionate about helping women along the journey of identity and calling because it’s a journey that has changed my life in incredible ways. I talked about my writing and my desire to speak about the importance of tuning into God’s voice.

Deepa shared how God kept bringing me to her mind. Over the past three weeks, when she asked God for help with the conference privately in prayer, He kept saying, “I’ve already sent you someone!”.

By the end of the call, Deepa offered me two roles for the Wise Well Woman Summit: (1) helping her produce the conference and (2) running a workshop on tuning into God’s voice in identity and calling. My commitment to these things would begin in the new year just as my sabbatical finished. It felt very providential.

Somehow, I was already beginning to see God’s word come to life.

Your writing will lead to speaking which will lead to the non-profit space.

My work with the Wise Well Woman Summit would create lifelong connections, open the door for a new beginning with my writing and ministry, and it would give me the confidence I needed to walk in what God was calling me into. None of it would have happened without prayer.

I had to have the familiarity with God’s voice to recognize and respond to His invitation to connect with Deepa. Deepa and I had to spend time separately in prayer to find out what it was God was inviting me into with the conference. I needed to pray through what God wanted to do with my workshop.

God is the author of small beginnings. He is the great connector, but we have to tune into his voice to know what steps He’s asking us to take. We have to set aside time to pray in order to listen closely to His voice. He will always guide us through our new beginning, even when it is just one small step at a time.

So, what does it look like to connect the dots of calling with God?

John Mark Comer’s Garden City is an excellent book on the journey of calling. He writes, “We need to learn to embrace our potential and our limitations. Because both of them are signposts, pointing us forward into God’s calling on our life.”²

We have to know ourselves!

We need to engage in self-reflection, we have to look and listen to our life, and we have to pray and discern what God is inviting us into. Your yes to the small beginning may be the next step in walking out your calling.

John Mark goes on to list a few helpful questions we can ask ourselves as we navigate the journey of calling:

• What do you love?

• What are you good at? And, what are you not so good at?

• What does the world need?

• Does it make the world a more Garden-like place?

• What are the open doors in your life?

• What is God blessing?

• What are people who know you saying?

• What is the Spirit stirring in your heart?³

I have a long way to go on the journey of calling and God continues to stretch me in new ways along this quest. In many ways, I’m still putting the puzzle pieces together. I know I am called to write, create, speak, lead, and help others learn to discern God’s voice for themselves. These are things I love and they are things I’m good at. When I do these things in partnership with God, they help make the world a more Garden-like place. I also consistently see God blessing and opening doors of opportunity within these aspects of my life. When I pray about my calling, I feel the Spirit deeply stirring within me the importance of these gifts.

You see, the questions above have been so helpful for me in connecting the dots with God in my new beginning. But, I have to take the time to pray through it with Him and ask Him to come alongside me as I navigate my next steps. I still don’t have the big picture, and I may not have it for decades. As I’ve said before, often God’s timing is much slower than we’d like. But, I know that when I am setting aside time for prayer daily, building a rule of life which helps me manage my time, and surrendering the outcomes to God, He makes a way and tells me when it is time to move into the next step. He will never let me miss the good things He has for me, and He won’t let you miss the good things He has for you either.

Maybe you are like me and sitting in a new beginning, or just beginning the journey of calling, or maybe you have been on the journey of calling for decades and seeking God’s instruction in the latter half of life. Regardless of your life stage or where you are at on the journey of calling, God wants to meet you exactly where you are.

There is always more He wants to do in your life.

What you do matters — at every age and in every season.

N.T. Wright says, “What you do in the present — by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself — will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it all behind altogether (as the hymn so mistakenly puts it). They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom.”⁴

God wants to use you to build for his kingdom.

He’s not done with you.

The calling He has for you stretches out into eternity.

My challenge to you is to take some time this week and work through those questions above. What is God inviting you into as you journey with Him to fulfill the purposes He has for you?

I promise you, He will speak to you about your calling. He will speak to you about your own small beginning — whatever it may look like. He will lead you along your own quest. He will walk alongside you. He will instruct you. He will guide you. And, He will never leave you.

Your yes in this season matters.

The Poetry Nook

I wrote the following poem while in a very difficult season. My husband had to leave his job suddenly in the middle of my sabbatical, and we were without steady income for a period of time. I knew God had invited me into the sabbatical and I was on the journey of calling, but my season felt increasingly like a deep winter. The signs of spring felt very far away. During this time, I really had to hold onto the hope of a new season ahead — a hope that God would bring me through the wilderness and I would, at some point, see fruit grow on what felt like barren branches.

New Season

At summer’s wane, 
the blackberry bush seems to have disappeared against the forest edge.
Once lush and full and vibrant, 
now the stems and branches sit like bones picked clean.

So sad the bramble bush looks without its fruit.
And yet, 
life still sits deep within the veins of its barren branches. 
Its roots, strong and deep, hold fast to the earth beneath.

Because a new season will always come;
And soon, 
the buds will flower, 
and new fruit will grow. 

Soon, 
a new beginning will begin again. 

There’s a Book on That

One of the best books I’ve read on the journey of identity and calling is John Mark Comer’s Garden City. This book was life changing for me, and I’m sure that I will re-read it every year so I’m reminded of the importance of the lifelong journey of calling.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes to entice you to read:

“We’re called to a very specific kind of work. To make a Garden-like world where image bearers can flourish and thrive, where people can experience and enjoy God’s generous love. A kingdom where God’s will is done ‘on earth as it is in heaven,’ where the glass wall between earth and heaven is so thin and clear and translucent that you don’t even remember it’s there. That’s the kind of work we’re called to make. After all, we’re just supposed to continue what God started in the beginning.”⁵

I’ve mentioned before that John Mark’s writing is really relatable and this book is no different. There is a powerful theology of work within these pages and an inspiring outlook on the longevity of calling. I know you will find it just as encouraging as I have.

Just in case you missed these recent posts:

• The Art of Discernment: Unpacking the mystery of discernment -- what is discernment? Why is it an important gift on the journey of calling?

• The Interim: The journey of calling will always include periods of transition and sometimes those transitions bring along a wilderness. How can we learn to lean into God during the in between?

• Tuning into God's Voice: Does God actually speak? Learning how to tune into God's voice is the most important thing you can do. The more you practice hearing God's voice, the more you recognize when he speaks.

• Obedience is Trust in Action: Sometimes moving forward in obedience means taking one small step. What does it look like to trust God in the little steps when he doesn't yet show you the big picture?

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Thanks again for reading this week’s newsletter. Cheers to diving into the deep together!

With love,

Jamie

1. “A Thousand Forests in One Acorn - Excerpt.” Open Letter Books, https://www.openletterbooks.org/pages/a-thousand-forests-in-one-acorn-excerpt

2. Comer, John Mark. Garden City. Zondervan, 2015, p.76

3. Comer, John Mark. Garden City. Zondervan, 2015, p.76

4. Wright, Tom. Surprised by Hope. SPCK Publishing, 2011, p. 193.

5. Comer, John Mark. Garden City. Zondervan, 2015, p.81-82