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Summer 2010 Evenings at the Ball Park, leisurely afternoons cooking out with friends, a cool dip in the pool and gallons of sun tea fill the dog days of near 100 degree temperatures making summer in North Texas both memorable and bearable. Most days you can fry an egg on the sidewalk by 4:00 in the afternoon.
Given the intensity of the afternoon sun in this part of the country, I'm amazed that anyone ever settled here--why not just keep moving? I think I certainly would have.The rattlesnakes, scorpions and fire ants are a sure clue that cow country is a little bit formidable. Nevertheless, generations ago, courageous men and women loaded up their wagons and headed for Texas with a dream.
Working in the sweltering heat this week, I contemplated the stick-to-it-iveness of the early pioneers, and great explorers. I came to the conclusion that only passion can fuel enough stick-to-it-iveness to endure the bitter realities we face in the process of dream building. Those early pioneers who let their passion wane died in the wilderness or turned back.
Now--I certainly don't have what I would consider a "pioneering spirit" but the Lord often points me in impossible directions and quietly whispers "Go for it." Go for it? Are you sure Lord? Can't you see my limitations? Don't you know I might fail?
The truth is--we can't fail. In His eyes, we are complete and finished; perfectly created for the work ahead of us. When He seeds us with a dream, we are more than conquerors and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. His Word has already established our identity and our purpose in Him. All He wants us to do is "go for it".
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8: 35-37 KJV)
I imagine that those early cowboys who faced the rattlesnakes, the fire ants and the intense Texas sun must have had just a little faith to bolster their passion. They paved a trail to a new world under fierce conditions. Knowing that, my dreams feel a little more do-able. I think I'll stay in the saddle and go for it.
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