A little over a year ago, my husband and I laid in bed one morning as our kids piled in one after the other. First Rylee, then Sav and lastly, I could hear Ella calling from her room that she wanted to join us. I went to grab her from her crib and headed back to my bed for some last minute snuggles before we all parted ways.

I will never forget the moment as my body hit my bed with her in my arms; I felt the Holy Spirit whisper to my heart ‘Is there room for one more?’… Certain of what I heard, but quite confused by the notion that we would have another baby at this time, I went about our morning as normal but I could not shake the wonder of what I had heard. After three different drop offs, at three different places, with no other reason to believe I was expecting our fourth child besides that question on my heart, I stopped at Walgreens and picked up a pregnancy test.

Once I got to work I decided that I would take the test in the bathroom to rule out the possibility of pregnancy, clear my mind of this thought and then be ready to focus on the day.  Fast forward 15 minutes or so and there I stood, with a positive pregnancy test in my hand.

What is happening I thought? My body had such a hard time ‘bouncing back’ hormonally after the birth of my third daughter, I quite honestly didn’t think it was possible. Yet here I was, pregnant with my fourth baby.

I’m not sure if it was the fact that the Lord literally told me hours before that I would be having another baby or maybe I’ve learned my lesson about giving into fear in the past or possibly it was a combination of both, but during that moment I felt no fear, no worry, no concern- just confidence. And such was my pregnancy. During those 9 months I had more confidence and assurance then I did in my other three pregnancies combined. Although I didn’t expect this, no one on this planet could have convinced me that this wasn’t the most perfect next step for me and my family.

Last night I woke up with a similar experience. I’ve been working on a devotional for women and at times I feel like it’s a personal uphill battle as I fight myself about being just another voice, just another writer, with just another devo. I mean, there’s already like a billion out there, right?

So many thoughts of feeling like I’m entering an already saturated market and maybe I should just turn around. I wonder if you’re like me and maybe you feel a nudge in your heart to do something, start something, go somewhere, learn an instrument, start singing again, go back to school, switch careers- whatever it may be- and yet you stay stuck and stagnant because you wonder if it’s even worth pursuing.

Yet, I hear the Lord whispering again, is there room for one more?  But guess what- WE get to answer that question, WE get to decide. So what do you say? Is there room for one more? One more business owner? One more author? One more writer? One more blogger? One more child? One more musician? One more college graduate? One more – you fill in the blank here. I know what you’re thinking and yes, there are in fact plenty of all these things and more on this planet but I believe there is only one you and therefor only one expression of your purpose and only you have the opportunity to fill it. I also believe that deep in your heart, past the fear, worry and anxiety- the answer is yes.

So, what has the Lord spoken to you? What has He you called you into? Or out of? What has He whispered to your heart? Make the space. Start the journey. Do the thing because there is always room for one more.

Now, before you go off and get started, I want to share one more thing with you.  Before I even gave birth to my fourth daughter I was praying if she would complete our family. Uncertain that the answer was yes, my husband and I decided not to close up shop for good.  Following her birth, I would pray ‘Lord, what’s my number?’ Meaning how many children will I have in order to complete our family and I believe that the answer is 5! (Yes, I want more children!) Yet thinking back to that morning, and knowing that the Lord whispered ‘Is there room for one more?’ So now I wonder and pray, ‘Lord, why would you ask me if there’s room for one more if we were going to have more than just one more child?’… 

As I woke up to this thought yet again last night, I heard the Lord whisper; ‘Lori, I showed you the next thing, not the whole thing.’

*mouth drops*

Well duh. The Lord asked me if there was room for one more, because that was the next thing- not the whole thing. I wonder sometimes how often I don’t get to the next thing because I’m tripped up on this thing. How often the plan is cut short because I didn’t finish what the Lord had started. There couldn’t be two more, until there was one more. You can’t be an author, until you’re a writer. You can’t be a college graduate, without being a student. You can’t be a skilled musician without first being an amateur and so forth.      

I want to encourage you to take a step in the direction of the first thing and let that lead you to the next thing. We don’t always get the entire picture at once but this is where faith comes in. We’ve got to be ok with knowing the next thing, not the whole thing.

So where does that leave you today? What are you putting your hands to? What are you putting your attention to? What are you putting your efforts to? Work on this thing until you see the whole thing. One step, one day, one act of obedience at a time.