The past few days I have been reading a book on women of the American Revolution. They are really inspiring stories, for these women to have done the things they did at that time when they were not even allowed to vote. We have all heard stories of people who acted beyond their human strength to accomplish what seemed impossible. War stories of bravery are examples of this. There is something within the human psyche which lifts us up to meet challenges in life which seem most unlikely. Helen Keller is one example of such a person beating the odds. Thank God that we are wired to try to excel in the face of adversity. Where does this urge to surge come from?? It cannot be human strength alone, there is more to it than that. Whatever it is or whatever its origin I think we all have the capacity for greatness. It just needs to be tapped at the precise time it is called for to quality for greatness. Is it that it exerts itself in only some of us at certain times. I have never been tapped for such acts but I have been inspired to do more than I had intended to do under some circumstances.
Some challenges go unmet and others seem to hit the right spot to cause us to respond. Last year , the last Sunday of December our pastor was away on vacation and one of our members led our S.S. class. He spoke of resolutions and asked if anyone had made any. One humorist said he had made one, it was "not to keep any resolutions he had made". I have never made resolutions for a new year and did not intend to do so then. But as the days passed I began to think of his challenge to us. It was to do something this coming year which would help us to grow in our faith. My immediate thoughts were that my faith was already set and what could I really do to help it grow. An idea began to form in my mind and I took paper and pen, scissors and Bible and began a project which has lasted almost a full year. I have stuck with it and it has been interesting and has given me a feeling of reality regarding the characters in the Bible. What I have done is this. I cut paper into slips just the right size to write one Bible verse on it. I began on the 25th of December. At first it was just hunt and write anywhere in the Bible. Whatever caught my eye and seemed interesting or new to me went down on the paper. Eventually I focused in on the book of Luke. I found some of the stories so interesting I just kept on chapter after chapter and that is where I am now.
The reading I was doing the past couple of days was in response to a challenge also but of a different sort. One enthusiastic lady in our DAR is really fired up about literacy. She is trying to fire us all up also. She had been a reading teacher in the past, as have I, so her challenge resonated with me. Consequently I responded to it and yesterday I purchased five books to be given away at some point in the near future. Every meeting that I attend for the DAR there are challenges at every turn. One cannot respond to them all but it the shoe fits, wear it - I suppose !!
When I was nineteen years old I was given a life challenge, though I think it was just meant to be an encouraging remark to a young girl far from home who was just at the beginning of her adult life. My instructor told me that he believed I could do anything in life that I wanted to do. That gave me a star on which to hang my dreams. I think of it only in times of reflection for the rest of the time I am too busy "doing things" to even think of it. But, it was remembered.
My children are my encourager's now. They are very supportive for any crazy thing I want to do. Even if they think it is hair brained they do not say so. I discard the unworthy or really impractical ideas and stick with the attainable ones. Entering my pickles in the county fair this fall was a new and interesting challenge. Winning a blue ribbon for them made it fun too !
I suppose the point of all this mind searching is that we can be lifted up when least expected. Perhaps being open to possibilities is key to reaching goals. Choosing words carefully, especially when falling on young ears may result in some life altering way for them. I must remember this for myself, especially since almost everyone I know is younger than me. !!
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