One of my favorite things that God has brought into my life on the back 9 is the time to help a young couple with their baby! I am not yet a grandparent but have found this to be a rewarding ministry and mostly a whole lot of fun. Needless to say, God has carved a special place in my heart for Frank, Ericka and IV!
Ericka is an ER nurse and when I am in Columbia, I get to keep IV for several hours while she and Frank are working. I am having a ball!!! IV’s one year old birthday is approaching in April and I am having so much fun being included in on the party plans. I am pretty sure he will be walking by his first birthday. While keeping him yesterday, I watched him over and over again hold on and maneuver around our coffee table. Then he would sit down and take off crawling to the fireplace, stand up and then side step all the while holding on and making his way around to the dog bed. He would turn and think about letting go but instead would sit down and crawl again. I kept my phone in my hand in case he did walk. I didn’t want Frank and Ericka to miss IV’s first steps.
I have NO DOUBT whatsoever that IV is going to walk, then run. Keeping him at that point will take on a whole new meaning!! LOL……….”Mama B” will lose some weight for sure! There is a point I want to make here……If you think about it, how did you learn to walk when you were a baby? You tried something that didn’t work and fell down. Then you probably tried again….or tried a different way…..or maybe you quit for the day, went to bed and the next day you got up again and started anew…..but eventually you walked, then you ran….even jumped, etc.
After watching IV over the last month, I have observed his never ending effort to walk…..he didn’t cry, he didn’t get mad….he plain and simply has this little determined effort to move….and try different places and ways to walk. What if we treated our efforts in life this way???? I find the major difference between people who succeed and people who don’t is not found in their failure. Both groups fail. However, the ones who take responsibility for themselves, learn from their failures and do not repeat them…..mostly keeping a good determined attitude while learning are the ones who succeed.
What if we took on the attitude we all had as babies? If you are reading this and you can walk….you had to have the same determination….and failures….but you eventually learned to walk…..God created you to walk……He also created you to achieve…but not without failure….we have to understand that, in life, we will fail….but what we do when we fail…..is what determines our success!
One key skill we all need to possess in order to succeed is to take RESPONSIBILITY when we fail. Of course, there can be outside circumstances and people who can contribute to failure…..but we must realize life doesn’t always work out the way we’d like it. Things aren’t always fair; people don’t always have the best motives (selfish motives affect others–usually adversely). No one is going to live your life for you or achieve for you for that matter. It is up to you and, of course, relying on the ultimate help and direction from God.
If you find yourself in a discouraging situation, realize……everyone who got where they are, started where they were! Yes……wherever you are, just step back and realize…..no one is responsible for your life, and no one can live it but you!! The big and significant question is: “Will I be Responsible?” The even more important question is, “Will I look to my Creator…..the One who created me to walk……the One who has a created plan…..and purpose for me to fulfill?”
God created everyone to be significant and, yes, to achieve and be responsible for their life….No matter where you are or what has happened……start where you are……don’t choose to live in a “blame storming” mentality……….Don’t get caught up in the unfairness of life. The Bible clearly states that God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and He gives rain to the just and unjust. We can’t allow ourselves to get stuck in failures and the unfair things life throws our way….we may never know or see why things happen…..we need to understand “those things that hurt, instruct”. ~Benjamin Franklin
Instead….just take the time to watch a baby trying to walk…watch their tenacity, their attitude, their determination…..and realize God didn’t just create us to learn to walk….He created us to do and achieve much with our life……..It starts with realizing we have to take RESPONSIBILITY for that life and how we spend it!
Deuteronomy 10:12-13, “And now, Israel [insert your name], what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”