STRUGGLES

First and foremost, I want to say a prayer for our country, the first responders, the families, and those who lost their lives on this day 17 years ago. For those of us old enough to remember, we know exactly where we were 17 years ago. Despite the evil, this is a country of people who will rebuild not only the buildings but personal lives never forgetting this day 17 years ago. Amen.

Struggle. Webster’s dictionary defines struggle as “to try very hard to do, achieve, or deal with something that is difficult or that causes problems.”

September 11^th was and continues to be a reminder of a struggle. A struggle of good vs. evil, a struggle for families to begin their personal journey of the loss of a loved one, friend, co-worker, a struggle for this country on how to move forward, a struggle of what to do to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and a struggle to find a way to honor those lost.

Yes, this day is a struggle that we can all understand. Let’s think about how the word struggle also represents things happening in our own daily lives.

It may be a struggle with a boss, it may be a struggle with our children, it may be a struggle with our spouse or a significant other, it may be a struggle with our own faith, it may be a struggle understanding who we are and what our purpose here on earth may be. Our struggles may be with our feeling of inadequacy, our own feeling of a lack of importance or value to the people that mean the most to us, our own lack of understanding how to move forward when the situations, relationships, or our surroundings seem beyond what we can control.

In today’s times, it’s a constant struggle to determine what is true, what is fact, what is causing the struggle in the first place. Yes, you can use our political climate as an example, however, I’d challenge you to think personally.

What struggles have you been facing lately? I watch Guy Danhoff face his struggle of losing 150 pounds. He’s attacking this struggle each and every moment, each and every day. There’s a continuous struggle with every decision he makes about what he’s going to eat, whether he goes to the gym or not, whether or not he’s going to get through the day pursuing his goals in order to revisit the struggles again the next day. Guy knows the struggles and knows the only way he won’t succeed is if he quits.

I reflect on the struggles my niece, Jessica, had in order for her to pursue her dreams of becoming a doctor. She struggled with her dyslexia. She struggled with all the naysayers telling her she should settle and not go for her true dream of being an MD. She struggled with pushing forward not just for a week or two but for YEARS in order to put herself in a position to succeed despite all the obstacles. She believed the only way she would not succeed was if she quit. (She’s now in medical school.)

I think about the MBU Spartan football team that works hard every day, every practice, every film session, every struggle a coach may have with a player or player with a coach only to face the final score of a game that’s not in their favor. It’s a struggle to continue moving forward yet the only way they will fail is if they quit.

I think about my personal struggles with my faith journey. Due to a variety of situations growing up, I have finally come, over the past 10+ years, of finding where I’m comfortable knowing my faith and not spending time with whether it fits for anyone other than myself and my journey of faith.

I think about members of my family who struggle with their own personal issues in relationships, in their jobs, with their colleagues and bosses, and with juggling work and family.

So what do we do? We all have struggles in all areas of our lives. How do we continue? How do we move from a place of struggle to a place of overcoming? How do we move to a place of fulfillment? If you have children or even grandchildren, you are more than aware of how quickly time goes by.

My latest book to read and one that I may look back and realize had the most profound effect on my life is The Carpenter by Jon Gordon. Gordon is the author of The Energy Bus, Positive Dog, The Seed and many more. This is by far my favorite on so many levels.

From Gordon’s book, the carpenter suggests to “live by design and know the life you want to create. With this approach you will create a masterpiece and not live by chance.”

Also from the book, “What does life look like at the end? Begin creating with the end in mind and work backwards. What does it look like when I’m my healthiest, strongest, best? What does my family life look like? Am I ignoring the people I love the most or making more time for them? What matters most? What are my daily priorities that drive me? What am I doing that makes me come alive? When I look back on my life what do I want to be able to say about it?

I leave you with this from the book, “Without struggle there is no reward. Without obstacles there’s no growth. Without setback there’s no triumph. Without failure and defeat along the way there’s no ultimate victory and feeling of accomplishment. As builder of lives and people and teams, I must expect challenges, adversity, rejection, and negativity, but I have an even greater expectation that I WILL overcome them!!”

