Playing piano in an evening-dark sanctuary. It’s just me and the music and my audience of One. Since my real audience on Sundays is an audience of One, this kind of practice works. 

Practice. I’ve been grateful that my teachers over the years encouraged me to take on the music one note at a time. Right hand measure by measure. Then left hand measure by measure. Then together measure by measure or line by line.

I’m not always very good at taking things one step at a time. I’d like to dive in deep now.

I want to place that prelude full force right off the bat. Be fluent in a foreign language next month. Write my novel(s) lickety-sizzle. Start a business. Earn my certifications. Oh, did I mention achieve new exercise goals?

And I want to do all of those simultaneously.

But it hasn’t worked out that way.

Not many of these things happen overnight. Most of them take small but consistent efforts to bring them to fruition…at least for me!

Consistent. That’s the challenge.

How good are you at being consistent? Me? Well, not as good as I’d like to be. Maybe I can blame it on living the missionary life. If you’re a missionary and your days are consistent, I’d love to hear from you because my experience tells me that the only thing consistent in missionary life is the inconsistency. 

But I’m done with excuses because consistent doesn’t mean rigid. Apparently, it comes from the Latin and (according to the New American Oxford Dictionary) signifies “standing firm or still, existing”. 

Now that sounds like something I would like to be! “Standing firm”, “existing” in these goals I have before me, even as I hold them with open hands before my audience of One. 

Now I’ll never be perfect at it. That’s the role of my audience of One. Like the verse that one of my classes is learning says,

“Jesucristo es el mismo ayer, y hoy, y por los siglos.” ~Hebreos 13:8 (RVR1960) (“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever,” ~Hebrews 13:8, ESV)

But when I am consistent, I reflect (albeit in a shadowlands kind of way) an aspect of the Consistent Christ.

That’s an even better reason to be consistent than achieving my goals.

So here we go. Note by note. Word by word. Sentence by sentence. Step by step. Level by level. Mile by mile. Consistently.