Wednesday's Word

Today's word was inspired by my niece. The word is perseverance.

Actual definition - persistent determination

Meaning to me - The ability to get up and keep on trying no matter how many times you fall

Like I said, this word was inspired by my niece, Raegan. I went with her last night to the Little Gym. (If you've never been you should go and watch the kids. Unless of course you don't know any young children who you could tag along with. If you just randomly walked into Little Gym and started watching the kids, you'd probably look like a stalker.)
Anyway, my niece has found a new favorite thing, the uneven bars. Well, just the lower bar really b/c that's the only one she could reach, but she begged me to put her on the top one, but I didn't think she was quite ready for it yet. So there she was leaning out to the bar and grabbing on. She fell flat on her face several times, but finally she learned the right way to grip. Of course, she's only two so she'd lose her grip after a minute and fall from the bar. (Don't worry, The Little Gym is well padded)
I watched this kid fall onto her butt. She slipped from the bar and landed in a split, and I can count all the times she landed flat on her face, but no matter how painful the fall looked, she got right back up and grabbed the bar again.
By the end of the night she could swing her feet forward and hold them in a sitting position for several seconds. The grin on her face when we clapped and clapped for her showed us that all the falls were worth it to win our praise.
It would have been easy for her to cry and give up after that first fall. Or the second, or the hundredth, but she didn't. She kept persevering, and she was rewarded by achieving her goal.
We should be the same way in life. There are going to be times we fall. We have a choice at every fall. We can stay and wallow in the dirt, or we can get up and pray for God's strength to help us go on.
Check out this verse from Ephesians 6:18, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"
Even when we fall, we can pray and ask for God's Spirit to help us. He wants us to persevere in our prayers. He doesn't want us to give up on ourselves or on others who may have fallen. We are to pray, no matter how hopeless it seems.
So if something seems so far out of reach today, keep running. Keep praying. Keep working towards that goal. The rewards are well worth it.