Strength to Hold On
April 19, 2013
[caption id="attachment_1955" align="alignleft" width="300"]
It looks so easy.[/caption]
Every now and then a Facebook post will get ya. Kristie Anyabwile posted this just yesterday (it may be a quote form Nancy DeMoss, as she was tagged in it):
"Children will often cultivate an appetite for that which they know claims the true affections of their parents."
It was a penetrating statement, so I shared it on my own page. One of my friends commented, “For this one, I need a ‘convicted’ button.” I thought about some of the sinful appetite’s my children may be picking up from me. I even thought about some of my more honorable affections that I didn’t think they were anywhere close to picking up. That encouraged me to keep pursuing what is worthy and be patient.
In the same day, I got a glimmer of hope and a validity to this quote. My oldest daughter is tiny for her age. At almost 14, she is barely five feet tall. I keep encouraging her that I was the same way. In the 10th grade I was 5’2, and now I am 5’7. But it can be challenging up against her full-grown friends when she is playing sports. Solee did make the high school volleyball team as an 8th grader, and had a great season. During the off-season, I tried to encourage her to workout with me. I think I convinced her once, she took plenty of water breaks, and only committed to a ½ hour. She would workout some on her own, but those were few, far between, and dinky. I really try to instill the value of fitness to my children. But I know they think I’m a little over-the-top.
Conditioning has already begun for the next volleyball season—an hour ½ of fitness. Boy did I love dropping her off for this! Solee said she held her own pretty good with the upper classmen, and they were even surprised that she could do the box jumps that many of them could not. “How does that little girl get up there?” But the second evening when I picked her up, Solee was smiling from ear to ear with some news. “Mom, we had to do the 6 inches today (this is where you lay on your back and raise your feet six inches for as long as you can—killer on the abs!), and I lasted the longest, even beating the varsity girls.” It turns out that my girl held on for 5 minutes with her feet raised. Five minutes! I challenge you to try it for 30 seconds.
I was super-impressed at Solee’s drive to hang in there. While I’m glad to see an increased appetite in her fitness capabilities, I think there was another principle behind it that I hope she is picking up from my affections—perseverance. That was the word I shouted with my victory arm raised in the air as she told me the news. I keep telling the kids that perseverance takes fight and fighters need to train. This small victory was affirming of this very truth. Solee said her legs were shaking like crazy and she really wanted to give up. But she had a friend there who had already gone down, and she was encouraging Solee to hold on. When it was down to three girls, Solanna’s friend was telling her whose legs were shaking and that Solee had this. She kept encouraging her not to quit.
All this reminds me of Hebrews. In verse 10:23, we are exhorted to hold fast to our confession of hope without wavering because he who promised is faithful. Perseverance comes by holding fast to God’s promises in the gospel. He is the faithful covenant-keeper. Solee didn’t have a confession to hold on to while she was going through the pain, she had to depend on her own abilities. But the Christian can hold on through adversity because we have the fitness of Jesus Christ who went before us.
And yet, Solanna did have something that helped her to hold on similar to what Christ gives us. She had an encourager. After our exhortation to hold fast, Hebrews 10:24 and 25 follows with, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Here is an affection of my husband and mine that I do hope my children are cultivating, an appetite for the church. Christ gives us a whole body of encouragers to run the race of the Christian life together. What a gift! Not only do we get his Holy Spirit as a helper, but we are part of a body of worshippers. Why would we neglect this wonderful gift?
Solee’s small triumph was a reminder to me to be an encourager in the Lord. A girl on her team last year said to me, “Solee may be the smallest girl on the team, but I think she’s the strongest.” Sometimes we forget to encourage those we know to be strong because, well, they are strong. We don’t think they need it. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The strong often need all the more encouragement because they usually carry a heavier load. My little girl has big strength, but it was her encouraging friend who helped her to persevere to the end.
It looks so easy.[/caption]
Every now and then a Facebook post will get ya. Kristie Anyabwile posted this just yesterday (it may be a quote form Nancy DeMoss, as she was tagged in it):
"Children will often cultivate an appetite for that which they know claims the true affections of their parents."
It was a penetrating statement, so I shared it on my own page. One of my friends commented, “For this one, I need a ‘convicted’ button.” I thought about some of the sinful appetite’s my children may be picking up from me. I even thought about some of my more honorable affections that I didn’t think they were anywhere close to picking up. That encouraged me to keep pursuing what is worthy and be patient.
In the same day, I got a glimmer of hope and a validity to this quote. My oldest daughter is tiny for her age. At almost 14, she is barely five feet tall. I keep encouraging her that I was the same way. In the 10th grade I was 5’2, and now I am 5’7. But it can be challenging up against her full-grown friends when she is playing sports. Solee did make the high school volleyball team as an 8th grader, and had a great season. During the off-season, I tried to encourage her to workout with me. I think I convinced her once, she took plenty of water breaks, and only committed to a ½ hour. She would workout some on her own, but those were few, far between, and dinky. I really try to instill the value of fitness to my children. But I know they think I’m a little over-the-top.
Conditioning has already begun for the next volleyball season—an hour ½ of fitness. Boy did I love dropping her off for this! Solee said she held her own pretty good with the upper classmen, and they were even surprised that she could do the box jumps that many of them could not. “How does that little girl get up there?” But the second evening when I picked her up, Solee was smiling from ear to ear with some news. “Mom, we had to do the 6 inches today (this is where you lay on your back and raise your feet six inches for as long as you can—killer on the abs!), and I lasted the longest, even beating the varsity girls.” It turns out that my girl held on for 5 minutes with her feet raised. Five minutes! I challenge you to try it for 30 seconds.
I was super-impressed at Solee’s drive to hang in there. While I’m glad to see an increased appetite in her fitness capabilities, I think there was another principle behind it that I hope she is picking up from my affections—perseverance. That was the word I shouted with my victory arm raised in the air as she told me the news. I keep telling the kids that perseverance takes fight and fighters need to train. This small victory was affirming of this very truth. Solee said her legs were shaking like crazy and she really wanted to give up. But she had a friend there who had already gone down, and she was encouraging Solee to hold on. When it was down to three girls, Solanna’s friend was telling her whose legs were shaking and that Solee had this. She kept encouraging her not to quit.
All this reminds me of Hebrews. In verse 10:23, we are exhorted to hold fast to our confession of hope without wavering because he who promised is faithful. Perseverance comes by holding fast to God’s promises in the gospel. He is the faithful covenant-keeper. Solee didn’t have a confession to hold on to while she was going through the pain, she had to depend on her own abilities. But the Christian can hold on through adversity because we have the fitness of Jesus Christ who went before us.
And yet, Solanna did have something that helped her to hold on similar to what Christ gives us. She had an encourager. After our exhortation to hold fast, Hebrews 10:24 and 25 follows with, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Here is an affection of my husband and mine that I do hope my children are cultivating, an appetite for the church. Christ gives us a whole body of encouragers to run the race of the Christian life together. What a gift! Not only do we get his Holy Spirit as a helper, but we are part of a body of worshippers. Why would we neglect this wonderful gift?
Solee’s small triumph was a reminder to me to be an encourager in the Lord. A girl on her team last year said to me, “Solee may be the smallest girl on the team, but I think she’s the strongest.” Sometimes we forget to encourage those we know to be strong because, well, they are strong. We don’t think they need it. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The strong often need all the more encouragement because they usually carry a heavier load. My little girl has big strength, but it was her encouraging friend who helped her to persevere to the end.
