One of my favorite books is called Bird by Bird, and it’s by Anne Lamott. It’s a book of writing advice, but most of it is life advice, too.

The book got its name from one of Anne’s childhood memories. Her brother had procrastinated on a school project, some report about birds. He sat at the kitchen table surrounded by books, completely overwhelmed and not knowing where to begin.

I’ve had many such moments, at the kitchen table and otherwise. Sometimes I sit down with my life and systematically pick it apart, frustrated by the mountains of things that I have procrastinated over or just plain haven’t done. My family photographs, lingering on my computer. My writing, always pushed off to a magical “later date.” My devotional life, haphazard at best. I look at me, and I see so much that needs fixing, doing, accomplishing.

As Anne Lamott’s brother sat there overwelmed by the piles of books about birds, the research, and the looming deadline, he asked desperately,”How will I do this?” His father simply replied, “Bird by bird, son.”

Bird by bird. Word by word. One thing at a time.

I’ve come back to these words again and again when life overwhelms me. Last week I was reading a book by Glennon Doyle Melton that expressed a similar sentiment. Glennon struggled with addiction and bulimia for over a decade of her young life, and her path out of that darkness was simply to do the next right thing. She said in her book that she just kept doing the next right thing, just one thing at a time, until she was clean and sober and healthy.

It can be done. At the beginning of big scary changes or when we’re just getting up the gumption, it’s always just one thing at a time, always just bird by bird. It’s sometimes hard to believe that one little thing can lead to life-changing big things, but that’s how it’s done. It’s how masterpieces are painted, books are written, health is restored. One stroke, one word, one good decision at a time.

It’s also how our faith grows. One silent Bible reading, one turn away from temptation, one step away from worry, one simple prayer, one church service at a time. These simple steps are how it’s done. It’s how spiritually strong people become spiritually strong. They are strengthened through the simply magnificent words of Scripture, one word at a time.

I think that’s what it means when God says He won’t give us more than we can handle. He gives us the simple things to do, one thing at a time, while he moves heaven and earth and our cold hearts to make it all work out for our good.