Stewarding Ourselves: NEVER Give Up!

{inspiration and principles for applying the law of Steady Pressure}

Winston Churchill, the famous prime minister of England during perhaps the darkest time in modern history, had been called upon to make a speech.  

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Pondering what to say, he thought grimly of the awful war his country had been forced to fight just a few years before.  He knew there would be tremendously hard times.  He thought about the strong possibility of bombing raids on his English cities, the thousands of people who would lose their homes, their loved ones, and their sweethearts.  He knew his people needed a grim determination to persevere if they were to succeed.

He knew what he had to say.

To the boys at Harrow School, he uttered these historic words:  “Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.''   With one last look at the crowd, he released his hold on the podium and sat down.

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Never give up.

May his words ring true in our ears. 

When it comes to Stewarding Ourselves, this principle of STEADY PRESSURE can mean the difference between life and death.  It means that we keep going, day by day by day.  We must Steward Ourselves, because God has chosen to use us to take care of His creation, our husbands and our children.  He has no Plan B if we ruin our health by eating coconut bon-bons and sitting at the computer all day. We MUST take care of ourselves, and never give up, no matter how many things get in our way. 

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Maybe we have a bad day.  Is it time to quit?  Never!  Maybe we’ve twisted an ankle, and we can’t walk for two weeks, or even something worse – a long illness.  Should we give up?  Never!  Maybe we just don’t feel like going for a walk.  Do we stay in bed?  Nope!

Here are a few ways to keep STEADY PRESSURE even when we don’t feel like it:

• Make a commitment to yourself, and especially to God, that you will do everything in your power to keep going.  You may even want to take some time on your knees and ask God to help you make that commitment, and keep it.  Then write your commitment on a piece of paper, date it, and sign it.  Keep it in a place where you will run into it regularly.

• Set some goals.  Try to keep them realistic.  If you haven’t exercised for many years, you don’t want to have a goal of running a marathon!  Also, if you haven’t been eating right for the past ten years, don’t set an unrealistic goal of never eating one speck of sugar.  It’s better to say, “For the next week, I will eat no sweets,” then evaluate your commitment after your time is up.

• Decide to do something you enjoy.  Find out what you like and do it!  If you hate running, don’t decide that that is what you will do.  Use something you enjoy and you know you can stick to.

• Get a Partner!  See if your hubby will come along, or take the children!  It’s been my great joy to have my children come along with me on many of my runs.  When the younger ones go with me, I like to go on a circular track so they are always in sight, but sometimes, when it’s just Sharon and I, we go on long straight trails. 

• Look for Inspiration!  When the battery of your own inspiration runs low, ask God for some Scripture verses that will help you.  One of mine is, “They shall mount up with wings as eagles.  They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  Also, plenty of inspirational quotes can be found by doing a little search (or visit our favorite inspiring quotes collection)   Here are a few of mine:

• “A year from now you may wish you had started today." 

•   "My life tomorrow will be the result of my attitudes and the choices I make today."

•    "Don't sacrifice your future for a momentary pleasure."

 and...

• “If you always do what you've always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always had.”

I remember reading a story about a guy who had a junk car in his garage.  He didn’t want to pay the money needed to have it towed off to the junkyard, so he decided to take a sawzaw to it, cut it up into trash-can-sized pieces, and bit by bit had it carted off to the dump in his regular garbage pickup!  All he did was go out to the garage every day and cut a few chunks off and throw them in the trash.  Working steadily, he was able to throw his car away!

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We may not want to throw a car away, but we CAN make a little bit of progress every day.  In the end, a lot will be accomplished!  STEADY PRESSURE is what we need to help us Steward Ourselves!  

Always remember, NEVER give up!