Never Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is strange with its twists and its turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When they might have won, had they stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit!

Anonymus

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

It Couldn’t Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done
But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it!

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it;”
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure,
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

By Edgar Albert Guest

Go For It

“If you want a thing bad enough to go out
and
fight for it,
to work day and night for it,
to give up your time, your peace and your sleep for it…
if all that you dream and scheme is about it,
and life seems useless and worthless without it…
if you’d gladly sweat for it and fret for it and plan for it
and lose all your terror of the opposition for it…
if you simply go after that thing you want
with all of your capacity, strength and sagacity,
faith, hope and confidence and stern pertinacity…
if neither cold, poverty, famine, nor gout,
sickness nor pain, of body and brain,
can keep you away from the thing that you want…
if dogged and grim you beseech and beset it,
with the help of God, you will get it!”
—Les Brown

Active Faith

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31

TD Jakes quoted, “I can tell what you’re waiting on by what you’re working on. The waiting mentioned in the verse above is active not passive. It is referring to what you are believing God for? In most cases we accept the reality that we have been given and refuse to even act on the dreams and ideas God has placed inside of us. Day after day we stay in our comfort zones wishing for things to change, but not actually believing they will. We want the boat to move but we are too afraid to stick an oar in the water, to set our course and begin our journey. The journey of a million miles begins with the first step, but if we never develop the courage to start we’ll never finish the race. This life is a gift from God. What we make of it is our gift back to Him. Paul stated in Galatians, that he had run his course. Not anyone else’s course, but the one the Lord had set before him. The choice is yours, choose life. Start where you are with what you have and dare to be an element of change. Build the life of love, service, and generosity that God has planned and purposed for you. Trust and believe that whatever desire God has placed in your heart He will equip you with the tools to see it through to completeion1

1 Philippians 1:6
Faith moves forward
-Unknown-

God Will Save Me

A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately.
A faithful Christian man heard the warning and decided to stay, saying to himself, “I will trust God and if I am in danger, then God will send a divine miracle to save me.”
The neighbors came by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and there is room for you in our car, please come with us!” But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.”
As the man stood on his porch watching the water rise up the steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry and come into my canoe, the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.”
The floodwaters rose higher pouring water into his living room and the man had to retreat to the second floor. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. “We will come up and rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Use your time to save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!”
The flood waters rose higher and higher and the man had to climb up to his rooftop.
A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, “Grab my hand and I will pull you up!” But the man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No thank you! God will save me!”
Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned.
When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t You come and save me?”
And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning. I sent you a car. I sent you a canoe. I sent you a motorboat. I sent you a helicopter. What more were you looking for?”

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Marianne Williamson

Be Original

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27New International Version (NIV)

You were fearfully and wonderfully created by the Father1. Like a fingerprint you are unique. There is no one else like you. He has instilled in you the gifts and talents that only you can use to bring your dreams and ideas to life. Don’t waste time trying to mimic others. Focus all your efforts on being the best you that you can be. Stir up the gift that lies within and become the person God created you to be.

“You were born an original, don’t die a copy”
-John Mason-

1 Psalm 139:14

Excerpt from Common Sense, written in 1776 by Thomas Paine

I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon … if I can.
I seek opportunity … not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen,
Humbled and dulled by having the State look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk,
to dream and to build. To fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;
I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence;
The thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence
Nor my dignity for a handout
I will never cower before any master
Nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself,
To enjoy the benefit of my creations
And to face the world boldly and say:
This, with God’s help, I have done.

Legacy of Faith

On July 19th, 2015 the pastor of the Vineyard Columbus Sawmill campus, asked a very perplexing question during his Sunday morning sermon entitled A Simple Faith that Soars. The question was, “What are you going to be remembered for?”
Will it be the long hours you put in on the job? The number of friends you amassed? The number of vacations you took? The amount of earthly possessions you were able to accumulate? The money, cars, houses, clothes, fame, fortune? All the things we feverishly work to obtain that will soon pass away and turn to dust.
As I pondered this question over the next few weeks, the honest answer that I arrived at was that I had absolutely no clue. As this very profound message continued to resonate in my spirit I was forced to deal with the reality that I haven’t always done what is right by my children and although I’ve tried my best to be a good father I know that I have failed my children in the area of life that matters the most.
In light of this revelation I revisited pastor’s outline from the sermon to find the answer to this profound question. Lo and behold I found the answer was planted right in the midst of his message. The correct answer is leaving a Legacy of Faith that changes your family lineage
In my quest to give my children everything I never had. I forgot to give them the most important thing. The one thing that matters the most. A father that was present in their lives to set a godly example and to help guide them through the challenges of life.
My selfish actions have caused them so much hurt and pain. I have come to the realization that all though I can’t undo the pass I still face the monumental task of leaving them with a legacy of faith. One that outlives me and that can be passed down from generation to generation to come.
I can ill afford to be upset over time passed and opportunities lost. There is no time to waste. The life of my children and their children’s children is at stake. The fact that I’m still here lets me know me know that God has a plan and purpose for my life. It may not be what I envisioned it to be, but I trust that it is exactly what He has planned and purposed for me.
For my older children, I know that the seeds of righteousness have been planted in your spirits by myself and your mothers. It is my hope that others that you encounter throughout the course of your lives will water that seed and that in the end God will get the increase.
For my younger children, I vow to live as godly as I can in a way that inspires you to foster a real relationship with Christ and follow Him all the days of your life while passing the legacy of faith on to your children in the process.
Love Always,
Dad