This is the 200th post at 300 words a day.

If all of the posts had been 300 words, that would be 60,000 words that Paul Merrill and I would have written. There have been a few really short posts, so we aren’t quite to that mark. But if Paul keeps writing his monthly First Friday post (tomorrow’s is ready to go), and I keep writing the rest, we’ll get to that mark and beyond.

Why bother to mention this milestone? I mean, wouldn’t this space be better invested in talking about following Jesus rather than talking about how many words have been generated?

That is a fabulous question.

When Jesus invited the disciples to follow him, to be alongside him, it was an invitation to a new way of living. Most of them had stable jobs. They were doing okay with life. And then Jesus says, “come along” and they go. And they discover that “go” involves covering the same geography over and over. They sailed (and rowed) back and forth across the lake many times. They went to Jerusalem more than once.

As they walked, I’m guessing that occasionally they wondered whether they were getting anywhere. And just when they thought they had made it (Palm Sunday) it was all over (Good Friday).

And then it started all over again, all new.

But they made it all that way, from the first doubting follow to jubilant witness, a bit at a time, a step at a time, a day at a time. It all added up, but in between, I’m pretty sure they didn’t see the real progress that was happening.

Since the first of the year, I’ve written a small book’s worth of words. You’ve read them.  And between us, we’ve grown a bit.

A day a time.

Following Jesus.