Do or do not. There is no try?

Not a chance...

As much as I love science fiction and specifically the Star Wars series, I wouldn't dare use a quote from George Lucas' psuedo-mythological script as one of my favorite quotes. While the now famous title-line quote from the green, pint-sized Jedi Master Yoda has been greatly helped to popularity by some ingenious marketing, the advise falls flat when closely scrutinized in my opinion.


To my liking, I find this quote much sounder guidance when it comes to a matter of character:

Tis a lesson you should heed:

Try, try, try again.

If at first you don't succeed,

Try, try, try again 

William Edward Hickson is credited with coining the now famous last line in the mid-1800's. While you can certainly find positive adage in an approach to any task with a succeed-only mentality, reality dictates that a 100% success rate in every endeavor is not only improbable...it's practically impossible.   

Unless you're Jesus that is...

But, even that's not completely accurate.  While Jesus was perfect as a man in every way, He didn't have a 100% success rate when it came to convincing everyone the message of the Good News...but He sure did try...and try...and try again and again. Even when He left this world, He gave us not only instructions and directions to keep on trying, but He gave a Helper to guide and encourage us in the effort.

Do you put forth a diligent effort to evangelize and minister daily in His name? Do you easily discourage in the face of adversity, rejection or even blatant ridicule? Are you easily diverted from your Divinely-directed commission  by worldly obstacles or even worse just petty emotions?

Keep this fact in mind...the time for trying is finite. The results, however, are not.

Be about the Father's business with diligence and perseverance.

Ideas

Considering the frustration I shared last week, it's a little hard to answer where I think God is leading me.  Of late I think that God likes to lead me by keeping me in the desert or the wilderness.  I am sure I probably exaggerate my plight a bit but that is how it feels to me.  I wonder sometimes, how much more does He have to change in me?

Beware, Joyce is going to get real again.  Last year I took the Strength Finders test.  My number one strength was "ideation."  I wouldn't have guessed that was my strength but when I thought about it more, I thought yep, that's me.  Throughout my life, I've had lots of good ideas.  I mean really great ideas, even money making ideas. Many years ago when I lived in Hallsville MO they had no daycare.  I wanted to rent the other side of the duplex we lived in and start a daycare.  My husband yawned, my mother scoffed.  I persisted but as with many things, alone I eventually gave up.  Three months later a woman opened one down the street.  She did well. On top of that my mother praised her since she knew her from church.  I kept thinking, that could have been me.

Joyce's Chai Blend

That story is the story of my life.  Trust me, I have plenty of examples.  Usually I am left to bang my head against a wall and wonder why.  I've thought at times that maybe it was that I needed to trust my own instincts and/or leadings and just do it.  Well, I did.  I started a coffee shop that morphed into a deli and tried all sorts of marketing tactics.  I had amazing and inexpensive menu items.  Imagine, fresh cooked eggs to order, fresh made breakfast potatoes with onions and multi-colored peppers, meat of choice, bread of choice - and if you ordered a biscuit, you got homemade sausage gravy with it as well.  Served fast and fresh for the low price of $3.99.  Add to that a $ .50 cup of bottomless fresh coffee and you had a great meal for under $5.  Or you could add a Milky Way latte, an Almond Joy cappuccino, a fruit smoothie with real fruit in it or a steamy creamy chai latte made with my own chai mix that had fresh spices I ground myself for $3.99.  And the weekend omelets were to die for - eventually we lost more money than I care to think about.  Not to mention the blow to the ego.  It was location but nevertheless, another idea gone bad.

Then there was the church.  God told me to start a church.  I did.  Twice.  The spirit of the Lord showed up big time one morning.  The worship leader had a vision.  He saw us all in the start gate of a race.  He said that I was on a horse.  I had been waiting a very long time.  I was dying to get out of the gate.  He said that gate was opening.  Yippie Skippy Glory Hallelujah - within two months I found out I was going to South Dakota.  Not exactly the gate opening I had in mind.  Not exactly a place I flourished.  But oh the things I learned in the process.

