Editors note: This article is from the Life’s a Jungle! message by Nancy C. Anderson and Tonya Ruiz, who speak and write as the Cheetah Chicks.®

My husband phoned me at home, “Honey, I’m going to be late for dinner.”

“But sweetie,” I replied, “I’m waiting for you to start the grill. Should I try to light it?”

“I think it would be safer for you to use the oven,” He suggested

“That’s a challenge if I ever heard one.”   

Where is it written, “Women shalt not barbecue”? I’ve been sidelined by male grillers my whole life. When I was a young girl my dad was a master barbecuer. He would artfully stack the charcoal, poetically add the lighter fluid, skillfully flick a match and within a few minutes he was ready to grill the T-bones. When Dad walked me down the aisle on my wedding day, he passed the barbecuing baton to my husband. I had honored their manly tradition, until the challenge.

I took the package of raw beef outside and analyzed the stainless steel monster. This was not a charcoal and match kind of grill. It had enough knobs to fly a spaceship.

I looked at my pet rabbit and asked, “How hard can this be?”  She responded by cowering in the corner of her hutch.

My tri-tip roast was eventually cooked -- well-done actually. (Just so you know, diet coke isn’t very effective at putting out forest fires; you’ll need a hose.)

Despite the inferno, I felt a great sense of empowerment, so I beat my chest and yelled like Tarzan, “aaa-a-a-aaa-a-a-aaaaa!” My singed eyebrows were a small price to pay for my accomplishment.

Starting Small

Sometimes a little fire is a good thing. Jungle experts suggest starting campfires with small twigs and dry leaves, letting them burn well, and then inserting slightly bigger branches and finally the logs. A roaring campfire starts with little twigs. Start small and work your way up. That works with campfires and dreams.

Even small accomplishments done consistently, can lead to great success. You probably have bigger goals than barbecuing or building a campfire, and I do too, but each little goal is a step along our safari. If we’re lollygagging, we’re easy prey for the wild things. Besides, we don’t want to spend our lives soaking in the stagnant pond of complacency waiting for a bloating bout of malaria to set in. Let’s crawl out of that rut we call our comfort zone and move forward.

Jungle Joke: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

What makes you spark? If you want to pen a novel, then start by attending a writer’s conference. If you’re dying to play the bassoon, then sign up for a music class. If you’re longing to bake a soufflé, then invest in a French cook book. Do you feel called to be a missionary? You don’t have to sell your belongings and head to Zimbabwe for the rest of your life—not yet anyway. Instead, volunteer at a local soup kitchen or go on a short-term missionary trip with your church. If there is something you want to do, start with small steps.