The motto of The Mustardseed Chronicles is “small is significant.”

I personally have struggled so much with this idea in different ways. Is what I’m doing on a daily basis as a mom of true value? Is my snail’s pace toward my goals really getting me anywhere? Do my current limitations of time, money, and who-knows-what-else make my aspirations hopeless? If I put myself out there to the world in the form of publicly presenting my ideas and projects in their current, raw form, will I get dismissed? Maybe I should bide my time until I can pull together something more presentable.

Maybe you’ve asked yourself these types of questions at some point as well.

It’s taken me a long time to be more gentle with myself on these things, to strike a balance between loving myself enough to insist that I strive toward my ideals and loving myself enough to be gentle and patient about my progress and my failings.

Not that I’m now a beacon of wisdom on this subject. Every now and then, I’m nothing but a big puddle of saltwater. But I do feel like I’ve gained some perspective, and I want to use it to encourage other people.

So I suppose it’s fitting that the inaugural post here be an outgrowth of that motto. Because, well…I have a confession. The little seed for this blog has been in my mind—the domain even reserved—for over a year now, and I haven’t taken the first step because I didn’t have it “all together” yet, didn’t have just the right thing to say.

Well, I’m throwing that to the wind and just starting, so here goes: Hi!

Is there something you’ve been holding back on, too? Something that you’ve been waiting to get “just right” before launching? Something that you’re being hard on yourself about not accomplishing or sticking to (because, hey, why shouldn’t you be, it’s important, right?)?

I would love to hear from you about it, but more importantly, let me encourage you to take that tiny, imperfect, messy step, just like I am here, right now. Let me urge you to let that step, the thing you can do in the place you are right now, be okay and be good enough.

This isn’t sentimentality. This isn’t letting your accountability slip. This isn’t letting yourself off the hook or a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card.

Ultimately, this is truly the most fruitful, nourishing way to move forward.