Okay, I don't want this to be a downer.  I suppose this has sort of been Joyce's morning lament. I don't want this to be so real that you think I have no faith.  I do have faith.  I do have hope.  I have so much hope and faith that at an age when most people are planning or experiencing retirement, I'm working on a doctoral degree.  The high school drop out welfare mom who no one thought was worth anything, is now a doctoral student.  I'm plugging away with a research study on the use of computer mediated social networking (Facebook) for the purpose of Christian community.  That's what God has led me to do.  That's what I'm doing.  I hope it doesn't end up like all my other good ideas.  I hope it benefits the Kingdom.  But one thing I've learned, results do not mean success or failure.  Success is all about obedience and the process of becoming like Jesus.

Praying Through

This week we are each to share one thing for which we're in the midst of praying through.

When I read that this was to be our topic, my first thought was - Just one thing I'm in the midst of praying through concerning? I've got several things I'm in the midst of praying through regarding!

So I just picked one to share here.

It's for my middle son, the one who is a Senior in high school this year.

I can remember when he was 8 years old and made a decision to choose to accept Jesus' sacrifice on the cross on his behalf and to give His life to God. I believe that, as much as he was able to understand at that time, this decision was real and sincere.

But as he hit high school things changed. He still proclaims himself to be a Christian and still exhibits some Christian morals (no sex outside of marriage, working hard, being honest, etc.). But he enjoys being popular at school and all his popular friends, most all of whom are not Christians and have no desire for Christian values. He does not want to go to church and exhibits no desire for prayer, praise, or Bible reading. He desires activities that I'm puzzled why any one in whom God's spirit dwells would desire. Examples of these activities would be listening to music with lyrics that degrade women and authority figures, attending parties where some of the attenders consume alcohol or become engaged in some kind of sexual activity(although this son does not engage in these activities himself, I don't understand why he would even want to be in this environment).

Several years ago I prayed that God would give me a Word, a view, as to what He has for each of my sons. God was gracious and granted my request. I took that Word from God and wrote it into a blessing for each son. None of the three were alike; God definitely has a different call and gifting on each of their lives. I put these written blessings onto special paper and framed them and hung them in their bedrooms.

I know that God gave me that Word for this specific son about who I am writing. I know that God gave him his fun and open nature, his personality that attracts people to him. I know that God created him to be a man who influences others for God's Kingdom. But right now I only see him influencing people for pursuing selfish teen age pleasures; I even see him letting others, who don't seek after God, influence him. Yet, I believe that Word that God spoke to my heart. I believe that this son will change and fulfill those very things that God gave me a glimpse regarding.

So I pray. I pray that God use every experience that this son is going through now, to bring him to be that man God wants him to be. I pray that I would let go and let God do the work; that I would be faithful to act as God would have me to act, but that I would ever be conscious that it is God who will do His work in my son's life, not me.

I pray, and I will continue to go on praying.

What about you, what are you "praying through" for?

If you truly love someone...keep them close instead of letting them go.

"I just love you and care about you candidate and want to see you get the most out of life!"

I want to get real for a moment...

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I completely believe in the power of prayer. But, I've not always been a regular user of that privilege. Last week I wrote about what I feel God has called me to do, and that's minister to that group of young people who statistics tell us are the group most straying from the faith. The proverbial shoe fits because it truly was on the other foot (mine) at one time.

I've worked in the youth ministry at church for several years and was constantly interacting with the young people at church, but last year God put an opportunity in front of me that has been both challenging and rewarding on all new levels. The head deacon at church, Keith S, was teaching the college-aged Sunday School class and doing a phenomenal job. How phenomenal you say? My wife, Candice, was attending a series on Genesis and was so inspired by what she learned, our daughter due next month will be given the name Eden. That's pretty influential stuff!

But God had a different plan for Keith in our church (which is a completely different blog to His glory once again), so he ask if I would take the class. Sorry to quote a beer commercial on a Christian blog, but...here we go! God was challenging me to put actions to my professed passion. I prayed knowing the answer already but throwing out the fleece in a delaying tactic...as if that works with God.

