The past few weeks for me have been some of prayer, reflection, and wrestling with many things. In the midst of my physical difficulties, I realized my condition reached far beyond my body. My mind was tired and distracted. My emotions were frayed. My heart was hard. And my spirit was weary. In short, I had hit a wall.

After the months of waiting last year to see our visa issues resolved, we hit the ground running in January and haven’t stopped running long enough to catch our breaths. The result of the continuous rush and push left me feeling like the very worst version of myself, and I knew something had to change.

Who doesn't love a good construction analogy? We've all seen captivating time-lapse videos of buildings rising from the ground up, each brick or beam carefully placed, and every detail considered. That's how God works in our lives—with precision, purpose, and a master plan.

Construction projects sure do take you on a journey, don't they? One day, you're standing in an empty field or a run-down house, dreaming of what could be. The next, you're driving the first stake into the ground or swinging that sledgehammer through the first wall.

It's exhilarating. It's daunting. It makes you feel alive.

When God first lays a calling on your heart, it's a lot like that empty lot or dilapidated house. You survey the land and think, "How can anything beautiful come from this?"