One step at a time

By Jeff Becraft

Recently, Brenda was going to head out of town the next day, and so I wanted to do something for her. I told her on her way home from work that I would make dinner that night.

She had gotten chicken at the grocery store and said, “I was going to cook chicken tonight.” I said, “That’s okay. I’ll cook the chicken.”

Now, normally, if I make a meal for us, it is not chicken. In fact, I’ve only done chicken one other time in my whole life… and that was a few years ago. So we are not even going to count that one. We are going to say that this was my first time doing chicken. For me, doing chicken is getting fried chicken that someone else has done… since fried chicken is one of the four basic food groups.

I actually look it up on the internet to try and find out what is the best way to cook the chicken among all the different ways out there, what spices are best to use, etc.

Well, the bottom line is, it was not very good.

Usually, I’m pretty good with using spices and whatnot, but this came out pretty tasteless. And then the chicken was overcooked. It was disappointing to say the least.

But it was my first time.

There are a lot of things I want to work on in 2026. I’m not really a person that makes New Year’s resolutions… but there are certain areas of my life I want to work on. There are certain disciplines I want to grow in.

And that is a process. It is one step at a time.

This was my first time making chicken. It didn’t turn out right. Now, I could quit. I could just give up and say, “Well, I’m not very good at making chicken. I could just go back to making hamburgers.”

Or when our kids were in the house, I’d say, “I’ll make dinner tonight.” To which they would respond, “Dad… we don’t want bacon and eggs.”

“What is wrong with bacon and eggs? That is a great meal right there!” But I guess they just didn’t want “ol’ reliable” that night.

So, I could just give up… or I could say, “Hey, that’s my first time… and I’ll learn from that. I’ll keep on trying. I’ll take the next step, and I’m going to make chicken again.”

And maybe each time, it will get a little bit better and better.

So I encourage us in 2026, take one step at a time.  We don’t develop certain qualities overnight.

Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope located in Columbia, South Carolina, where people find encouragement to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. Jeff has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. If you would like Jeff to speak to your group or event, you can connect with him at  [email protected].