hard work
Hey, Dad! It’s Micah. All that hard work finally paid off. I made gold defense (starting defense). I’m so happy. These are just baby steps to my days in the pros.”
My 12-year-old son sent me this text after his final football practice. As a first-year player, he had made it into games, but had not started all season. As a…
persistence
It was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who said, “Perseverance is a great element of success. If you knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.” I don’t know if Longfellow had the persistent widow in mind when he wrote those words, but I believe he’s right.
In Singapore, where I live, 85 percent…
the last lap
I've had an obsession with maple trees recently. Maybe because it’s Autumn here in Perth. It’s that special time of the year when the leaves turn bright red, and the wonderful thing about it is that the leaves shine brighter than the flowers (if there are any!).
Hebrews 12:1-3 are the verses that come to mind when I look at this…
persevere
Rookie racecar driver J. R. Hildebrand was unexpectedly winning the Indianapolis 500 with one lap to go. He only needed to navigate the final turns and he would coast to his first victory. He easily completed the first three turns of the final lap, but he went high on the final turn and crashed his car into the wall. Would…
new swimmers
In February of 2011, Andrew Wilson, an Australian fisherman was fishing off the coast of New South Wales when he was thrown from his boat by a large wave. Without a life jacket, but filled with adrenaline and tenacity, Wilson braved the shark-infested waters and simply kept swimming. “I wasn’t going to stop, so I just kept going.”
Wilson survived…
labor to rest
Genesis 2:1-3: So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished His work of creation, so He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when He rested from all his work of creation.
In the sixth…
success
In the midst of great duress,
we can still achieve success;
even if our efforts are in vain,
we can still try again and again.
Neither should we want to die,
nor should we give up and cry;
whether our umpteenth or first try,
let us make each one our best try.
When we depend on our own strength,
we may fail like never before;
when we rely on other…
persevering through disappointment
Something hurt me recently . . .
My initial reaction was to experience disappointment, deep disappointment, dejection, rejection—you get the picture, and I asked God to protect my heart and to not let it discourage me.
And He did. I fell asleep with that prayer on my lips and I woke up much lighter of heart and genuinely carefree. I felt…
turning your face forward in 2012
When I was a child, I remember always thinking about where I was, who I was with, why I was doing something, and what was coming next. I was never at peace with being in one place. I needed more and wanted more. I never understood why it was so important to have peace about things.
When Moses was given…
secret of job satisfaction
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24 NIV).
Please forgive my bias, but this is written especially for nurses, doctors, law enforcement people, and…
persevering
The film October Sky tells the remarkable story of a teenage boy’s dream to build rockets. After watching Sputnik, the first earth-orbiting artificial satellite, race across the night sky in 1957, a deep desire was ignited within Homer Hickam to make rockets and become a part of NASA’s space program.
The problem was that nearly everything in Homer’s life was set…
being civil
It seems our society has become increasingly divided and polarized,” writes Mark DeMoss, president of The DeMoss Group, and former (unpaid) adviser to US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. “Every week we are treated to scenes of bitter fighting, protests turning to violence and vandalism, name-calling, and personal attacks. Important debates are no longer fought ideas and words, but with shouting…
faith to finish
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice,…
face down
When my father died of cancer, the inevitable question in my heart was whether he would have lived if I had shown greater faith. I lived with significant guilt that his death was somehow my fault. Rather than bringing hope, every sermon I heard on healing was like salt on an open wound. I felt spiritually attacked and harassed whenever…
