I was supposed to have a prenatal appointment after dropping Coralyn off at school. I was excited to hear the baby's heartbeat again, check in with our midwife, and officially be another step closer to meeting this baby!
BUT, my midwife texted me right before I was getting ready to leave.
She was at a birth.
We had to reschedule my appointment.
I GUESS that other baby can be born and his/her parents can have an AMAZING day meeting their new little one...
I, on the other hand, had to change my plans.
No biggie, really.
Library storytime it was!
We got there in time for the FIRST storytime of the day, but the girls wanted to play on the computers and do some of the other fun activities set out for the kiddos. So we had a whole HOUR to wait. After Kellah and Kyiah had done pretty much everything possible, I had them get a few books for me to read to them while we waited the last few minutes before the doors opened for us to go in for storytime.
Kellah innocently brought me this book:
Little did she know I would have to hold back tears as I read it to her and Kyiah.
I mean, it's a simple children's book about a baby chick.
I could blame it on the pregnancy hormones.
But I really think it's because the message of the book spoke to my heart and lined up perfectly with what God has been teaching me lately.
You see Peepsqueak wants to fly. HIGH.
He was on the move from the very start.
And he was determined to fly. HIGH.
BUT, he kept falling down, down, down.
That didn't stop him though.
He just got back up and tried again.
And again.
He didn't listen to all the other farm animals repeatedly telling him he could NOT fly.
He didn't let their doubts diminish his dreams.
He didn't let their negativity squelsh his desire to fly.
Instead, he kept trying. And trying. And trying.
Guess what?
Peepsqueak NEVER did fly.
Not once.
Not on his own, at least.
I LOVE the ending of the book.
A goose comes along and invites Peepsqueak to jump on her back.
He does.
And off they go.
HIGH up in the sky.
They fly over the farm and have a delightful time.
Peepsqueak DID get to fly. HIGH.
All the other animals were impressed.
Guess they quickly forgot how sure they had been that he would NEVER fly.
Good thing Peepsqueak didn't listen to them.
Instead, he was consistent.
He was committed.
He was courageous.
EVENTUALLY, Peepsqueak achieved his goal.
It did take some time.
And lots of effort.
BUT, his dream became a reality.
Because he never gave up.
He believed there was a way.
And didn't stop until he found one.
We are born with dreams and desires and passions in our hearts.
We have goals and ambitions.
We go after them.
Or at least START to.
Then someone tells us, "You can't do that."
Another person reminds us, "That's hard."
Someone else assures us, "That's impossible."
Before too long, we start to listen to these naysayers.
Worse yet, we start to believe their LIES!
And so we give up.
We abandon our dreams.
We settle.
We MISS OUT big time!
We end up getting by.
Barely surviving.
This is NOT how life is supposed to be.
We are made to THRIVE!
We are created to fly. HIGH.
Just like Peepsqueak, we will look for ways to make this happen.
We will try lots of various things.
And we will fall. LOTS of times.
And FAR TOO MANY people will discourage us, rather than helping us get back up on our feet and looking for something different to try.
I don't know about you, but I am committed to being like Peepsqueak.
NEVER giving up.
Determined to find a way.
And totally okay with the reality that I will need HELP to accomplish my goals.
I am the first to admit I can NOT achieve my dreams on my own.
NO way.
Yes, we are each made to THRIVE, to fly.
But we can only do this in COMMUNITY.
We NEED each other.
Best part is that God typically uses people, events, circumstances, etc. that we NEVER would have imagined or expected.
For me, He has brought It Works into my life to serve as the goose to help me fly.
I could have rejected this plan.
I could have kept looking for ways to fly on my own.
Climbing mountains and jumping off them.
I think Peepsqueak shows me a better way.
Get on the goose's back.
And enjoy the ride!
Fly higher than you ever would have been able to on your own.
I don't know what goose God will put in YOUR path.
But I KNOW He will bring one along.
He has promised in His Word that we will "SOAR ON WINGS LIKE EAGLES."
He NEVER breaks a promise.
Just this morning I read about Abraham and Sarah. He promised they would have descendants that were more numerous than the stars. Only problem - they had NO children. And they were getting OLD. Like super old. Sarah was barren. Abraham wasn't a young pup in his prime anymore either. But God promised...
And about 23 years later, He came through and Isaac was born.
23 YEARS...
That is a LONG time to wait for God to fulfill His promise.
Best part - Abraham was almost 100, and Sarah was 90!
I do believe God has a sense of humor.
AND likes to show off His power, making sure there is NO mistake about WHO accomplished the impossible (or what was said to be impossible - God's really good at proving people wrong).
We MUST remember, however, God never tells us following Him will be easy.
He never guarantees a smooth path. He DOES say He will prepare the way and lead us down it, every step of the way.
More often than not, though, the journey will be HARD.
Up steep cliffs and narrow passages.
Down valleys low and dark tunnels with no end in sight.
The journey will probably be LONG too.
And tiring.
We will want to quit.
To give up.
People all along the way will encourage us to do just that.
They'll be like the farm animals in Peepsqueak's story:
"You can't do that."
"It's too hard."
"Impossible."
"You're crazy."
"Take a break."
"This way over here is easier."
"It's not worth the risk."
"Better to be safe."
Do NOT listen to them.
Keep going.
Run.
Walk.
Crawl.
Just keep moving.
And I promise you God will keep HIS promise to us.
We WILL "soar on wings like eagles."
He WILL "do INFINITELY more than we could ever dare to ask or imagine."
Then, we get to go back to all the farm animals and share all about how HIGH we flew...
No comments:
Post a Comment