Stick-ability and No Excuses!

“My dog ate my homework.” “I forgot to set my alarm.” “I thought it was Saturday, not Monday.”

How many excuses have we heard or have given in a lifetime? I really have no excuse as to why I have not posted in quite sometime. I can use the most popular excuse everyone normally uses—“life just became really busy.” The unfortunate thing about using that excuse is exactly that…it is just an excuse like any other. It is an excuse for being lazy when I could have been doing all the things that would put me on the path God has set for me. You see, we are our worst enemy when it comes to fulfilling our Godly destinies. He has the perfect plan in place, but we find every excuse in the book to veer away from the path that would lead us straight to His end goal (not that there really is an “end” goal aside from eternity with Him). He knows all the crazy and stupid things we will do along the way that only prolongs His plan. If only we would listen to His voice every single time we make a decision to move right or left—we could save so much time, and we could most likely prevent a lot of chaos and hurt in the process. Sometimes we just keep circling around that mountain until we learn and FINALLY pass the test. As much as I love the mountains, I don’t want to keep circling around the mountain over and over again. I want to consistently climb higher and higher drawing closer and closer to Him. He is the only thing that matters, and as long as He is first, then everything else will work according to His purpose and His plan. Thankfully, He doesn’t give up on us, and He loves us through all our stinky, rotten moments. I know I’ve had my fair share of rotten moments, yet He still waits for me to turn to Him and His plans. Every time I realize I’ve prolonged God’s plan, I can’t help but sing “She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes…” Come on Tansy, when are you going to learn that it’s never been your plan, it is always His plan?

The problem that seems all too common is that we have become very impatient people. We want what we want and when we want it. With the “instant gratification” kind of world we now live in, no wonder we don’t have the patience to plow through the difficult times in order to reap the rewards. Think about it, you are having a conversation with someone at a restaurant, and the conversation brings up a question that neither you nor your dinner companion have the answer to. What do we tend to do now? We pick up our phones and ask Siri or in my husband’s case, Google, because he is anti-Apple. How have we made it this far without Siri or Google? I couldn’t even begin to imagine how my grandparents would react in this day and age. It took a lot of convincing just to get them to use a television remote or a microwave. I think smartphones would have been out of the question for them. Needless to say, convenience has made so many of us lazy and impatient.

Impatience prevents us from reaching our goals, and it causes us to give up so easily when we don’t see results happening immediately. Take a good look at the things we start but never finish. Perhaps a New Year’s Resolution? I know I am not alone in this. About a year and a half ago, I began to look at my health, or lack thereof. I started working out with a trainer and was faithfully showing up 3-4 times a week. Anyone who knows me knows that it is a miracle for me to even be in a gym much less 3-4 times a week. It’s never been difficult for me to lose any weight if I put on some extra poundage. However, after approximately a year in, I was not seeing the results I thought I should be seeing. What made matters worse was that suddenly my health took a turn I never expected. I couldn’t go to the gym any longer because I was not able to work out. I was even more discouraged and just ready to throw in the towel. I would see all the advertisements about weight loss shots, surgeries, pills, etc….I won’t lie and say I wasn’t tempted, but something kept telling me that I shouldn’t take the easy way out. I wanted the weight to come off so badly, but I knew the “easy way” was not the “right way”. I’ve gone to the doctor since then, and found out that I am in full blown menopause. While that is not the best news, at least I now know what is going on with me. Have I figured out the weight issue yet? NOPE! However, every day I work towards better health. It is definitely not an instant gratification situation, but I know that if I keep pushing through, there will be breakthrough. I refuse to give up, and I refuse to take the “easy way out”. I know I need to find the thing that works for me, and I pray that God gives me the wisdom to find it. For now, I have been back at the gym. My husband and I work out at least twice a week, and he is my biggest motivator and supporter. Impatience will not be a factor because I know God has a plan—even for my health. My health is not just a New Year’s Resolution.

The problem with New Year’s Resolutions is that most of them don’t stick because of our impatience. It is so hard to believe that we are the middle of January already. I think back to all the times I made those popular “New Year’s Resolutions”. I started with so much excitement and vigor because it was all so new, and I was determined to make those changes. Like many, they were thrown out the window by the 2nd week of January, sometimes sooner. I’m not saying that resolutions don’t work, but they never worked for me.

My husband and I recently went on vacation to the moutains in Tennessee. It was there that God started working on me. He blessed me with an answered prayer of being able to experience snow in the mountains. Without fail, after the blessing….there was a call for inner-growth. There were so many things that He revealed to me about my life, but the biggest issue was “stick ability”. I’ve always had a problem with stick ability. I’ve always had a problem with commitment. I’ve had so many failed relationships in my past because I would leave if I wasn’t happy. I never knew joy, and I always thought that I needed SOMEONE to make me happy. All I NEED is Jesus to fill my heart with true joy…anyone else who brings happiness to my heart is the icing on the cake. The one thing I do know….I’m not going around the mountain again and again….I am climbing that mountain to get closer and closer to Him. As Tara Leigh Cobble always says in “The Bible Recap”….”He is where the joy is!” So, what’s next? Now we move forward living each day with NO EXCUSES and a lot of STICK ABILITY!!!!