Grit

Grit

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.

“GO LIZZIE!” I cheered loudly as she crossed the finish line. Her first season of cross-country had been a doozy. With all junior high races canceled, her coach trained his junior high runners all season so they could run varsity races, double the junior high distance. The last race of the season had been her first.

Wrapping her in a tight hug, I whispered, “I’m so proud of you!”

“Mom, I was last.” Her whisper brought clarity as I realized, yet again, that my daughter and I are far more alike than different.

“Lizzie, you’re measuring yourself against the wrong standard.” I pulled back to look her in the eyes. “This is your first attempt, and you showed grit. It’s not fair to compare yourself to girls who have years of experience.”

“I know,” she sighed.

“It doesn’t matter whether you came in first or last; you did something you were nervous about doing. You reached deep and didn’t quit. You had grit. Come on, let’s go find Dad and Grandma. They want to hug you too.”

Grit. How often do we measure ourselves against the wrong standard, assuming there is only first and last place? How often do we measure our success by looking around us instead of looking to God, comparing ourselves to women who are further along than we are? How often do we quit preemptively, not wanting to fail and so stopping the moment it looks like we might?

God isn’t looking for winners; he is looking for women who dig deep when things are challenging, unpredictable, and uncomfortable. How do we get grit? It’s like a muscle. We have to exercise it in order to develop and keep it. We learn from failure, reconsidering and trying again rather than giving up. We embrace small beginnings, refusing to compare our little thing to another woman’s bigger, more successful thing, understanding that she, too, had a small start. And we count grit as an accomplishment, celebrating it in its own right, regardless of whether we crossed the finish line first, last, or somewhere in between.

Lord, thank you for the plans you have for our lives. Help us to be gritty, willing to dig in when others would pull away. Amen.

-Julie

One Good Step: Where is God asking you to be gritty? Tell a friend so she can be an accountability partner and cheerleader when you want to quit.