When confronted with a challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution.
The undecided heart will search for an escape. 

37 years ago today, I was asked “Do you Julie take Joe to be your husband, to honor and cherish in good times and in bad, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”  Of course I said “I Do!”, but now looking back, I really didn’t have any idea the depth of the commitment I was agreeing to.  Isn’t that usually how it is?  We commit to eating healthy until we are under stress and grab for comfort food.  We commit to working our business each day until it isn’t fun or exciting anymore, so we justify why this isn’t the right time to pursue our goals. We commit to spending quality time with our kids, or abstaining from social media, or losing weight, or you name it . . . and THEN life happens and the reality of staying committed sinks in.

I didn’t know that everything they mentioned in my vows (bad times, poor times, sick times) would ALL really be a part of the commitment I was making at 18.  I do know that I didn’t always honor and cherish him like I should have, and I’m sure he would have said the same.  However, for as many commitments in my life that I gave up on, I was faithful to my marriage until Joe’s very last breath.  Therefore, that 1 commitment I made at 18 years old and stuck to until the day he died, was and still remains one of the greatest blessings I ever received in life! We all make commitments, because we want something in our life to change for the better, but making the commitment isn’t what changes you for the better, KEEPING the commitment does!

We live in a microwave world.  We have Drive through shopping, restaurants, pharmacies, oil changes, etc., and any question or information we need can be answered within seconds on the internet.  We rarely want for anything, and we certainly don’t want to wait for anything.  BUT . . . True Blessings come in the WAITING!  When you Love another in the time they are their most unlovely – YOU become more loving!  When you give to another when you know they cannot give anything in return – YOU become richer!  When you lift another up at their weakest – YOU become stronger!  When things are at the very worse, but you look for solutions together anyway – YOU become resilient!   Over time you realize you have been blessed with more riches than you can count, more love than you can contain, more strength than you could imagine, and more resilience to bounce back than most could imagine.  Yes!  The greatest blessings in life come through the commitment to “make it work”, and the hope in the waiting that it will!

I could never have imagined our world would be rocked by a pandemic.  Everything we knew, thought we loved, the conveniences we relied on, the freedom we enjoyed, has been taken away or come to a halt.  The world has been forced to struggle, and wait.  Many will, and have already succumbed to greed, fear, and doom, because struggles first reveal you!  Like a sponge when squeezed, what comes out is what was inside.  However,   when we endure, stay committed to fighting the good fight, place our faith in the One who holds tomorrow even when we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, we can rest and wait on God’s Promises to us (see below).  My friends don’t miss out like so many do, because they bailed when it became hard, inconvenient, not exciting or fun anymore!  THE REAL BLESSINGS COME THROUGH THE STRUGGLE, AND IF YOU ENDURE AND STAY COMMITTED, YOU WILL BE BETTER FOR IT IN THE END!

James 1:12  ^“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”