...Without the Drama, Please"

When my oldest son suggested we spend more time together, I envisioned lunches, not lunges. For seven weeks now I have been crunching and creaking my way to improved health, all under his watchful eye. When my mind says, "That's all, folks," my son vetoes that idea by saying "I want three more...two more...one more." He reminds me to focus on my form, think healthy thoughts, cut the carbs, and swallow my supplements.

On occasion, I'll respond to his training with playful resistance, such as a groan or a childish whine. He'll usually simply mutter, "Without the drama, please." That's why I was caught off guard by his response last week to my playful pouting. He lowered his dumbells, let out a long sigh, looked up from the bench where he sat, and said," Dad, I can't provide the willpower for both of us."

It's true. I had made my physical condition more his responsibility than mine. But he was working out, too. He was doing the lunges, the crunches, and the cardio machines, too. He was struggling through his reps using far heavier weights and far more resistance than I was. In fact, he was enduring my resistance.

I see this human tendency to shift responsibility all around me. Until I own my situation I will never really improve it. My kids can either expect the teacher to lighten the load, or they can step up to the plate and study harder. They can settle for a sloppy piano recital, or they can practice longer. I can feel entitled to a bailout and mope until I get it, or I can put my mind to better use by working harder and focusing on new, smarter ways to market my products. I can wait for the government to lift me over every hurdle, or I can dig deep inside and find a greater strength. American history is a gigantic collection of stories about the the pioneering spirit that overcame unscouted wilderness, mountain ranges, deserts, droughts, dust bowls, swarms of insects, attacks of violence, and much more. They pressed on and built a nation like none other in history.

I've never faced the threat of scalping, lost a crop to grasshoppers, or endured hunger on the prairie because blizzards prevented the trains from bringing supplies. I just write children's story books from a fairly comfortable chair in a fairly comfortable office. Not too dangerous. But I do face difficulties: financial weights, deadline challenges, distribution hurdles, and the always heavy responsibility of raising a large family. Friends and family, of course, can give and receive help, and this is good. Charitable organizations and government programs can offer their help to the truly needy who are in dire circumstances. But most of us are not in dire circumstances, but in uncomfortable circumstances. We may be tempted to gripe or mope rather than tap into that reserve strength. For me, that reserve is in Jesus Christ, through whom "I can do all things" (Philippians 4:13). I know that "the One who is in me is greater than the one that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). God gives me fresh ideas, tenacity, resources, and inspiration to counter the stale ruts, failure, poverty, and hopelessness that try to seize me. I have a mind. I have ideas. I have potential. I have whatever remaining days are ahead of me. I have opportunities all around me. I have a relationship with Almighty God. I can do more.

And I can do it without the drama.