God is my Spinach

Don't Give Up

“Then Jesus told his disciples…that they should always pray and not give up”.
    (Luke 18:1)

  

            With my son in the music business, we have seen a lot of young people try to live their dreams of fame. To some it comes fast and they go from teenager to a star. One we worked with twenty years ago was a young man named Johnny Lang who made it big singing the blues at age sixteen. Several others that we worked with in the mid ninety’s are still enjoying the pursuit of their dream. They are known regionally as local club acts and make a good living. Their day may or may not make the big time.

Barry Manilow used to play piano for an up and coming singer, Bette Midler, in the bars of New York and write jingles for advertising agencies. We have all heard them; State Farm is there, I am stuck on Band Aid because Band Aid is stuck on me, All across the nation it’s the Pepsi generation, You deserve a break today at…. He applied himself, developed his skills and then his God given talents prevailed.

           

While writing this a Good News friend emailed me to tell me how he and his family are doing. We fought the battles of live together for ten years or so in New England back in the 60’s. He found his way to California, June and I are in Minnesota. Here is a quote from his text, “Jesus had it all planned, all I had to do was show up when he summoned me.  It's sweet.”

June and I were talking tonight at dinner after having had our first great grandson in the pool this afternoon and I commented on what a blessed life we have. She reminded me that we have had fifty years of blessings!

All of our lives need to start someplace. We often do not control our destiny and just need to keep on plugging. Joel Osteen uses the term “…keep on keeping on.” I like “Today is the first day of the rest of my life.” Jesus said “…always pray and not give up”.

Thought for Today: Today let us focus on what we want to be when we grow up. Not because we are young but because we have a future. Our lives are always changing; we always need to have our faith in hand. Through our faith we can always find ways to grow, to solve issues and be better.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father we are learning that life is an endurance event, not a sprint. Today I pray for stamina, guidance and the patience to keep at it until you deliver me to your place.

Amen