prepared | Courage for Today

No Doubt That You Can Pass the Test

“And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test ” 2 Corinthians 13:6

Years ago, I was finally preparing to graduate from College. For me, more than others, it was a big deal. I had attended College in my late teens and early twenties, but never graduated. At that season of my life, I was forced to drop out of school in order to work full-time and take care of our young children. Decades later, now In my mid-fifties, I decided to go back to school and complete my degree. It was an accomplishment I wanted to check off of my “bucket list” and be able to say, “I finished.”

Here I was all those years later, finally at the point where my diploma was within sight. All that stood before me was one final exam——an exam that I didn’t feel ready for and wasn’t ready to take. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice. I prepared and studied as best as I could, but deep down inside, I was worried. What if all those years of waiting to get a diploma were blocked by not passing this final exam? What would I do? All those years of studying would be all for nothing.

The final day before the exam, I was literally a basket case. Years and years of prep all came down to one test. I went into the exam time and did the best I could and prayed for the best. The next day, after what seemed to be an eternity, I received a passing grade. Finally, some 30 years after I originally attended College, I could proudly say I was a College graduate. What a great feeling!!

As I thought about this special time of my life, I realized that God had uniquely prepared me for this time. God knew I wasn’t ready for College at the time I originally attended. Instead, he matured me and grew me and helped me attend College at a later time in my life when I was better prepared. My entire adult life, I felt that not obtaining a degree in my twenties meant that I was a failure. What God showed me was that I was always a College Graduate; it was just not my time until later in life. God knew that I would not have been ready when I thought I was ready.

Maybe there is something in life that has alluded you. Maybe you haven’t achieved all that you seek. Whatever you may be going through in life now, realize that your life experiences have prepared you for this moment. If life does not seem like it is going as it should, remind yourself that you have been prepared by Almighty God to eventually pass your test. As with me, passing your test may not occur on your time-table, but God’s time-table is always best. Be patient and don’t lose faith; your graduation day will come.

Each of Us is in God’s Hands

Strength

I can still remember vividly the days that both of our children were born. I was a typical young father. I didn’t really think I knew what I was doing. I certainly wasn’t prepared. I would imagine that no new parent is ever really prepared. We all do the best we can do and with a lot of on-the-job training, we somehow manage.

The day my daughter was born was especially scary since she was our first. My wife and I showed up at the hospital early in the morning. Off we went with the admission nurses on to get settled in our new “home” for the next several hours, our birthing room. There was nothing special about the room and I was so nervous that it really wouldn’t have mattered anyway. We could have been in the nicest Hotel and I would have still been just as nervous and anxious.

The birth was joyous and overwhelming with emotion. Mom and baby did fine. I was a proud, new Father, even though I didn’t have a clue what to do. The nurses would bring our daughter to our room for feedings and show us all the important things we would need to know when we got home. We would see her a few moments and off she would go back to the nursery. We spent a couple of uneventful days in the hospital and then it was time to check out and go home.

It was the day that we left the hospital that always has stood out in my mind.

As the Nurse helped my wife into a wheelchair, with our daughter, to roll them out to the emergency room exit of the hospital, I went ahead to the parking lot so I could drive our car to the emergency room entrance to meet them.

We helped my wife into the car and then the nurse handed our daughter to me so that I could place her in the car seat. As she handed our daughter to me, I’ll never forget that she said “she’s all in your hands now. Take good care of her.” It was at that moment that the awesome responsibility of parenthood hit me between the eyes. There weren’t going to be any nurses to help with feedings and diaper changes, or to simply ask questions when we weren’t sure. It was something about the way she said those words to me that made me realize that a new, young life was totally dependent upon me and my wife.

My daughter is an adult now raising her own family. I think back on the many, many mistakes I’ve made as a parent, but somehow we survived. I realize that she was in my hands for many years and now she has her own children that are in her hands.

As a Christian, it has always been a source of security for me to realize that I am always in God’s hands. I sometimes jokingly wonder if He sometimes thinks that he may have bitten off more than he could chew when I became one of His Children. But, then, I realize that my life is no surprise to him. There is nothing in my life that catches God unprepared. Our Heavenly Father is a confident Father and I often need to remember to remain confident in Him and that he never fails me, despite how I may have failed Him.

Are you in His Hands?

We Win When We Put Ourselves Last

Self-Worth

I suppose I will always remember my paternal Grandmother as one of those rare individuals that always put others first and self last. There was no ego. No trying to make herself look better than someone else. She just always tried to do what was right and fair and it didn’t matter who was involved. Whether you were the richest person in town, or the poorest in town, it made no difference. You were no better than anyone else.

She lived in a small town that I have often said reminded me of Mayberry on the Andy Griffith Show. Everyone knew each other, both the good and the bad. Just good people. People that were hard working and actually had integrity.

She was a real champion for those that couldn’t speak for themselves or were mistreated or taken advantage of. She was a true servant at heart. Always making sure that everyone else’s needs were met before her own. In fact, she later became Mayor of her little town. I was so proud, my Grandmother the Mayor. She managed to improve the City’s water supply and was able to have the County’s first Nursing Home built in her City. Her natural abilities to serve others were just fulfilled even more as Mayor.

I have always been a rather picky eater. As a young child, she noticed that I loved spaghetti and would eat spaghetti even if I wouldn’t eat vegetables or anything else that was prepared. Rather than do what most adults would do which is to say, “you eat what I prepared for you, or don’t eat at all,” she spoiled me and made spaghetti. In fact, every time we visited and ate with her she prepared a special batch of spaghetti just for me. She remembered. And, she continued doing this up until the day she passed away. As I got older, I noticed that not only did she prepare spaghetti for me, but she prepared a special desert for someone else; or a special vegetable for another. She wasn’t happy until she knew she has pleased someone else.

Suffice it to say that I learned the real meaning of “it is more blessed to give, than to receive.”

No Doubt That You Can Pass the Test

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