Book suggestion: The Carpenter by Jon Gordon

Thought for the Day: “I expect great things to happen today. I trust in God’s plan for my life. I accept all the love, joy, abundance, and success in my life. I accept all the people who want to work with me and benefit from my gifts and love. Every day I am getting stronger, healthier, and better.”

Life Skills from 4H

I’m behind in getting this blog post out. We had a beautiful week with two of our grandchildren giving them a break from daycare before school started and all their other summer activities had ended. Other summer activities included being at county fairs to watch some of the grand kids show their animals. What an amazing experience as we now watch our children help their children learn all about 4H and what that means.

Do you know much about 4H? It’s an incredible organization for our young people. A.B. Graham started a youth program in Ohio in 1902 that was considered the birth of the 4H program in the U.S. When Congress created the Cooperative Extension Service in the USDA in 1914, it included boys’ and girls’ club work. These soon became known as 4H clubs.

The 4H name represents four personal development areas of focus for the organization: head, heart, hands, and health. The goal of 4H is to develop citizenship, leadership, responsibility, and life skills of youth through experimental learning programs and a positive youth development approach.

We joined a 4H Club almost 30 years ago when Jason was old enough to get involved. It began with two pigs and later expanded to sheep, when Elsa was old enough, a steer, and dairy. From ages 9 to 18, both Jason and Elsa picked out their animals, purchased them, fed, and cared for them in all ways necessary. That included cleaning up, walking/exercising them, and filling out detailed record books. Both kids had a check book and checking account at age 9.

We told them from the very beginning that as long as they were taking on the main responsibilities, we would help them. What transpired for all those years was a family time of feeding, exercising, washing, and fair time together. MEMORIES!! 

When I read the goals of 4H, I can attest to ALL of them being a part of our experiences. Though we primarily did the animals, many young people choose to go the project route which includes projects with leather, sewing, cooking, rocket building, fishing, gun safety, and so much more.

I watch 4 and 6-year-old Nyelle and Teagan tying up the new dairy calves to get them use to a halter. They will walk them around with the halter, and they love showing their dairy animals during the Open Shows at the county fairs. They’re still a little young to be a part of 4H, but you’d never know it the way they prepare their animals for showing. They have learned what to do when you show, and they know they must practice ahead of time.

Last year Bria was old enough to join their county 4H Club and went to the fair with her bucket calf. This year Bria showed three pigs and two goats. It was a totally new experience with five animals versus the one steer she had last year. It also meant learning how to correctly feed the animals, so they would make weight, learning how to clip them for fair time, needing to exercise the animals and practice showing them on an almost daily basis throughout the spring and summer. She learned that you don’t just show up when it’s time to take the animals to fair and expect to do well.

 I know 4H taught our children about responsibility. Being accountable for their expenses, reinvesting their earnings into either future animal projects or their college fund, writing checks and balancing their checkbooks along with a work ethic that is definitely a life skill have been invaluable lessons that have benefited our own children and now we watch those same skills contributing to the life skills of our grandchildren.

Being a part of the parade in Longmont with our dairy cows, spending the night on the fair grounds when we had to milk out the cows at 2:00 am to be ready for the show the next day, water fights in the wash racks where we were washing the animals, continually learning from those more experienced who shared their knowledge, meeting people that are still friends today, and so much more. MEMORIES!

I tell this now mainly because I see the value of families being together, the value of having something which everyone can participate in, the value of learning responsibility, leadership, citizenship, commitment, respect, and life skills first hand. Whether it’s 4H or something else, my hope is families today can focus on something more than texting and video games.

Suggested book: The Ant and the Elephant - Leadership for the Self by Vince Poscente

Quote: I pledge, "My Head to clearer thinking, My Heart to greater loyalty, My Hands to larger service and My Health to better living for my club, my community, my country, and my world."