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Hang In There!

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It is hard to “Hang In There”. Holding on for dear life with the weight of the world on our shoulders. It’s lonely hanging there all by ourselves as our arms get more and more tired. We just want to let go. DON’T LET GO!

We forget or are unaware that we don’t have to do it alone. There are others around who will help us and who we can help (“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2). Not to mention God’s willingness to help carry the load (“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28).

Success isn’t the absence of failure, it’s the perseverance to continue moving forward in spite of it. Successful people fail consistently, over and over. A few examples are Walt Disney, JK Rowling and Steve King, all who were told that they couldn’t do what they ultimately did. They “hung in there”. Even Jesus had failures, i.e. when the people of His home town didn’t believe Him and took Him to a cliff at the edge of town with intentions of throwing Him over, Luke 4:14-30. Consequently Jesus did very few miracles in His home town. Do we put these same restrictions on miracles God would do for us?

Popularity is often how success is judged, but it’s a poor way to rate success. If we don’t feel popular or are passed over for a job we feel like failures. Rejection is hard to take, but Jesus was rejected. Just look at how His hometown treated Him. One of the tools in the Devils arsenal is rejection. If we get down and stay down we will never succeed.

 Persistence is the key that unlocks the door to success so “Hang In There”!

How Building Things Is Like Giving Birth

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There’s Something Emotionally Fulfilling About Creating

 

I was having a conversation earlier this week with Cheri at Agora Architecture about a project that we are working on. As we visited about the project we both became excited about the new ideas that were developing. I told her that what we’re doing was like giving birth. I then explained what I meant by that and then decided that I should share it with you.


I’ve had this same discussion multiple times over the years. When talking with someone who understands this, the connection is intense. It really is amazing the similarities there are with building and giving birth.

CONCEPTION – “The forming or devising of a plan or idea.” This is where both creating and birthing start. There is a spark or an idea that begins to grow inside of us. Maybe it’s an idea for a new home, a new business, a new design, a new book, a new painting. There is something that has been planted inside by God and we need to pay attention to and act upon it.

GESTATION – “The development of something over a period of time.” As this little idea grows it will want, no need, to get out. We need to be aware and nurture this creation. As it goes through this process it will change on its way to becoming what it is meant to be. This can be painful as the idea continues to grow and stretches us, but it’s a necessary part of the process.

EXTERNAL HELP – When a mother becomes pregnant there is a need for support and help from spouses, family, doctors, nurses, specialists, etc. the same is true for other creations. To the project that I referred to earlier, it started as the idea for a new and used book store and café of Floyd Enterprises. There have been several people involved to this point and will be many more before it is finished. Currently there has been the Floyd family, Debby the realtor, Timber Creek Construction the contractor, Cheri and Hannah the architects. Giving birth requires help and a lot of it.

MESSY – Just like giving birth has some mess involved so do all creations. The process isn’t going to just happen without some clean up.


EXCITEMENT – This is the comparison that I think is the most pronounced. It’s hard to describe the feelings of holding the newborn for the first time. It’s the same when you have been a part of creating something that wasn’t there before. To see, touch and feel that thing that came from somewhere inside and is now tangible is amazing. There is a part of your DNA that has been transferred to it and it will be there forever.

There is something natural about the act of creating, whatever the creation may be. This is something that was implanted in us at our conception. This is God’s DNA in us. We are created in His image, Genesis 1:26-31. He created the world and everything in it. This desire to create and the joy it gives is a part of who we are.

If you haven’t yet figured out what it is that you were put here to create, keep looking until you find it. When you do you’ll know it, because nothing else feels as satisfying as that.