GRIT

Grit is defined as "perseverance and passion for long-term goals.  Grit entails working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress.  The gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his or her advantage is stamina.  Whereas disappointment or boredom signals to others that it is time to change trajectory and cut losses, the gritty individual stays the course".  Grit is the best indicator of success. According to a study by W. W. Willingham* follow-through (here, referred to as grit) was the single best predictor of significant accomplishment in science, art, sports, communications, organization, or some other endeavor.

One gritty individual is William Carey.  Carey is considered the father of modern missions.  Carey was born in 1761 in Northamptonshire, England.  Carey was apprenticed as a cobbler and spent many years repairing shoes.  Carey showed a talent for languages.  Carey learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Dutch and French while cobbling shoes.  Carey had a growing conviction that God was calling him to translate the Bible into the Indian language.    As Carey prepared to leave England Carey's father questioned his decision to go to India.  His father could not envision what skills he would take to India.  Carey told his father "I can plod".  With that single qualification William Carey left for India in 1793 with his family and a desire to reach the Indian people with the gospel.   He and his family suffered many, many hardships.

At the heart of Carey's mission work was the development of a dictionary, grammars, and the Bible in both the Bengali and Sanskrit languages.   On March 11, 1812 a fire swept through the printing building destroying 17 years of pain-staking work.  Carey did not give up.   Carey went back to work translating the Bible one page at a time.   By the time of his death in 1834 the Bible had been translated into 44 languages.  This is grit in action.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of you faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything".
James 1: 2-4

Please share your examples of Grit in action.

*Willingham, W.W. (1985) Success in college: The role of personal qualities and academic ability, page 213. New York: College Entrance Examination Board.

Suffering... the pause in life

For those of you that read my previous post I wanted to share some more thoughts.

I was a very healthy active woman.  I did yoga, horseback riding, and hiked all over camp.  I am a pretty lively and enthusiastic person.  My recent illness caught me by surprise.  My bout of "c. diff" (see previous post)  could have killed me or changed my life forever.  The doctor told me at a follow up appointment " people come into the hospital with c. diff and leave without a colon".  That certainly gave me pause.  Life is fragile.

During those three weeks that I was deathly ill I did some soul searching. 
"Was I ready to meet God?"
"Was there anything I needed needed to ask God for forgiveness  for?"  (Yes. and I did)
"Where there any relationship issues that needed to be resolved?"
"Had I told my family I loved them enough?"
"What would my dear husband and children do without me?"  "Are they equipped to survive emotionally without me?"

Believe me, these are not easy questions to ask yourself.  Yet they are very important.  They should be in the back of our minds as we make our way through life.  It is easy to get caught up in being busy and productive without much thought to some of the hard questions.  I do not think it would be good to live life fearing the worst but I think maybe God allows suffering to help us focus on what really matters.

What are your insights?  What have you learned when life hits you hard with a "pause"?

Things we can all agree on...

Capture the Spirit.... American ideals we can all agree on...
Respect
Courage
Loyalty
Graciousness
Determination
Honesty
Reliability
Americans should apply these ideals to all our political discussions.

What American ideals would you add to this list?