Tag: quitting

Posted in Family, fear, forgiveness, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, prayer, Southern born, wisdom

Miracles and Concubines

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Genesis 17:17

I quit just a little too soon.  I think there must have been this line in heaven where all the babies wait to be assigned dads, moms, skills, and bodies in heaven.  I can just imagine me standing there waiting.  I am watching as all the boy babies make it to the front and they are soon on their way with these bodies that are destined to be tall and muscular.  They make the jump to earth and their new homes just waiting to grow up and become the next Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan.  I can also imagine my turn at the front of the line and Saint Peter saying something about sports and I miss understood and thought he said something about ketchup, and I said, “Sure, I’ll take a squirt.” Anyway, I arrived on earth a little shorter than average and not a sports bone in my body.  I should have listened closer.

All this became pretty apparent when it came to choosing teams.  Whether it was kickball, volleyball, basketball, dodgeball, or baseball, when the teams were chosen I was near the end of the line. As far as school sports, well, there were hundreds of kids in the schools I attended and trust me no one ever offered me a contract.  The only place I had a measure of success was, of course, at church.  I managed to make the church softball team though it was the “B” team. We did play tackle football after our Bible study time on Wednesday nights and there I made a name for myself. One of our teachers was named Eddie and he was, well, one large man and no one could tackle him, so they called him “Big Eddie.”  While I wasn’t nearly that large, I was harder to tackle so I gained the name “Little Eddie.”  Hey, when you are nameless in the world of sports, you will take anything.

My only foray into “professional sports” was Little League baseball when I was about 9 or 10.  I don’t remember if I actually made the team, or if everyone made the team.  Regardless, we were called the Gators and we, or rather they, were pretty good.  Again, I had absolutely no talents in baseball, so I was assigned to right field on the rare occasions that I got to play.  I was the kid who prayed a lot during the games.  It wasn’t that I was particularly spiritual—it was emotional survival.  First, I would pray that they wouldn’t play me and then, if they did, I would pray that no one would hit the ball to right field.  It didn’t work. Invariably someone would and well, it wasn’t good.

Then, of course, there was the batting thing.  Did you know that there are players who actually say they can see the stitches on the ball as it comes toward them?  Did you know there are players who actually know when and how to swing?  Can you guess I wasn’t one of those players?  Nope, the pitcher would pitch, and I would wonder where the ball was. That wasn’t pretty either.  So, the sad (you are feeling sorry for me by now, aren’t you) bottom line is that one day I just refused to go to practice.  I made it through about three quarters of the season and I just gave it up—I quit.

Well, guess what?  It turns out that even without me, the Gators ended up winning the championship.  Yup, they sure did.  I remember, the coach came by my house one evening and he was carrying a trophy.  He said that the team had won it all and even though I hadn’t finished the season, he wanted me to have a trophy.  I probably mumbled something about quitting because I was hit by a semi-truck and thanked him for bringing the trophy by.  The truth was there was no excuse—I just quit. And the other truth is because of that, the trophy meant absolutely, the grand total of—nothing.  I didn’t earn it and I didn’t deserve it.  Not because I wasn’t good, but because I didn’t finish.

I really don’t have a lot of regrets life but that is a small one I do own.  I’m ok with not being tall and gifted in sports, but I’m really not ok with being a quitter.  Not then—not now. If I would have waited, I could have been a champion, but I didn’t wait it out.  You know there was a guy in the Bible who had the same issue.  God had promised him a son, an heir.  The only problem was he and his wife were old—really old.  In fact, when God told him he was going to have a son, this guy fell on his face and laughed and said, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Instead of believing God, he decided to do things his way or really Sarah’s way. Since she couldn’t conceive, they opted for a concubine rather than wait on the miracle.  What a bad idea.  He and the concubine did have a son, but it wasn’t the son God had promised.  It really didn’t go well…and sadly it still isn’t going well.  Much of the conflict in that part of the world stems from this one man.  Oh, the consequences.

