Can you get better at everything you do?

 

I often tell my children when they get discouraged, “You can only become better if you practice.”

Do you remember times when you were young and someone older than you…your parent, coach, teacher…told you you had to practice when you took piano lessons, played a sport or tried to learn how to fold clothes in order to become better at it?

My children are at that young age now.

They are learning responsibility and discover their interests, their gifts and have tried different lessons to figure that out.

As a mom I’m trying to teach and guide and spur our kids to explore activities that interest them…to discover the gifts God has given them, and things they enjoy. God gives each one of His children gifts and wants each of His children to enjoy the gifts He gives so we can use them to give Him the thanks and praise for it.

So, I’m teaching them how to say, “Yes ma’am, no sir”. How to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. How to clean a toilet. How to ride a bike. How to respect others.

But sometimes when I teach how to paint a picture, they expect it to looks just as if Picasso did it. I teach how to do a cartwheel, yet they expect to immediately do one perfectly as an Olympian. But they become frustrated when they try it for the first time and can’t do it well. They get frustrated when they see others their age learn it quicker or better than them.

They think they’ll instantly be good at whatever they want to do.

(Isn’t that what the world wants…instant gratification?)

Children want to be perfect at everything they try.

They don’t understand they have to work at it…they have to practice to improve.

They’re still learning they can only improve when they practice over and over with the heart and determination to do it.

We try different lessons in life even when we’ve “grow up”.

We can become better at everything if we work at it.

Yes, even when you’re older you can still intentionally practice new things to improve yourself (even though it can be a little harder to teach an old dog new tricks!) such as taking up something you wish you could’ve done earlier like sewing or woodworking . You can work at exercising more, eating healthier, read more and watch TV less.

But there’s other things we practice hard at on a regular basis but don’t even realize we are.

We can become better at looking down at someone, criticizing, saying harsh words instead of encouraging. Better at being stubborn and not wanting to change. Better at seeing things with a cup half empty instead of half full. Better at hiding, better at being lazy on our walk, lazy in striving to love others deeper if we keep practicing it.

We can get better at accepting lies Satan whispers in your ears, better at becoming fear – led than Christ-led.

But there’s other things we can practice hard at on a regular basis that brings renewal.

We can become better at having gratitude for hard things in life, better at laughing more, better at being more vulnerable. We can get better at looking at situations with the glass half full instead of half empty. We can get better at changing your thought to beauty and refuse to see things ugly. You can get better at praying, memorizing, better at being intentional.

We can become better at practicing love.

God wants us to pursue joy!

“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) He must have had Paul reiterate the word REJOICE. Did he have that word repeated to stress that it’s an action to practice?

Practice rejoicing.

The more you practice rejoicing, the better you get…the better you’re becomimg.

 

Counting continues…

#601  daughter hiding under blankets in our bed

#602  white hair and wrinkles

#603  laughter with friends

#604  the smell of fabric softener still on your hand after tossing it in the dryer

#605  older woman whom I’ve visited for a few years offered to give me a hug for first time

#606  daughter enjoyed camp

#607  daughter saw fawn at camp

#608  son wanting to learn how to improve…

#609  talking with friend I hadn’t talked with in a while

#610  my dad took my son to play golf for first time…special grandfather/grandson time and new thing to learn

#611  God’s forgiveness when I think that life is more about what I am doing than about who I am becoming…