Friday, January 13, 2017

Keeping On

"LeAnn, get out of this barn and out of my life!"

My brother, Pete, on his way down to do chores, heard my sister Carla scream those words from inside the barn.

Carla had reached the boiling point. She just couldn't take any more. Something had to give. She had been slogging along, doing her barn chores, trying to finish distributing the grain prior to bringing the cows into the barn for milking.

LeAnn was a pet cow.

While a pet cow might sound like a great idea, in this instance, it wasn't even nice. LeAnn's problem was that she had no respect. Not for other cows. Not for my brother. Not for my sister. LeAnn was having the time of her life, having once again escaped the confines of the pasture and munching along in front of the cow stanchions, eating the grain my sister was so faithfully putting out for the 69 other cows who would soon be coming in to get milked.

Making things worse, LeAnn was leaving a trail of cow pies behind her.

My family often laughs about the "LeAnn" incident, but at the time, it wasn't so funny. At least not to my sister. She was working hard to get a job done, and despite her best efforts, instead of seeing progress, things seemed to be going backwards.

Can you relate? Is there a "LeAnn" in your life? Someone (or something) that pushes all your buttons and makes you feel like your head is going to explode?

Was my sister wrong to react in the way she did? I don't think so. Heaven knows, I'm in no position to point fingers. One thing we can all count on: the LeAnns in our lives will keep coming, those button-pushing, troublesome people and situations.

How often have you been trying to get something done, only to have it all unravel?

What you and I do in those moments reveals a lot about our character.

What did my sister do? After she expressed her frustration, she kept on. She persevered. She cleaned up the cowpies and finished the job.

Sometimes, that's all we can do. Clean up the mess and go on. It's hard, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The Bible tells us that our good work is not in vain.

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." [1]

1. 1 Corinthians 15:58, New International Version





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