Day 12: Finishing Strong

Hebrews 10:36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

As a parent, my proudest moments come when my children accomplish something. Today I had one of those proud moments.  Gabriela finished off her soccer season and it ended with trophy handouts and a pizza party. 
 
All the kids were gathered up together for a group picture with all the coaches and their little soccer stars. Parents had their cameras out shooting away trying to get the perfect shot.  Needless to say, with about twenty kids in the picture, it took awhile. 

Gabriela was standing there looking around with barely a grin on her face until  she glanced in the right direction and her eyes locked eyes with ours. Then a huge smile lit up her face.

She had noticed us!
 She saw us watching her and cheering her on and doing all those silly things parents do to show their kids how much they love them.

She had practiced hard to get better at her kicks (I think I have a few broken items for proof) and she had persevered the Miami heat during noontime games.  We had sacrificed a lot too so she could be here. Registration fees, hours spent at practices and games were well worth the effort.  

In the end...

She had finished strong.

Isn't that what we want?

As I look back on the past 12 days I notice "mountain top" moments
as well as moments when we've hit "rock bottom." We've tried hard, persevered in some areas and in others
we've struggled, or noticed we need
to work harder. 

In the end, we want to finish off strong.


 I'm sure the Isrealites started off strong. God freed them from being slaves in Egypt and they saw the Red Sea part long enough for them to walk through it. 
God cheered them on with his visible presence throught the pillar of clouds by day and fire by night, but when they lost sight of him they began to gripe about the way things were going.

What was meant to be a few days trip turned into a forty year journey.

I guess when the Isrealites glanced around they didn't notice God.   

Some days its easy to want to call it quits and say we tried,
 but as I glance around I notice God! He's cheering us on and wants us to know that he's there watching it all.

Hebrews 12:1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us

How about you? How do you want to finish in the end?

 God went all out for us when He sent Jesus to make the ultimate sacrifice and take our sins upon Him on the cross but it was worth the effort
to see us finish strong.

   Philippians 3:14
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.











































  

Day 11: Nothing to Give

Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

I'll admit it, I'm tired.  In the last 10 days of working on this experiment Carl and I have been going to bed late and waking up early. Writing this blog has been very time consuming and I usually don't get it done until late in the night. 

Then, as if the baby knew I was about to fall into a deep trance,  she starts crying to get in that feeding she might otherwise miss if I would dare get the sleep I really need.  Although I'm loving every minute of walking so close to God and sharing it with those who read it, my human body has been screaming, "SLEEP, I NEED SLEEP!"

Today, my body was showing signs of shutting down. I couldn't think clearly. I had so much to do and so little energy that I wondered how I was even going to get any words written for this blog entry.  I felt my brain short-circuiting at the rising noise level of the kids and the daunting tasks that layed before me.

I found myself looking ahead and getting anxious as I thought about writing for another 29 days straight.  Would I know what to write for so many days?  Could I continue on as tired as I was? 

I didn't feel inspired in any way because sleep depravation
had taken control of me. Drowsy, and sitting in front of a blank computer screen, I went to Him in prayer.

It was there that I received His rest. 
 
This scripture came to mind 
 Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I was weary and in need of rest and I'm glad I knew where to go find it.
In God's faithfulness, He answered.

He gave me confidence to know that I can go on,
the motivation to continue
and the words I needed to say..

Physically, I am still tired

but spiritually I'm refreshed once again.. 

    I can look back and remember the many times Carl and I have had nothing left to give; it been there when we've seen His most powerful work being done.
 

 I'm reminded that God is the one who does the giving and gives me daily the content of this blog, for His glory.   

  Corinthians 12:9...“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
  

 Are you tired? Lean on Jesus and let Him give you rest.

 

 

Day 10: Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

                                     

Did you ever read this book? It’s a story about a boy who's having “one of those days.” From the moment he wakes up everything seems to be going wrong. He wants to escape it all, so he wishes to be in Australia.

As the day goes on, things don't seem to be getting any better and he continues to wish he could escape to Australia.

At the end of the story, as he continues to run through the list of things that are going wrong he says:

“My mom tells me some days are like that,

even in Australia.”

The point of the story is that there will be days when things go wrong and you can't escape it. That's life.

Well, today our family had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. We woke up late, took forever to get out of the house, went to drop off the leftovers and couldn't find anyone around. Our time with the Lord felt distracted, the kids were trying to get my attention all at once at the supermarket...

Frustrated, tired and a little disillusioned by the way things were going today,

we got home, hastily prepared our meal and sat down with four hungry kids ready to grab ANYTHING that was put before them.



It was a “Calgon, take me away” moment. 

It was one of those days where you wish you could snap your fingers and escape from the norm.  Just like Alexander in the story, I wanted to escape… to Tahiti! 

We stopped to give thanks, first for our daily bread, and to take a moment to be still and just start over.

We needed a second chance to go about things the right way.

Isn't that sometimes what we need? A do-over.

Waking up late and rushing around made us lose our focus. Instead of looking forward to our quiet time with the Lord, we started going through the motions of a new "routine".  Our actions and emotions started to reflect a day that began with a different focus.

I'm ashamed to admit that, because routine should not be a word that describes our time with our Creator. Today…we slipped.

The good news (and there is always good news when we surrender to Jesus) is that He gives us a do-over.  He’s there to pick us up and brush off our knees when we fall. He holds our hands and He forgives and he continues to love us.

2 Corinthian 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Every day is a new day with the Lord.  We get a do-over and have an opportunity to start the day anew.  

Today, He gave us a do-over. After we took some time to regroup and refocused our time, God showed us His grace by giving us a sense of peace.   

We clearly saw a transformation. We felt less edgy and the kids weren’t as excited hyper.  The morning frenzy had taken a toll on everyone but God changed all that when we were still before Him.

He took us from chaotic to calm.

He changed our perspective.

In the rush of a frenzied morning we stopped looking up and began looking around instead.

In case you’re wondering how the rest of our day went… I opened the refrigerator to put the pitcher of water away and I lost my grip on it.  A pitcher-full of water splashed all over the place! Carl was just coming through the door as I was cleaning up when he tripped and spilled a container of food on the floor  

… it was still one of those days...

But Jesus told us some days would be like that…

even in Tahiti.

John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”