Skateboard Girl
My daughter and I have been observing an interesting drama on our way to school each day for the past few months.
During the first week of school after Christmas we noticed a girl "riding" a new skateboard that she apparently got for Christmas.
I wrote "riding" because I've never seen a person ride a skateboard more slowly. What she was doing was one microscopic step beyond standing on a skateboard, but at least she was trying.
She barely moved, but--it was obvious to us--she was intent on riding that skateboard to school each day.
We found ourselves looking for her, rooting for her, and taking daily note of her progress.
We don't know her, but we've been so proud of how much progress she's made since the Christmas break.
But, something has happened, and my daughter and I are worried about Skateboard Girl.
For the past two weeks she's been carrying her skateboard.
We wish we knew her well enough to yell out as we pass by, "You've made such progress. Don't quit Skateboard Girl! You can do it! We believe in you! We know you can do it!"
Now she walks slowly with her head down and her skateboard under her arm.
It's all so unfortunate.
My daughter and I both knew that--before too long, if she refused to quit--she would have been riding her skateboard like an old pro. With her skateboarding skills we know that she would have been a really good rider. My daughter and I longed for the day when we would have seen her zooming past baggy-pants-boy and maneuvering around always-tying-her-shoes-girl, but--apparently--that day will never come, because Skateboard Girl seems to have given up.
Skateboard Girl's situation reminded me of something that Paul wrote to the church in Galatia.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Satan wants nothing more than for you and I to stop using our gifts. He wants nothing more than for you and I to get so discouraged that we stop trying. He wants you and I to give up. He wants us to lose any and all hopes of ever riding our faith past discouragement, trials, heartache, and doubt. He doesn't want you and I to reach our potential, so he will try to derail our hopes and wreck our dreams.
We must not give up.
You must trust that "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).
Don't quit when it gets hard.
Don't give up when it seems hopeless.
Keep your head up.
"Don't quit!"
"I believe in you!"
Please . . . get back on your "skateboard" and give it another try.
"I know you can do it!"
posted by Arron Chambers @ 11:15 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
i needed this today.
me too
After reading "The Dip" by Seth Godin, I have been thinking about how easy it is to give up being good at something, or an expert, during the "dip", or the times when getting good at something gets hard and drawn out, the time when most people give up, but a few stick it out. Like Skate board Girl, I find myself inconsistent in staying the course to get good at what I'm doing.
But I never thought of it from God's perspective as he is at work in me. He also is pushing through the "dip" in me, the ways I resist his efforts to challenge me to have a deeper faith and purity, spiritual maturity, and servant love for others. Despite the challenge He faces in my willing resistance to submit to him in these areas, which have been long and drawn out, He doesn't give up to complete the "good work" in me because God is about quality, about perfection in my love for Him and for others, and he is not going to settle for less.
Now if I can just get on board with him, because I know that he is going to finish what he started.
I love this Don't Quit attitude. God has given you such a gift and only you can deliver what He has planned for you to do. I needed to hear it as well. Keep going, Keep preaching His word, Keep inspiring others to be better followers of Christ. Don't slow down, we live in a time of urgency!!
In His Love,
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