[Verse 1]
In the fall of 2005
I packed up all I owned

Left Montreal behind me
For a city not yet home

I left behind familiar faces
And crossed the border on a dream

Hoping there was something bigger
Than the life I'd recently seen

By day I'd work with computers
By night I'd work wherever I could

Driving trucks and working kitchens
Doing what we should

I wasn't chasing greatness
Just trying to pay my way

Learning one more skill
And living one more day

[Pre-Chorus]
You take the work that's in front of you
And do the best you can

Not knowing all the places
That those lessons someday land

[Chorus]
I thought I was making a living
Just trying to get by

Learning one more skill
One job at a time

But every tool I gathered
Found a purpose down the road

לֵב אָדָם יְחַשֵּׁב דַּרְכּוֹ¹
(*Lev adam yeḥashshev darko* — *A person's heart plans his way.*)
וְהַשֶּׁם יָכִין צַעֲדוֹ¹
(*VeHashem yakhin tza'ado* — *But Hashem directs his steps.*)

A person plans his pathway
But Hashem guides where it goes

Sometimes you're building tomorrow
Long before you know

[Verse 2]
Living in my uncle's basement
I knocked on a business door

A company of only two men
Maybe one or two employees more

He said he couldn't hire anybody
Said the timing wasn't right

So I offered him a simple deal
And he took the chance that night

Pay me only from what I build
If I help the company grow

Three weeks later I was salaried
And away we chose to go

One man left for another future
And suddenly we were two

Learning every part of the business
Doing whatever we needed to do

[Pre-Chorus]
Years turn into decades
One opportunity at a time

You don't always see the mountain
While you're making the climb

[Chorus]
I thought I was making a living
Just trying to get by

Learning one more skill
One job at a time

But every tool I gathered
Found a purpose down the road

לֵב אָדָם יְחַשֵּׁב דַּרְכּוֹ¹
(*Lev adam yeḥashshev darko* — *A person's heart plans his way.*)
וְהַשֶּׁם יָכִין צַעֲדוֹ¹
(*VeHashem yakhin tza'ado* — *But Hashem directs his steps.*)

A person plans his pathway
But Hashem guides where it goes

Sometimes you're building tomorrow
Long before you know

[Bridge]
The kitchen taught me management
The trucks taught me the road

The fleet taught me logistics
How to carry a heavier load

Computers taught me systems
How details matter too

Years later all those separate pieces
Became something I could use

For buses and for volunteers
For service and for care

For building things that didn't exist
When I first arrived there

What looked like separate chapters
Were pages of one plan

Hashem was building capabilities
Before I could understand

[Final Chorus]
I thought I was making a living
Just trying to get by

Learning one more skill
One job at a time

But every tool I gathered
Found a purpose down the road

לֵב אָדָם יְחַשֵּׁב דַּרְכּוֹ¹
(*Lev adam yeḥashshev darko* — *A person's heart plans his way.*)
וְהַשֶּׁם יָכִין צַעֲדוֹ¹
(*VeHashem yakhin tza'ado* — *But Hashem directs his steps.*)

A person plans his pathway
But Hashem guides where it goes

Sometimes the dream is hidden
Inside the work you do

Sometimes the tools come first
And then the dream finds you

[Outro]
Looking back across the years
I finally understand

The things I learned to earn a living
Were preparing me to stand

Ready when the moment came
To build what needed done

One skill at a time
Until they all became one

לֵב אָדָם יְחַשֵּׁב דַּרְכּוֹ¹
(*Lev adam yeḥashshev darko* — *A person's heart plans his way.*)
וְהַשֶּׁם יָכִין צַעֲדוֹ¹
(*VeHashem yakhin tza'ado* — *But Hashem directs his steps.*)

A person plans his pathway
But Hashem guides where it goes

------

[Sources]
¹ **Mishlei 16:9**