eXcellence

I love how the Lord has us all on our own journey. A pilgrimage that begins when we are born and extends until He calls us home. The Lord has a plan for what He's going to do in our lives. He's prepared us all for good works. It brings me great joy to watch my children begin their journey. From birth each has shown their unique personality. Watching that personality mature over the years is one of the biggest blessings for me as a mom! It keeps me in prayer for sure. Prayer for God's protection over them, and also for Him to use them according to His will, with the strengths and talents He's woven into each one. My oldest child, who is overflowing with passion each day upon rising (and since birth!) was in Cub Scouts one year. It was Derby race time! He and his daddy worked hard on that little block of wood to make it smooth, sleek and fast. Caleb was oozing with pride as he showed me the car and you could see victory written across his forehead. He was already thinking where he would put the trophy and practicing his smile. Did I mention this was our first time with this group? We didn't know what the track looked like, or if you got to practice beforehand. We didn't know any tricks. As the cars start racing, we see several things we could've done differently. When Caleb's is placed at the starting line, we soon realize, this may not end well. Caleb ended up placing 4th place out of 5. He is fighting back tears on the way out to the truck. On the way home he says, "Dad, I never even considered not winning!"

Poor guy, had a dose of reality! On the track of life, similar lessons are learned. Proverbs 19:2 says, "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." God has led me to that verse so many times, as I'm pretty sure I know where my passionate boy got some of his genes from. When I see something that I want to do, or needs to be done, I dive right in, regardless if I know how to swim or not! It's all or nothing. How this verse encourages me is that it's OK to have zeal, but knowledge is necessary too. Otherwise, I'm going to get off track. When I take the time to do the research or bum off someone else who LOVES to do research...take a day to pray before saying "Yes"...read the directions.... or the preface...I submit myself to God's plan and not my own.

In everything, there's balance. Extremes can always be dangerous. Recently God balanced that verse for me with Romans 12:11-12, "Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord." Sometimes situations ignite a fire in my heart and I have a passionate opinion about it. To which I wonder if I am just OVERBOARD and need to apologize! One night I had asked the Lord to show me if I was in the wrong about a certain viewpoint about which I was passionate about. I asked the Lord to thump me on the head if I was wrong. That's when He showed me this verse. It made me smile. When wrapped in Him, our passions bring Him Glory. Paul was passionate - against the Truth and then for the Truth. God showed me to be Passionate for Him - for there is no One greater!

Proverbs 21:31 sums up Caleb's experience and speaks to me as well:
"The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord."