eyes.to.See - perseverance

"... and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness..."

2 Peter 1:6

"So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others.  

With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, 

no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.  

Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books."

2 Peter 1:5-9 The Message

perseverance.

Today is a day of perseverance for me.  My day was full already & the Lord brought something in that circumvented all the rest.  Time sensitive items on my to-do list try their best to cause me worry.  As a person who tries to make the best use of my time by prioritizing, sometimes deciding what is most important is a task in and of itself.

Don't.Give.Up.  That is the lesson of 'perseverance' I teach to my sons.  Even when you don't know how it will all work out.  Don't give up.  Find a place to get started.  Cleaning the playroom is a great example of a task that to them seems herculean.  I try to help them isolate one 'type' of toy to clean up at a time, so that they can focus on a small portion instead of being overwhelmed by the big.  Just pick up all the cars, I say, and don't worry about the rest yet.  I also verbalize what we choose.  "ok, you pick up the cars, and I'll pick up the trains!"  and sometimes I find that if I call out what I'm doing, that makes it a bit more of a concentrated effort as well.  "I got one more train; I got three more trains!"

Today is a day that I am feeling the pressure of the 'playroom clean-up' job in my life.  I know that I just have to figure out where to start, and finish each thing, one at a time.  Don't.Give.Up.

Hayden got to play on the t ball team this week when they were down a few players.  He was living his dream!  He didn't know where to run when he was running the bases; he didn't know what to do in the outfield; he had the best time of his life.  He felt that insecurity a few times - you could see it.  But we cheered him on & encouraged him to keep going.  I know that's something we need from each other in our adult lives as well.

Lord, thank you for helping me put each foot in front of the other.  Thank you for giving us chances to teach our sons about not giving up, not quitting when it gets too hard.  You develop perseverance - Lord teach me more.  Thank you for how you hold us up when we are weak.  Amen.