Challenges to Doing the Right Thing

Writing about encouragement and speaking about encouragement are two of the purposes I have been led to accomplish. There are three boys that are not cooperating with their homeschool that is making my journey a little tough at this moment. It can be easy to focus on the circumstances and let my eyes drift from the prize.

What to do?

The easy thing to do would be to curl up in a hot bath. That path calls out pretty loud when I have to repeat for the fourth time “quit playing with the balloons and get back to your school work.” I am also contemplating a fire. It might put off getting work done, but it would make me feel better.

Procrastination comes easy when circumstances exist. The biggest problem comes from the fact that circumstances ALWAYS exist. I have to choose to look past the problems, annoyances and circumstances to focus on the race that lies before me.

Keys to See Past Problems

1. Accept the fact that things and people are never perfect. Sometimes the flaws are what make the creation so unique. Maybe if I repeat it enough then I will be able to believe it.

2. Lower your voice when you are speaking. Getting upset and staying upset are difficult when you do not feed the emotions. Lowering your voice has the added benefit of making others pay attention.

3. Choose not to speak. A negative word, spoken in haste, cannot be taken back. It will also take around 20 positive comments to overcome that one negative IF it can ever be erased from the heart of the recipient.

4. Just do it. Those words are more than an ad campaign. They are words to live by. Doing the things that I need to do often help me feel better about everything else.

5. Put the word in your heart. Spending time throughout the day, engrossed in the Word of God, allows that Word to come up from your heart to your thoughts and your mouth just when you need them the most.

I can discover an excuse to avoid doing the things I know I am called to do and finding that excuse takes little (if any) effort. The challenge that I must overcome is choosing instead to push through to run with patience the race that is set before me.