Month: August 2021

Persistence

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“Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.” – Aisha Tyler

There are so many days I’ve been tempted to quite writing. When I was told I wouldn’t be able to support my family on a writer’s income. When I was told I wasn’t good at spelling or grammar (which is, unfortunately, true.) When I realized I had no idea how to market my first book once I published it.

There are so many days I want to quit sheltering at home. When brothers and sisters in Christ tell me I don’t have faith in Christ. When I’m at the end of my rope with my children. When it seems like everyone around me is out doing fun things and not getting sick.

There are so many days I want to hire a nanny to take on the ‘hard’ parts of mothering. When my kids are screaming at each other. When they ‘touch, touch, touch’ and I’m beyond overwhelmed. When they’re crying uncontrollably for no reason.

But that’s not what I’ve been called to do. I’ve been called to write. I’ve been called to stay at home for now. I’ve been called to be mother to my wonderful children. And I will write and stay home and be a mom as best as I know how.

Water carves through rock over time, by persistence – sometimes with more force sometimes with less. But although rock is stronger than water inch-for-inch, water wins over time. It slowly tears into the rock, making a path for it to flow through.

I will make mistakes in my writing – I’ll misspell words and overuse commas, I’ll market my books wrong, I’ll not line up the title on the spine perfectly. There will be days I leave the house. I will mess up while parenting – I’ll yell at the kids, skip a bath, and count pickles as a vegetable.

But I’ll pick myself up.

I’ll learn from those mistakes.

I’ll go on. I’ll persevere. And since I’ve been called to these things, there will be a beautiful ending. I have no idea what the result will be, but I can trust that God will work it out for my good (Romans 8:28.) Through persistence I will make it through stronger.

What about you? What do you need to persist through today? Let’s push on through together.

Passion

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“My passion and fire run deep through my veins, my blood; there’s no doubt about that.” – Carolyn Aronson

Passion is like a fire that burns inside a person, forcing its way out. It almost takes on an energy of its own.

What is that gets you excited? So excited that you forget to eat or loose track of time. So excited that you can function on a lot less sleep that usual.

Maybe you’ve been stuck in a rut so long that you don’t remember. Think back to your childhood, your adolescence, your early adult years. What were you doing in your memories that makes you smile now? That makes you wish for more of that ‘thing’?

There are a few things from my past that I was passionate about:

One thing was basketball. For a while, I lived and breathed basketball. I would pour myself into games and practices. I would spend extra time with my coach after practice, working on my shots. I’d ask my dad to give me extra tips to get better. I’d practice the drills at home. Basketball became an idol and I had to give up basketball for a while to tone down the passion (or by that point, obsession.)

Another thing I was passionate about was volunteering at church. I especially loved VBS time, because my mom and I, with several of our friends, would spends weeks before then staying at the church late, decorating. Anytime Mom needed something, she would ask me where it was and I could go get it – that was how much time I spent at church in high school. Now, I have two young children so it is much harder to volunteer at church, but I still find creative ways to serve – mostly through prayer and meal delivery (which my almost-four-year-old loves to help me with, so I can teach her about service.)

Writing is another passion. It’s been inside me since I was telling my brother “Mad Man” stories about an evil scientist. It began to bud when I was in Jr. High and started to type my stories on a computer I inherited from my late aunt. Then I wasted many years, but there were still embers inside. Now, they are igniting again, and I hope I can pass a flame on to you.

What is your passion? Have you been letting it burn for years or did you let it fade into embers like I did?

Either way, it’s not too late. You can burn again. You can burn brighter. Stir whatever is inside you and go bless someone with a gift that has been given to you.

Dreams

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“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” – Langston Hughes

When I was little, I used to wish on shooting stars. Sometimes the wishes were simple: “I wish I had a new bike.” As I grew, they got more complex: “I wish [crush of the year] liked me.” Eventually, I think I quit wishing.

I was always taught that I could do whatever I wanted, be whatever I wanted, if I just worked hard enough. But then I was discouraged from pursuing my dreams. “You’ll never make enough money being a writer to survive.” “You can’t study creative writing in college.” “You need a more sustainable career.”

I quit wishing. I quit dreaming.

The passion went dormant for a little bit, and I felt like I was floating aimlessly through life. I wasn’t fulfilled.

Now, the timing is all wrong. I have two young kids that both need and deserve my time. I have a part-time job. We have a house that needs attention. I have a husband whom I love.

But the dream is back. I’m not going to wish upon a star, I’m going to chase the shooting star, grab it by the tail, and make it happen.

Will I succeed? Will I create an income that we could live on if we needed to? I have no idea. But the passion is back inside me, and I’m going to fuel that fire. I’m going to go on this wild ride and see what happens because I’m tired of pushing part of myself back down.

This broken-winged bird is healing, and I’m going to fly into the stars. Fly with me!