Tag Archives: perseverance

Just a little farther

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A little girl stands on the edge of a swimming pool, a little tentative and yet excited at the same time.  While she stands biting a nail, her daddy stands in the water, arms outstretched, urging her to jump in and swim to him.  He’s only about 4 feet from the side of the pool.  A big smile spreads across her face as she jumps in with a splash and begins paddling her arms and kicking her legs, heading toward her dad.  He never takes his eyes off of her but slowly steps back a little farther without her really noticing.  She keeps swimming and he steps back a little more.  When she’s had enough and starts to splutter he grabs her just at the right moment and pulls her to himself.  They hug, laughing.   “Why did you keep moving back, Daddy?!” she asks still panting a little but hanging on with arms and legs wrapped around him.  “I knew you could go farther.  I was watching and I was right there in case you went under.”  Even though it was a little disconcerting, it bolstered the little girl’s confidence in her ability to get to Him again the next time.  She could do more than she thought she could.  Her dad proved He was trustworthy.

I read an interesting supposition in a book the other day:  that God answers prayers more readily for new followers/new believers because they are so fresh in their faith and need frequent reassurances to build trust.  The author proposed that as we grow and mature God doesn’t answer as quickly because He wants us to seek Him, to press in harder, sometimes even reaching the point of desperation for Him.  He knows we can go farther.  What do you think?  Continue reading →

Final Scene

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I’ve heard lots of songs, read lots of blog posts, and had lots of conversations with people lately about disappointment, having to resort to Plan B, C or D, disillusionment over life not turning out the way we expected it to, and wondering why God doesn’t stop bad things from happening or doesn’t answer prayer how we think He should.  It has made me wonder – are people feeling like that more than before?  Why?  Or am I just noticing it more because I’ve felt like that this year? Continue reading →

Breakthrough

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I like the band “The Rocket Summer.”  It just so happened that the last two mornings as I drove to work, the iPod on shuffle, I heard one of his songs each day.  This morning I listened to his song that has these words in the chorus:

I need a break, but I’d rather have a breakthrough

Can I say that today?  I definitely have felt like I need a break, or my family does.  Could it be that if we hold out long enough, keep believing through strain that we’ll break through to the next level of growth God planned for us?  Continue reading →

Faith Hero #1: Joseph

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The story of Joseph has been one of my favorites for a long time, but especially lately.  If you are lacking faith or need encouragement about having to wait on God, dealing with the unfairness of life sometimes, trusting even when it seems God has left, even reconciling family relationships, you should read his story (Genesis 37-50).

I read his story again this morning and was moved several times to tears.  As I read, I tried to imagine his emotions, the surroundings, the events and life that happened in between the lines of Genesis.   Having heard the story so many times as I grew up, I read it in The Message version today.  I really took my time to think as I followed him from being born to a joyful and relieved mother and father who had waited a long time for his arrival, to growing strong and handsome as the favored son, to being betrayed and disposed of by jealous brothers, to success then unjust imprisonment, to being forgotten and waiting years for change, to success again and eventually restoration of his relationship with his family.

Can you hear his voice yelling up to his brothers, who sat calmly by eating their dinner, as he yelled for them to pull him up out of the cistern?  Continue reading →

Following Jesus is like Super Mario Bros.

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I was talking to a really good friend today, a mom of teenagers.  She shared something awful they’ve discovered happened to one of her kids when they were really little that probably influenced some of the not-so-good choices made by her child as a teen.  It’s a heavy burden on all of them right now – there’s anger, hurt, and weariness.  You see, this young person just weathered a lot of hard times and made tremendous growth.  He may have thought, “Whew!  That was rough.  Glad that’s over.  Glad God is with me and I’m closer to Him.”  Then this memory surfaced and the pieces of past abuse by a relative fall into place.  It feels like a set-back.  It might even feel to him like he’s back to square one.

As my friend and I talked about her son, I had a thought:  growing as a Christian and following Jesus is like Super Mario Bros.  Bear with me here.  Continue reading →

But it’s hard!

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I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for talent reality shows, especially American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.  Some of my favorite parts are the “behind the scenes” moments when we see what really happens as the contestants prepare for the night of competition.  Last night on DWTS, several of the celebrities were complaining (and whining) to their pros/teachers that what they were trying to learn was too difficult saying things like “I can’t do it”, “It’s too much to learn” and more.  Shannen Doherty had asked her teacher to simplify the routine this week because last week the judges said she had not so deftly attempted a challenging routine for her first week out.  Her teacher, Mark, refused, saying, “No risk, no reward.  I’m not dumbing this down for you.  You can do it.”   Len, one of the judges, eventually said after hearing several of these stories that the celebrities needed to “Show up, Keep up and Shut up.”  They almost had to call the “waaaaaambulance.”

There were conflicts to be smoothed out, tempers to cool, moments to try patience, threats to quit, Continue reading →

Lean Into It

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What mother would say, after hours of exhausting labor, when she’s nearly ready to push the baby out into the world, “This is too much.  I’m giving up”?

What marathon runner would decide to sit down yards away from the finish line after enduring nearly 26 miles of roadway under their hot, tired feet?

What painter would visualize and paint for hours and then leave the painting unfinished, a portion of the canvas still white and empty?

If you’ve gone that far, you may as well keep going until you finish!  The mother definitely has to finish.  There’s no way that baby can stay inside of her and survive.  There’s no turning back once that process is begun.  The way she keeps going when she is weary or hurting is to think of the newborn baby she will soon hold, the joy of bringing a life into the world, the pride of surviving childbirth and joining the ranks of millions of women throughout history who have done the same thing.  When these thoughts surface in her heart she resolves to lean into it and get through to the end, to the wonderful result of seeing her new son or daughter.

A cancer patient braves harsh chemotherapy and radiation because they see through the nausea, tiredness and long days to the hope of being cancer-free, of killing all those unwanted cells and feeling healthy again.  Would they take a few treatments and then stop?  Continue reading →

Just Do It

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nike-just-do-it

The famous Nike slogan “Just Do It”, coined by Dan Wieden, co-founder of the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, was considered one of the top ad slogans of the 20th century.  I’m adopting it as my personal slogan.  The tricky thing is that I have a lifetime membership in “Procrastinators Anonymous” (I think we’re having a meeting tomorrow, maybe).  For some reason I avoid tasks that seem unpleasant or difficult in the attempt to have peace, comfort, or time to partake in some other more enjoyable activity, only to find that I feel more stressed and restless.

Have you ever stood in a kitchen with dirty dishes stacked precariously high, piles of laundry looming, kids messing around when they’re supposed to be doing homework, stacks of clean clothes yet to be put away, bills to pay, a closet to organize, dinner to fix…?  You get the picture.  It seems much easier in those times for me to just to try and forget all I have to do as I get a diet coke and go sit down.  However, it’s all still there when my moment of intentional oblivion is over.  My mom used to tell me, just start on ONE thing.  Just do it.  Continue reading →