Tenacity to Purpose

Hebrews 10:35 “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.” (NIV) Have there been times in your life where you were certain that you were supposed to do something, and then you failed miserably at it? When you thought that the road that you were on was the right one, but then it all came crashing down, and not in a small way…more like a train crash that ended in a fire? Well, I’ve been there too. I’ve found myself either sitting on the floor or sitting in bed with a snack (yes, I eat in bed, don’t judge me) and not knowing where I went wrong. The thing about failure is that it does not discriminate. It can tackle any aspect of life. It can be at work, with an art project, an exam, a mixtape, a friendship, a marriage. It can sucker punch at any turn. Truth be told, at moments like that it’s easy to give up. It’s easy to listen to all the haters that kept telling you that it wouldn’t work. In moments like that it’s easy to think that maybe you had read the whole...

I have a two year old niece, who is full of energy and love. Her vocabulary is growing by the day, which is both exciting and amusing because her pronunciation is sometimes wrong. But what has been most clear is that she only says words that she hears frequently at home. I think that along with the terrible twos comes the parrot phase, where she literally repeats everything that we say. She goes to day care now and she seems to be loving it. But once in a while she comes back with a couple new words in her vocabulary. Sometimes it takes us a while to figure out where she learns these new words, especially if they are words that we hardly use around the house. This has me thinking that God as our Father wants to fill our minds, hearts and mouths with His Word. When we come to Him and say words that He has not taught us, I imagine He gets just as surprised as my family does when my niece comes home with new vocab that we didn't teach her. Sometimes the new words let us in on how...

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 New Living Translation (NLT) 9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. I have to say that this year has been one of the hardest years I have ever had to go through. It has been the hardest year emotionally, spiritually, and academically. I have been pushed in ways that I never knew were possible. I’ve been pushed physically and mentally. I have been tired in ways that I never knew a human being can be tired. I got to a point where I was just so overwhelmed and so tired that pouring into other people became really hard. I no longer had the patience to l...