Dear Little Girl…Put Down the Bricks
Somewhere along the way, you learned to build your own towers—structures of control, perfection, people-pleasing, and fear. But what if God was never asking you to carry the weight? What if today is the day you put down the bricks?
Dear Little Girl,
You've always wanted to get it right.
To make sure everyone is okay.
To keep the peace.
To solve the problem before it becomes a crisis.
To build something strong enough that nothing can fall apart.
So you pick up another brick.
A brick of responsibility.
A brick of worry.
A brick of control.
A brick of "what if."
And before you know it, you're carrying a tower God never asked you to build.
In Genesis, the people of Babel gathered with one goal: to build a tower high enough to secure their future and make a name for themselves.
Brick by brick, they trusted their own plans more than God's purpose.
But then we reach Pentecost.
Again, people gathered.
Again, many languages.
Again, uncertainty about what would come next.
But this time, they didn't build.
They waited.
They prayed.
They trusted.
And when the Spirit moved, what human effort could never accomplish, God did.
Do you see the difference, Little Girl?
One group tried to force the future.
The other trusted God with it.
Maybe that's the invitation for you too.
In your parenting.
In your marriage.
In your healing.
In your business.
In the questions you keep carrying around long after you've handed them to God.
Put down the bricks.
You don't have to manage every outcome.
You don't have to fix every problem.
You don't have to carry responsibilities that belong to God.
You don't have to build the tower.
You simply have to stay close to the One who already sees the whole picture.
The same Spirit who filled that upper room is alive and at work today.
He's not asking you to strive harder.
He's asking you to trust deeper.
So breathe.
Put down the bricks.
Step away from the tower.
And listen for the whisper.
You are loved.
You are seen.
And you never had to build the tower to prove your worth.
Love,
Your Older, Wiser Self
(The one still learning to put down the bricks too.)
Dear Little Girl… You Can Take This One Step at a Time
You don’t have to figure everything out today.
You can take this one step at a time and still find peace in the middle of it.
Dear Little Girl,
It’s been a lot lately, hasn’t it?
So much noise.
So many moving pieces.
So many things you wish you could fix…
but can’t.
And if you’re honest…
You’re tired.
Not just physically tired…
But soul tired.
You’ve been holding tension.
Carrying questions.
Trying to prepare for outcomes you can’t control.
And somewhere in all of that…
You started to wonder:
“Is this just my life now?”
Sweet girl…
Come closer.
You don’t have to figure out the whole story today.
You don’t have to decide how it all ends.
You don’t have to predict what might happen next.
You don’t have to brace for every possible outcome.
You only have to take…
One step.
One breath.
One moment.
One decision at a time.
Because here’s what you’re learning, even if it doesn’t feel like it:
You are not in control of how everything unfolds…
But you are held
As it does.
And I know part of you wants to run.
To escape the tension.
To step outside of it all
Just to breathe again.
But another part of you knows…
That running won’t bring the peace you’re looking for.
Peace isn’t found in escaping your life.
It’s found in how you walk through it.
And right now…
You are walking through something hard.
But you are not unraveling.
Even if it feels like it.
You said it yourself…
Your word this year is whole.
And sometimes becoming whole…
Doesn’t feel like everything coming together.
Sometimes it feels like things falling apart
So you can see clearly what is yours…
And what never was.
So today…
Don’t rush.
Don’t force clarity.
Don’t try to solve tomorrow.
Just come back to this moment.
You are safe right now.
You are supported right now.
You are strong enough for today.
And whatever comes…
You will not walk through it alone.
One step at a time, sweet girl.
That is enough.
Love,
God
Dear Little Girl…God is in the Details (Even the Car You Drive)
I bought a car…
but that’s not really the story.
After saying goodbye to my 21-year-old Sequoia that carried us through everything, I found myself searching for the “right” replacement—until I realized I didn’t have to get it perfect…just peaceful.
And when I finally sat in the driver’s seat, I looked up and saw the words:
“Jesus loves you.”
Welp…I got a new car.
And I love it.
But before I tell you about the new one…
you need to understand the one that came before her.
Mary Poppins
I have been driving a car I fell madly in love with…
a 2005 Toyota Sequoia.
And when I tell you I drove that baby until it cost more to fix her than she was worth…
I mean it.
She was like Mary Poppins. Hence the name Mary Poppins.
She could fit EVERYONE.
Carpool? Got it.
Dance equipment? No problem.
A lamp? Sure.
Honestly…she could probably fit a couch if we needed her to.
She was magical.
One of Graeme’s buddies, Hall, used to say he loved my car because of her smell and that soft, soft leather.
And I loved how high she sat me.
I felt like I commanded the road.
If someone needed a ride?
“I’ve got them ALL—no worries.”
If my boss needed me to meet at storage for set design?
“I can get everything.”
She was that girl.
But…she was also 21 years old.
And she let me know it was time.
👉 When the brakes went out on the way back from Houston.
That was fun.
NOT.
The Search
So the hunt began.
And honestly…that wasn’t easy for me.
I wanted:
space
height
leather
a sunroof
and (in my dream world) seating for 8
But reality started to set in.
They don’t make those big third rows like they used to.
And financially, it didn’t make sense for this season.
So I started talking to God about it.
And slowly…my perspective shifted.
👉 I’m actually almost done with carpools.
That season is changing.
So my search changed too.
Mid-size SUV.
Still tall.
Still leather.
Still sunroof.
Still me.
Narrowing it down
I landed on three:
Land Cruiser
4Runner
Genesis GV80
The Land Cruiser?
Beautiful…
but out of the price range I felt peace about.
The Genesis?
Stunning inside…
but lower to the ground and not the most reliable right now.
So…
👉 4Runner it was.
The One
We found her.
White.
Limited.
Sunroof.
And…
Redwood leather.
Not my original “tan dream”…
but I decided to do something I don’t always do easily:
👉 I put it in God’s hands.
No over-controlling.
No spiraling.
Just:
“Lord, if this is it…make it clear.”
The Wink
The car arrived.
I opened the door.
Sat in the driver’s seat.
And looked up.
Written across the windshield were the words:
“Jesus loves you.”
I just sat there.
Because after all the decisions…
all the adjusting…
all the letting go of what I thought it had to be…
It felt like a whisper:
👉 “We did good, Amy. This is your car.”
And then…this happened
My mother-in-law took it for a drive.
Now, if you know her, you know this:
She feels my brother-in-law Marc’s presence in dragonflies.
And would you believe…
She pulled back in and said a dragonfly had flown right into the windshield.
You can believe what you want…
But to us?
👉 That felt like Marc saying:
“Hey…this is GREAT.”
And I think that’s what I want you to take from this.
Not what car I bought.
Not what features it had.
But this:
👉 God is in the details.
Even the small ones.
Even the everyday ones.
Even the decisions we think are just “practical.”
You don’t have to get it perfect.
You just have to:
listen
adjust
trust
and take the next step
Because He meets you there.
Sometimes in a whisper.
Sometimes in a windshield.
And sometimes…
👉 in a dragonfly.
So goodbye to Mary Poppins…
thank you for carrying us through so many seasons.
And hello to something new.
I have a feeling…
this one is going to carry us just as well.