This Monday morning greeted me with a beautiful sunrise, happy hens, wonderful family and a fresh inspired outlook. I spent all day yesterday (albeit that I have a spring cold in the winter) cleaning and reorganizing the rest of my studio. This all started after the Holidays...now keep in mind that I didn't go through everything...just the things on the floor, and the lower shelves. There were days, I just didn't want to venture in-too much stuff, not enough time, too many other avenues calling my name. But yesterday, I had had enough...So I spent the whole day finishing what I had started. It feels great to start and finish something, there is a quote in my studio that says,
Beginning is easy. Finishing is hard.
That is absolutely true! I have many projects that would so illustrate that beginning is easy. Pinterest, Magazines, blogs, friends, shops all encourage and inspire us to start something. But where is the encouragement to follow through, to not give up- to finish what we start be it in arts and crafts, in our home, in relationships, in the tough things of life...I found that what these sources, for the most part, leave out are the struggles, challenges, lessons and the victories that were experienced in order to get to that finished photograph, project or relationship. We see only a snapshot of time, of something well done. So where do we go to find the tools to not just begin but to finish and finish strong? For me, it is God's letter to me - His Holy Word. He gives us, through many writers and experiences of life, that he is with us from the beginning and he will complete a good work in us (Phillipians 1:6). Paul tells us to run the race (of life) and to finish even when it is difficult. We don't have to finish first, we just need to finish. (2 Timothy 4:7-8) Peter is one that had a lot of struggles with his race and yet the Lord let us see those struggles so that we may be encouraged to continue on even in the midst of mess. Peter gave us 2 wonderful books in the New Testament that showed he finished strong. King David in the Old Testament definitely had created a messy situation with Bathsheba- and yet the Lord, after discipline, encouraged him to finish strong. After all, he was a man after God's own heart. And so are we...well I am a woman after his heart. The idea is that God put in our hearts- the same love, joy, peace, compassion, kindness, perseverance, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control (just to name a few) that he has. We, when living by the His Spirit, can share these things, we can be encouraged to begin and we can persevere to finish. So when the task in front of you looks daunting, perhaps the best place to look for our inspiration and encouragement isn't an app on our phone, but it is God's letter to us--(Oh by the way I do have an app for that - the Bible app!!)
So whatever you have begun, whether it is a scarf to crochet, an apron to make, a child to raise, a marriage to build- there will be struggles and challenges but also joys and victories.
Continue on so that you will experience the joy and the strength that comes from finishing.
"Put God in charge of your work, then what you've planned will take place"
Proverbs 16:3 (The message)
P.S. Leave a comment to be entered in a give away. See earlier post....