Oh, and by the way, guess what?  When they were both older than dirt, Sarah, his wife, did in fact conceive and the promised son was born.  God came through after all—surprise, surprise.  If only they had finished the season…if only they had waited, how different things would have been.  The good news is that God kept His word and blessed Abraham beyond his wildest dreams. You see even though Abraham quit believing, God never quit believing in him…and He won’t quit believing in you either.  I like that…actually, I love that.  Regardless of what you are waiting on, just hang on…just be patient, just wait and see what God has in mind. He’s never late and He’s never early, He’s right on time because He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, fear, life, Scripture, thankful, wisdom

Goose-Land, Part 2 “I Quit”

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Psalm 139:14

“I Quit.”  I could almost hear the words coming from his beak. Yesterday was “walk in the park day” and the ducks and geese were doing their thing.  If you haven’t made a trip to the park to just watch the geese and ducks you really should.  It is so interesting to see how they interact with one another.  There are a couple of stories at gritswithgrace.com if you would like to go back and read them.

Yesterday I was in lap two of three and I saw something that really caught my attention and captured my heart.  You probably know that geese like to hang together.  They will be “gaggling” together and suddenly, it is as if someone, the gaggle leader will give a nod or a honk and everyone will burst into flight.  They rise from the ground or the water as one, like a flight of aircraft from a military flight.  They quickly take formation and off they go into the wild blue yonder.

As I was walking across the stone bridge at the park the order was given and about seven geese took off.  I was pretty close and it was pretty impressive.  With a flush of honking and flapping, they rose into the sky as one.  Goose One, the flight leader carefully led the group over the bridge and down to the far end of the pond.  They took off as one and they flew as one all except…one.

As they flew by at full power I happened to notice one of the group still on the ground.  He was a young adult goose but definitely old enough to take to the air.  His body was well groomed, every feather in place.  From where I stood he looked like he could…he should be airworthy.  But as his friends took flight…he took a look around.  There they went and there he sat.  It was what happened next that was so unusual.  He suddenly started to run.  Paralleling the edge of the pond he started running as fast as his little legs would carry him.  It seemed he was sayings, “Hey guys, wait for me.”

He ran for about fifteen yards and then he stopped and went down the bank into the water, paddling furiously, heading for where he thought his friends and family had gone.  The last time I saw him he was still paddling away shouting, “Hey, wait for me.”  After getting over the amusement of watching him waddle and paddle, my heart was captured.  I found myself asking the obvious question, “Why?”

Why waddle when you can soar?  Why paddle when you can fly?  Why get left behind when you could be in the middle of the party?  I am not an expert in goose anatomy but he had all the equipment to fly and all the equipment seemed to be working. I really don’t know, but it seemed I heard him muttering as he waddled with all his might.  Although I’m not fluent in goose, it seemed he was saying, “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.”  And then, right before he went into the water he said, “I quit.”  How sad.

He was made to fly.  He was made to soar, but he chose, he settled, for waddling and paddling.  He chose for second best.  You see, you can be the best waddler in the world and that is fine…unless you were made to soar.  The view from the ground is never as magnificent as the view from the sky.  If his equipment was broken, if it was just a matter of a few more flight lessons well, that would be a different story.  But what if it was just a matter of not believing—in himself and the One who made him?

If you look around, and maybe as close as the bathroom mirror, you might see someone who stopping believing.  You might see someone who has tried and failed enough that they no longer believe anything is possible.  You might see someone who stopped believing that God makes masterpieces and started believing that God made a mess.  Well, let me tell you something.  God doesn’t make junk and He doesn’t make messes. The Psalmist said it right, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Fearfully and wonderfully made.  That is you and that is me.  If you find yourself on the shore, waddling when you designed to soar…start believing again.  Start believing in you, start believing in Him and start believing that with Him…all things are possible.  Don’t let the circumstances around you right now—the division, the virus, the uncertainty keep you on the ground.  You were made to fly, to soar!  Why not crawl up into the lap of your Dearest Father, rest in Him and just believe?  Believe the truth…that He’s got this.