Building From the Bottom Up

When I was young, I remember hearing the parable about building your house on the rock instead of the sand. Back then, I took everything very literally, and I didn't fully understand what it meant.

I feel like I relate to that story in a completely different way now.

I know what it feels like to live on sand. In fact, I think I have for as long as I can remember.

It felt like uncertainty, confusion, anxiety... living on the edge. Nothing in my life ever felt truly solid, secure, or fully safe. There was always this underlying feeling that it could all come crashing down at any moment.

And eventually, it did.

When it happened, it was a strange mix of crippling loss and overwhelm, but also peace.

Deep down, I think I always knew it would happen eventually. There was even a slight sense of relief, realizing that maybe it could only get better from there.

I hit bottom.

It wasn't pretty.

It was a mess. It was ugly.

I stood there in the middle of my pile of rubble, and my first reaction was to grab the broken pieces and try to put them back together. But the more I tried, the more I realized it would be impossible to fix.

It was broken.

Shattered.

That version would never be able to stand again.

For a while, I just sat there, lost, defeated, and paralyzed, unsure of what to do next.

That rickety house on the sand was all I knew.

It was my home.

Then I remembered the story of the house built on the rock.

The winds would come, but it wouldn't fall because it was strong. It had a solid foundation.

And suddenly, I knew what I had to do.

I had to find my rock.

The place where I would rebuild.

If I wanted to withstand the storms, I had to build on a solid foundation.

So that's what I'm doing.

I'm finding my rock, my building place, and I'm rebuilding—one brick at a time.

But this time, I'm taking my time.

This time, I'm doing it right.

I'm not in a rush. I'm not taking shortcuts or cutting corners. I know now that strong foundations take time.

I'm getting out my level. I'm checking twice. I'm rebuilding one small piece at a time.

Because I'm not building for tomorrow anymore.

I'm building for generations.

I'm still learning. I'm still figuring it out as I go. And I'm learning to love the process along the way.

There have been plenty of bumps. Sometimes I get the measurements wrong and have to tear a section down and start over.

But that's okay.

Because I'm doing it.

One day at a time.

One brick at a time.