Perseverance

Last Sunday the pastor of Manna Church,(where the kids attend),preached a sermon on the topic of perseverance. God gave him some great food for thought. His main two points were:

1. There is a place beyond what we feel.
2. There is a source beyond what we have.

He went on to state that most people are controlled by their feelings but that successful perseverance requires that we NOT be controlled by our feelings. It requires that we go deeper, looking through the shallowness of emotion and comfort into the realm where character and faith rule the roost. Quitting it not an option!

Another statement he made was that what you do in the face of "head wind" defines your race.

He used several scriptures (see below) to show that God wants us to persevere and is always there to take our hand and walk with us through the times of difficulty, in whatever form it takes.

Romans 5:3-5
2 Thess. 1:4
Hebrews 12:1-3
James 1:2-4
Proverbs 24:10

One of his final comments continues to play through my thoughts:
It is in the valley that you drink from his river of grace!

It is interesting to note that I realized these words were meant to encourage me concerning my health issue but little did I realize they'd return to "plague" me when we TRIED to "pick up" our motorhome this Friday, fully anticipating heading to Savanna for a brief vacation before our first scheduled MMAP project October 3rd in Florida. As we were driving out of the lot something broke and we were "dead in the water"! Once more we are living with the kids-this time with Rebecca and Steve-and will be contacting the "powers that be" to get parts and the proper maintenance accomplished. At this point we don't know if we will be able to make it to our MMAP project on time. That is in God's hands. He knows we want to be there. Through this, another difficulty with the motorhome, I have seen a spiritual depth in Hunter, obviously grown out of time spent in India, and an extra-ordinary ability to show Christian love under trying situations.

So we are continuing to take one day at a time in this retirement adventure and "enjoy" what God brings our way!
I pray you can successfully perseverance through whatever comes around your corner!

P.S. As a side-note, I even managed to "persevere" this week and complete a cross stitch project I have had under way for 13 years!!