The Leap of Faith [2023]

This week I took a leap of faith and finally made some purchases for this blog/site. I had been waiting for the “perfect time” to do it, but as I worked on setting up pages, I previewed a page and noticed an advert at the bottom of my page, a butt (a bottom on the bottom); I immediately went to the shopping cart where my planned purchases were sitting; I quickly checked out, and before I knew it, on 21/06/23 at 11:06pm my official site, http://www.theelevenone.com, was up and running (advertising removed). Sometimes you just have to go for it. It’s amazing what can happen when you push past your doubts and take that first step.

I’ve since posted my first post; it’s just a copy of my ‘About me’ page, but it’s taken away the anxiety of having to uhm and ah about what I think my first post should be. I have started working on my next post, so I will give myself a high-five. “I’m really doing this.”

I’m finding it really hard to be still. At the top of the year, I decided my intentional verse would be “Seek First the Kingdom of God Matthew 6:33, and I started the year off by first reading proverbs and moving onto psalms; I’ve kinda fallen off the daily devotional and struggling to get back into the routine so while I was caught on TikTok my attention was drawn to a girl who opened with “I don’t know who this is for, but God is saying to cut the distractions”. On Saturday, I didn’t listen to music all day and lived mostly in silence; I woke up this morning and lay on the floor to be still. I’m not sure how long I was there; it felt like at least 15 minutes, but it was probably just a couple, so today, as I walked into the kitchen, my ear opened to the end of a sermon on the radio by Pastor Rick Warren “get off by yourself, nice quiet place and sit there and ask God is there anything you want to say to me”. I can’t ignore the feelings or nudges and must be more intentional. Which is, in part, why I started the Eleven One.

The Eleven One

When the initial idea was placed on my heart, I would dip in and out of working on it. It never felt complete; I would need to change something, life would get in the way, and I would place it on the back burner.

When I started thinking about it again last year, I pondered wanting to do something meaningful. I pulled everything I had from the garage and began looking at what I had and what I could do next. Having gained significant momentum over the last month, I can visualise completing a step. I again realise that scripture “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps”. At a stage in my life, I believed I wanted to be a photographer, I had a plan with goals I set and reached, but when I felt unfulfilled, I was made to pull back. I accidentally let the website lapse a few weeks ago and logged in to renew, but I didn’t. The tab has been open all week as I contemplate whether I need to or want to. This idea was a tiny seed I began working on, and it’s finally starting to grow into something simple but significant. I’m not returning to photography in the same capacity, but I’m sure there is room for something here. I had no idea this little project would have evolved in my mind and would take me in this direction, but it feels right and purposeful. I just have to work on being led.