I’m standing on the edge of the sea,
about to set sail on another school year.
about to set sail on another school year.
The sunlight is a gentle glow;
the breeze carries the sweet sound of bird’s cheerful songs.
the breeze carries the sweet sound of bird’s cheerful songs.
But
inside my heart, the darkness starts to grow,
and I am serenaded by the birds of
prey.
Vultures, crowing at
the thought of
picking clean the bones of my plans.
picking clean the bones of my plans.
13 books on our Family Read list
What if I don’t get
all the character building books read aloud?
Storms await my children.
Character building will give them the skills they need to
survive.
Lord the sea is so
great, my boat is so small.
What if my own character flaws
show glaringly through, then what?
What if I fail, lose my temper, yell at
them (again),
will they turn their hearts from me,
from the one I’m pointing them toward?
from the one I’m pointing them toward?
Lord the sea is so
great, and my boat is full of holes.
235 school days. 235 math lessons.
235 chore charts to check.
235 days of spelling words, multiplication
flash cards
and music practice.
and music practice.
By
me.
Me, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants girl.
235 schedules to be checked off, blanks to be filled in,
charts to be filled out, goals to be met.
charts to be filled out, goals to be met.
By me, lose-every-list-I-make-girl.
Lord the sea is so
great and my navigation skills are so small.
235 days of encouraging, guiding, leading,
sometimes pushing/dragging them onto the path of learning.
Me, distracted by every little, oh wow,
look there is a hummingbird, girl.
look there is a hummingbird, girl.
Lord the sea is so
great and my attention span is so small.
What if I fail?
I have so often.
Plans and
schedules joyfully made, then laid aside.
Projects and programs enthulasticly
started, but not finished.
Promises earnestly made, but not kept.
I’m so like Peter, jumping right out of the boat,
walking toward Jesus,
walking toward Jesus,
Obedient, then distracted, then sinking.
I’m so like Peter, vowing to die for what I believe,
so
bold, so brash, then overcome by fear when standing by the fire.
We sanguines
can switch from party pals to panic partners
faster than pizza disappears at a
Weight Watchers convention.
The Master knew ol Pete, knew his character,
but trusted him anyway.
but trusted him anyway.
Trusted him with BIG things.
Bigger than fractions. Bigger
than book reports.
Hot tempered, quick-on-the-draw, deny-deny-deny-Dude,
gets
handed the keys to the kingdom,
that’s pretty big stuff.
I wouldn’t have chosen Pete,
and I wouldn’t have chosen me.
But the Master did.
And if he has faith in me, to what he
called me to,
then I can have faith too.
Not in my ship, nor in my past experiences, nor in my
sailing skill.
My faith is in the one who holds both sea and ship.
Like Pete, I may get waterlogged; I may take a dunk, a dip,
a swim,
but I’ll live to tell the tale, if I keep my eyes on Him.
He does not call me to
what He will not get me through.
What have you been called to do that slap scares you silly?
Take heart my friend.
If ol Pete can work through his
personal weaknesses
to become the follow-through guy he did,
you can to.
You CAN lose that weight.
You CAN finish that degree.
You CAN learn that skill.
You CAN raise those kids.
Get your eyes off the boat, off the storm.
Keep your eyes on the Master,
and come
on in, the waters fine.