Don’t Give Up

I was perusing photos for one to use on this post, and came upon this one from one of my grandmother’s heirloom roses, one of the roses used in the creation of the cover for According to Carley Love.

November 1st, and I still have a few roses blooming, just now they sway in the fall breeze atop their long, thin stems. No matter how abused from being dug up and moved the numerous times, from cold and heat, and neglected and forgotten because I’m otherwise occupied, the bushes do what God created them to do–grow and bloom. Those bushes have never given up. They go about their growing and blooming quietly, gently. And we need to do the same.

Yesterday I worked on an essay to be published on a friend’s blog on Friday (I’ll post that link on Friday.) and was given the opportunity to look back at the years of writing According to Carley Love. I remembered how many times I gave up and set the book aside. Well, really, it was too many times to remember. I not only set the book aside, I set living aside. It was too much for me. Yet, I remember also how I returned again and again to praying for guidance and strength, and how eventually I would pick up my life and writing the book again.

Many years ago the wonderful writer Marjorie Holmes told the story of writing her novel, Two From Galilee, the story of Mary and Joseph, and experiencing rejection from every major publishing house. This was when we typed our books onto paper (the stone age). She used the two inches of manuscript as a booster seat for one of her small children. One day in cleaning up after a meal, she dusted off the manuscript and sent it off one more time. She dared to not give up, at least for a day. The manuscript was bought and a bestselling classic born.

So this is your boosting for today. If you want to throw up your hands because your life and efforts at your dreams have overwhelmed you, then simply take a rest. Resting is not giving up. It’s gathering strength to try again another day. You don’t have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and throw yourself at a brick wall. Simply say to yourself, “I won’t give up. I’ll rest and try again.”

Often these days when I’m overwhelmed by a challenge, I tell myself, “Well, I’ll get a cup of tea and think on it.” I relax and seek rest and wisdom from God. That’s a viable strategy for not giving up and for figuring how how to try again in a different way.

Just don’t give up, dear friend, on your dreams and on yourself. God created us humans to persist. Look at your life and you’ll see this is true.

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Blessings,