Top o’ the Mornin’ to Ya!
TLDR: Discover how a 3D printer’s systematic approach to filling every gap revealed the power of having a clear plan and strategic priorities. Learn to identify your non-negotiable “yes” that turns everything else into a “no,” and how to draw firm boundaries that serve God’s kingdom while protecting your calling as a Kingdom Family Leader.
What?
I’ve been doing some 3D printing lately, helping someone in our community. As I watched the printer work, I noticed something fascinating about its process. You load a 3D model into a program that slices it into layers, giving the printer instructions for each layer. I was printing something with little fingers and diagonal patterns, and the printer would leave little gaps – a strip here, a triangle there – as it worked around the design.
But here’s what caught my attention: when it finished that layer, it came back and found every single gap. It filled in that little spot, went back for that triangle, completed every missing piece before starting the next layer. This machine has no eyes, only a plan. Only a system, a strategy, a design.
It made me think about how I do that in life – how I leave little spots blank here and triangles blank there, missing pieces and gaps. But unlike the 3D printer, I don’t always have a systematic plan to come back and fill them in.
I also witnessed a powerful coaching moment recently. A friend and fellow coach was working with someone who was struggling, essentially groveling for clients and lowering her prices because she felt she had to help everybody. Through strategic questioning, he helped her realize she was ready to step out of the story that she needed to lower her prices, that she needed to help everyone, that she needed to give away her gifts.
Why?
These experiences revealed something crucial about Kingdom leadership: without a plan or strategy, we’re going to miss things. As Kingdom Family Leaders, we need to set our priorities clearly. The Bible tells us to let our yes be yes and our no be no – that lukewarm middle ground is distasteful to the Lord.
The 3D printer’s systematic approach showed me how having a clear design and following it completely ensures nothing gets missed. Similarly, that coaching breakthrough demonstrated the power of having firm boundaries and strategic clarity about what we will and won’t do.
Lesson
One of the most important aspects of life planning and coaching is finding those yeses – identifying what is the yes that turns everything else into a no. These yeses need design, process, structure, framework, passion and commitment. When you’re fully engaged and consumed in a good way with something that aligns with your calling, you get all the parts of your yeses, and it becomes easy to say no to everything else.
The key is drawing that line clearly. Just like my coach friend who has his price for a day and his price for an hour – that’s it, it’s a yes or it’s a no. This isn’t about being rigid or unkind; it’s about having strategic clarity that serves your Kingdom calling.
When we have that clear plan, that systematic approach like the 3D printer, we can ensure we’re filling in all the right gaps while staying focused on our primary design. We need to check with the Holy Spirit, check with our spouse, check with our coach, mentor and mastermind, and hold that line firmly.
Apply
Take time right now to identify your primary “yes” – that one thing that, if you’re fully committed to it, would make most other decisions easy. Write down what that looks like for you in your current season as a Kingdom Family Leader.
Next, draw your line. What are you willing to do and not willing to do to protect and serve that primary yes? Be specific about your boundaries in time, energy, and resources.
Finally, create your systematic plan like that 3D printer. How will you ensure you’re completing your design without leaving gaps, while also not taking on work that doesn’t belong to your calling? Share your breakthrough or commitment in the Doobly Doo below this video to encourage other Kingdom leaders.
You be blessed!
Drawing Your Line: How 3D Printing Taught Me About Kingdom Priorities and Strategic Living
