If you want to walk on water,

I heard the saying "If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat!" I believe there's a book by that title too, by John Ortberg. I've not read it, but I have been reflecting on that quote as I prepare things for Sundae and other projects that I want to launch. The saying has roots in the biblical account of Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on water toward Jesus in Matthew 14. There's the walking, but first you have to leave the known and climb over into the unknown.

It reminds me that if I want to do anything and see results, I actually have to ship things — not just work toward shipping them and then halt. You have to press publish, or send, or start the engine. You need to get out of the boat! I've been thinking about why that happens to me sometimes, why I end up stalling when I'm so close to completion. Sometimes it's because other projects get in the way, sometimes it's simply procrastination, but a lot of the time it's because I just really want to be sure.

In reality though, what I find is: if you've got most of what you want to launch done, and you're quibbling over something you don't quite know the answer to yet — test it in the real world and you'll get your answers really quickly. As long as you remain adaptable, you'll sense what's working and change if you need to. So when I start to feel hesitant, ruminating about something a little too long that isn't super consequential, as in it's not going to derail anything — I know that it's more about not wanting to put a single foot wrong. In those moments the phrase works for me: if you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat. I have to just step out in faith and trust it will be all right, or adapt. God's got my back.