Tag: courage

Bible, blessings, bravery, challenges, courage, dream, faith, faithful, Family, forgiveness, fortitude, freedom, God, God's grace, God's will, Jesus, obedience, parenting, perseverance, pool, positivity, religious, scripture, spiritual, sprummer, swimming, water, women

Diving In

katietkennedy

I recently took my kids for swim lessons. With summer approaching and swim team on the cusp, I figured it was the perfect time to refine their skills. It had been a while since they had been in the pool.

I looked up to see one of my kids diving in. The first dive of the season is always a little awkward. By the end of the season, she is a diving fool. The first dive is full of reluctance. It’s more like a jump with her head tucked and arms arched forward. She lands vertical, feet hitting the water first.

You can see by her form she’s intending to dive and after a few more practices, she enters the pool headfirst and exudes more confidence. The jumping dive is quickly replaced by a real dive.

This reminds me of our faith journey. When we ask Jesus into our lives and start reading our Bible, we nod our head at what it says. We agree with the words. We understand what to do, but when it comes to diving in, we are kinda like my daughter diving for the first time that season. We are awkward and not sure how.

We have our heads tucked and arms out, but we can’t plunge in headfirst. We do the same thing my daughter does, some kind of dive/jump. Or we don’t get in at all and just stand there reluctantly on the sideline wanting to get in, knowing we need to, but not able to take the plunge.

One dive at a time we get more comfortable. As we continue to seek God through prayer and Scripture, He continues to fill us with His plan, His courage, His will. Our first jumps are uncomfortable, but we do them anyway.

As we act in obedience, we see His presence with us. The dives become easier. We don’t stand on the sideline anymore; we dive in knowing He will take care of the rest.

The first time I sent out my first blog (in obedience to Him). I closed my eyes and cringed as I hit the publish button. It seemed so official. I hope I wouldn’t get rejected.

Now I hit submit, knowing if I mess up, I can go back and edit. If people don’t like what I wrote, they can delete it.

It’s not about me, it’s about Him. The more I practice obedience, the easier it becomes and the more I can be a vessel used by Him in this world.

Oh, our loving Father is so amazing.

Don’t stand on the sideline anymore. Take the dive! God won’t push you in, but He will show you the way once you take the plunge.

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Facing our Fears

katietkennedy
Facing our fears
Freedom over fear

When we reflect on our country’s history, there is a consistent theme of perseverance and courage. Our ancestors fought for the freedom we enjoy. We take our independence for granted because we didn’t live through those battles. Pages in history books aren’t the same as experiencing the struggle.

Our forefathers faced attacks, illness, droughts, and other opposition. They responded to these life and death situations with bravery and relentlessness.

Are we considering the long-term mindsets we are modeling for the next generation? Is our response to this virus preparing our youth for the trials ahead?

We learn best through doing or experiencing. We might disagree on a lot of subjects, but I think we all agree we want the next generation to make our country even greater. We want our youth to exhibit perseverance, determination, resilience, hard work, bravery, and more. You can’t will these characteristics; they must be learned the hard way. They are learned by facing each day’s obstacles, learning from them, and not giving up.

I’ve had a wonderful life, but it hasn’t been peaches and cream, and never will be. We have a choice to make every day. We either face each challenge or give up. The suicide rate in our country increased by 33% from 1999 through 2017 (American Psychological Association). Let’s reverse that trend and change the course of our country.

Our country gained its freedom and success through courage, not fear.

The coronavirus will not be the last hurdle we face. It’s how we teach our youth to respond to situations that will formulate the future. Do we want them filled with fear or equipped with confidence? Are we teaching them how to overcome hard things?