{"id":9022,"date":"2011-09-19T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2011-09-19T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/?p=9022"},"modified":"2011-09-18T21:00:42","modified_gmt":"2011-09-19T02:00:42","slug":"finish-strong-finish-on-time-finish-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/finish-strong-finish-on-time-finish-with-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Finish strong. Finish on time. Finish with us."},"content":{"rendered":"

A guest post from Jennifer, mentor to group # 21<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you ever stayed up into the wee hours to finish reading a good book?\u00a0 Have you been involved in a sport that demanded you practice day after day, show up when tired, forsake other activities just to perfect your ability to hit the ball, run faster, kick higher?\u00a0 How about your last diet?\u00a0 How many cookies did you turn away from, and how many extra sit-ups did you force yourself to do so you could shed that last five pounds and fit into the dress?<\/p>\n

When you first fell in love, did you give up sleep, watching the game or a favorite TV show, and other important activities just to be able to spend extra moments with your love?\u00a0 Did your desire for harmony with your love overshadow difficulties you encountered and help you push through circumstances in which you might have otherwise given up?<\/p>\n

When the chips are down, do you make it a priority to show up for an important event, even if your schedule is already packed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

This determination, this drive, this focus, this mindset, is what will enable you to catch up in your reading and make it to Revelation 22:21 with the group.\u00a0 Your resolve that says, \u2018No matter what, this matters and it is my highest priority for this season of time.\u2019 will enable you to finish strong with the group on Saturday, October 8th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps you are still w-a-a-a-a-a-y back in Deuteronomy.\u00a0 Maybe, life struck you a few blows along the way and you are limping, wounded and lacking resolve, because all of your energy is spent getting through your circumstances.\u00a0 I\u2019m venturing a guess that some are stuck in bed for many hours, finding it difficult even to get up in the morning and face what is in their life right now.\u00a0 Depression has its fangs in your mind and is urging you to dwell on lies.<\/p>\n

Single parent, working mom, homeschooler, death, divorce, sickness, rebellious children, vacations, heartbreak; these have gotten in your way and diverted you from your first Love.\u00a0 They have stolen your joy and distracted you from the resolve you made when you signed up to read through the Bible in 90 days.<\/p>\n

You didn\u2019t sign up to fail, to fall short, or to do it halfway.\u00a0<\/strong> You believed in the objective, craved the accountability and prayed for the wisdom and insight it would build into you as you filled your life with His holy word.\u00a0 You stepped into the challenge as The Little Engine That Could, \u201cI think I can.\u00a0 I think I can.\u00a0 I think I can.\u201d\u00a0 You courageously answered the Holy Spirit\u2019s call on your heart to read the word and make it a priority.<\/p>\n

When you did, birds landed on your head saying you\u2019ll never make it.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 The sky grew dark; the mountain you were climbing shook under your feet and some of the tracks broke beneath you just as you passed them.\u00a0 Wolves howled, avalanches threatened to freeze you in your tracks.\u00a0 You repeated your mantra, \u201cI think I can,\u201d but you shook in fear as you spoke and tears fell as you choked and hiccuped forward uphill, more slowly.<\/p>\n

There are now 20 days of mountain climbing tracks left for all of our little engines.\u00a0 Now is the time to chug ahead, forsaking all else, and all other distractions.\u00a0<\/strong> Turn off the TV, don\u2019t sign onto Facebook, stay up an hour later and get up an hour earlier and devote all those extra minutes to reading.\u00a0 Read while waiting in line, in the restroom, while waiting for the kids, upon waking in the middle of the night\u2026Read.\u00a0 Read.\u00a0 Read.\u00a0 If we make reading and finishing a high priority, treat it as training, as a first love, a new love, if we would skip a meal to spend an extra amount of time catching up, make reading a non-negotiable engagement on our calendar each day, we will finish.\u00a0 If we keep reading, we will finish.\u00a0 If we stop reading, we won\u2019t finish.\u00a0 It\u2019s that simple.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let us not be surprised by the fiery trials we have encountered as we\u2019ve made our resolve to read through the entire Bible in 90 Days.\u00a0 The enemy of our souls doesn\u2019t want us to have victory.\u00a0 But, Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith is Victory.\u00a0 In Him, there is victory over death. Let\u2019s call upon Him now and ask for His victory over our broken spirits, over how behind we are in reading, over our apathy to finish, over our feelings of inability to finish by October 8th<\/sup>.\u00a0<\/strong> Call on Him and ask Him for victory!<\/p>\n

The Little Engine\u2019s final words were, \u201cYes!\u00a0 I did it, and it was worth it!\u201d\u00a0 Why was it worth it?\u00a0 It was worth it because she fought through and beat all the odds along the way.\u00a0 It was worth it because she pushed, sweated and did whatever it took to carry herself and the toys to the top of the mountain.\u00a0 It was worth it because she did it in spite of and in the midst of the trials.\u00a0 It was worth it because she succeeded, and it was especially worth it, because she was so much stronger for having made the climb successfully through those trials and not giving up.<\/p>\n

Trials reveal who we really are.\u00a0 People who sign up to read the entire Bible in 90 days have chutzpah.\u00a0 They are strong and courageous people with a vision and a heart for obedience and a desire to be closer with GOD.\u00a0 They are people who can endure the trials they encounter while they are reading, and say to themselves, \u201cI think I can.\u00a0 I think I can.\u201d\u00a0 They are people who reach the top of the mountain at Revelation 22:21 and say with a smile, \u201cYes!\u00a0 I did it and it was worth it!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A guest post from Jennifer, mentor to group # 21 Have you ever stayed up into the wee hours to finish reading a good book?\u00a0 Have you been involved in a sport that demanded you practice day after day, show up when tired, forsake other activities just to perfect your ability to hit the ball, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-in-90-days-summer-fall-2012"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9022"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9026,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9022\/revisions\/9026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}