Failure Is Not an Option

David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished." 1 Chronicles 28:20 NIV

Last week was just one of those weeks.

A time to have a pity party and feel sorry for myself.

Failure is how I felt.

Discouragement can creep up on us at any time. The roller coaster of life brings us down sometimes.

This time I felt like a failure because my day care numbers are low again. I knew it was going to be this way, and I am prepared for it. Still when the phone doesn't ring(minus the hundreds of political calls) and no one asking me about my day care; it can bring a person down.

I also feel like a failure because I thought by now, at least the people I know, would have bought "After the Storm". I know, I know more than 7 people and yet that is all the books I sold. I really thought this was the path God wanted me to take. He may still, just waiting to see what His plans are.

On vacation we heard about failure. Orville and Wilbur Wright had a great idea. They had found the ideal location, but they had failed to fly. In 1902, they went home ready to throw in the towel. They had numerous problems, they studied and tried and yet it didn't work out the way they planned.

They went home discouraged. They even thought "it would be a hundred years before men would fly". Upon arriving home they shared that they were ready to give up when their younger sister Katharine, encouraged them to keep trying. So they kept trying and in 1903 they succeeded.

Sometimes we need to fail in order to accomplish great things. Maybe our names won't end up in an encyclopedia, but we can succeed with God on our side.

He will never leave us, He will never forsake us. Through Him we can accomplish what He desires for us.

So even though I felt like a failure I know I'm not. I know I'm doing what God asks of me and all things will work out.

Homes, Homes, and Even More Homes

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15 NIV

Riding through different towns, landscapes, farming land one thing was common-homes. Everywhere I went there were homes. Homes of different shapes. Homes of different sizes. Homes that sat upon the ground, and homes that were built on stilts. Homes that had sat vacant for years.

Another thing most of these homes had in common was someone living in them. I only got to see the outside, but the outside could tell you things about the families who lived there.

Some had play forts or swing-sets or a play car. Some had a basketball hoop. More than likely children lived in these homes.

Some had immaculate yards, someone in those homes either enjoyed gardens or enjoyed paying someone to take care of their yard.

Some homes had old cars sitting off to the side of the yard. My son said, "I guess when it stops working you just set it off to the side and get another one."

The most interesting homes we found were the ones that could only be accessed by Hwy 12. The part where you need a 4 X 4 to get to it. We discussed how one must really know what they need when he/she goes out, it was not a quick journey to town.

One thing we found interesting among these homes in the country side were grave yards. It seemed one could just pick a place and bury your loved ones. My daughter thought it was strange to see tombstones fenced off, but then just a few feet away were several more not included in the fenced in part.

I thought one graveyard's placement was interesting. There it sat in the middle of the property line, which house did they belong too.

Focusing on these homes, I wondered "do these families worship the Lord?"

What do our homes say about us? Do they show whom we serve?

When someone drives by my house, I'm sure he/she thinks we must own a car lot. They might think I need to work in my yard a little more, but it's a lovely home.

I like it when I can have someone over for a visit. A few times we hosted a dinner party and invited a family over to spend the evening with us. We shared dinner together and either sat and visited or we played games. It was a time to get to know each other better.

We've also been invited to other people's homes and seen a glimpse of them inside their homes. These have been times of laughter and joy. Especially the one time when we played a game in the dark because the power went out.

It's at these times with the people in the homes when we get to know whom they serve or they get to know whom we serve. It's important.

It's So Dark In Here

And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 2 Peter 1:19 NIV

Patiently they waited their turn, they were excited for the chance to enter the darken tunnel. Finally, it was their time to go. The path wasn't long, they had to feel their way through. Funny thing kept happening though, they kept entering the same room. 

I was able to keep track of them on a video monitor as they made their voyage. I watched as they left the room again only to return there a short time later. One of them made it back to the entrance, and he decided it would be better to go with my daughter, "At least I'll get through then."

Finally the rest of them made it to the exit. 

"I kept bumping my head."

"It was dark in there."

The next group entered, I half expected them to get turned around as well. They managed a lot better. They were through a lot quicker.

"Wow! You guys did well."

"It was the lights on their shoes, it helped."

Light, it can make a big difference even when it's just a tiny bit of light. 

I am often reminded of our trip into Mammoth Cave. We made our way down into the cave to a cathedral type room with benches. Each of us were asked to sit on a bench while our guide turn off the lights in the cave. It was so dark, I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. Then our guide lit a lighter, that little bit of light made all the difference. The room glowed and we could see again.

Our walk in Christ can be the same. When we take the time to share, pray for someone, teach about his love we can be the little bit of light in the darken world. Christ's love can shine through us and let others know of His love.

Shine on.