Yada, yada, yada...I'm teaching the class now since the first of the year. Wow! It has truly changed my life. Not a day goes by that God doesn't put one of them on my heart or I get a message through text or Facebook asking for prayer. Many of them are away at schools not near here, so I try to maintain regular contact with them to let them know they are gone, but not forgotten. Some have drifted, many have hurt from a number of reason. Through it all, I try to be there to reassure them that God is real and loves them more than anyone else ever could.

But I get it...I truly get it. My passionate pleas to our Heavenly Father on their behalf are an echo from years past in a time if I had only fallen on my knees and cried out for forgiveness and repented, so much hurt would have been avoided. I love each and every one of them as if they are my own children, and as I sit here typing this with tears welling in my eyes and my heart breaking for the trials and tribulations they will each endure...I know it is a path which each must journey to better serve our Savior and His Kingdom. James says it so clearly in his letter to early Christians:

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 (NIV)

God continues to mold and shape me for His benefit, but He loves me and answers so many prayers on behalf of those He has charged me to love and minister to also. I've seen a few stray and return to His fold, a few broken at bad choices and mended by His love, and one deny Him only to regret and repent. What a blessing and privilege to be used in even the most minuscule way for His glory. I am most thankful for the opportunity to serve our almighty God, and for the challenging path He placed directly in front of me to passionately follow.

You gotta keep saying "I do" even when you don't

I am the one in this group who has been married 30 plus years, 32 ½ years to be exact. My husband and I met 33 years ago this summer while both students at the University of Missouri-Columbia. You’d think that would mean I know a lot about marriage. I suppose I do. One thing I do know about marriage is that it is a lot of work. It isn’t easy!

I worked with a guy once; in fact I was his boss. He was a driver for our senior transportation program. He was single, never been married and approaching 40. We had a young female student come to do her internship with us as a social worker. Bob was smitten. I am not so sure she was smitten at first. Nevertheless they started dating.

At Christmas time he was plotting how to ask her to marry. He had a t-shirt made that said “Will you marry me?” His plan was to wear it under his regular shirt and present her with a ring, taking off his shirt with the question. It wasn’t the most romantic thing I ever heard of, but it was dramatic and creative. He was so nervous. All of us knew that the big question would soon be asked. All of us were rooting for him. There aren’t too many people in this world as nice as Bob. He deserved happiness. He dreamed of a family and had waited a very long time for it.

Their wedding was beautiful and fairy tale-ish. They came from different ethnic groups so we knew there’d be some challenges. We all hoped love would conquer all. It wasn’t a year and trouble started. I was amazed at how fast trouble came. She wanted a career; he wanted a family. She’d worked hard for her degree, was still in her 20’s. He just wanted to settled down. In-law issues also arose.

One day Bob came to me. He asked me, what’s the secret of a good marriage? He told me that there was a divorce petition ready for signatures. He was now smitten with grief rather than love. I had just come through a terrible challenge to my own marriage. I had been on the brink of despair myself. I thought about the answer.

Now I know the question today is “what works in my marriage?” All of us probably have a sense of what works in general terms with marriage. There is a huge difference in know theoretically what works in marriage, and living it out in the day to day of year after year after year. That first blush of love and passion does get lost in dirty laundry, bad days, baby diapers and the like. My answer to Bob was not a theoretical answer. Oh I did give him the “put God in your marriage and go to church” theoretical answer in my answer to him. But the most important thing I said to him was what I feel is what works in my own marriage of over three decades.

The answer sounds so simple but it is so hard to do. What works in my marriage is just not giving up. It’s so easy to say this is too hard, I don’t like this, I’ll give up. I’ve said it thousands of times in the years I’ve been married. It’s okay to say it. It’s natural to feel it. Marriage is very hard work. It challenges you more than even raising teenagers.

I told Bob that day that it is just about commitment. It is saying to yourself, when things are bad and when their good, this is my mate. You promised for better or worse and there is a lot of worse in this life. You just have to keep going if you want to stay married. You just have to persevere. There is no magic formula. There is no way to get around the fact that there are times that every part of you screams get me out of here. That’s when the rubber meets the road and you have to just press on because as hard a work as it is, it’s really worth it. 

Bob stuck in there. He and his bride have been married for close to 15 years now. He retired early and became a stay at home dad. She has her career, they have a good life together raising four beautiful children.