Here's a good reflection. Living your life is a bit like melting an ice sculpture that has been frozen to minus 50 degrees C. You start heating it up and for some time, nothing seems to be happening. There is lots of heat energy going into it with no visible results. But suddenly when the temperature gets to zero it begins to melt and you have water.
In the same way, you can put a saucepan of that water over a flame to boil but it appears that nothing is happening until around 100 degrees C. Then you begin to see a few bubbles, a bit of steam, and eventually it rolls up to a good, steady boil.
The principle here is that we can pour a lot of energy into anything (for me it's writing novels and homeschooling my family) and day by day it seems that nothing is happening. I've had moments of discouragement and been tempted to quit, wondering what is the use of plowing on for no results. Perhaps I'm just a victim of living life in the fast-paced 21st century, when we are conditioned to think our gratification should be instant. Yet the fact is that when we pour honest effort and energy into something meaningful, it's bound to bloom into something beautiful that is obvious to everyone as the fruits of our labour, as long as we stay faithful and don't quit!
Beautiful post Paul.
ReplyDeleteI really needed that encouragement today xx
:-)
ReplyDeleteVery true. I think one of the only reasons I do appreciate doing quarterly reports here is because I sit and write everything the kids have been doing and realize it's a lot more than I thought.
ReplyDeletePeace and Laughter!
I tend to do a lot of reflection at the end of the day, and there's not always a lot of evident change for the better. But you were right about need to be faithful in these worthwhile endeavors just the same.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you're back.