Remove these words from your dictionary

Three weeks into the school year, I’m more concerned with my students removing certain words from their dictionaries than adding to them.

Student or not, find the nearest dictionary, and cross out the following words:

·         Impossible

·         Can’t

·         Hard

Our culture has simplified and cushioned our lives so that many of us view pain, hardship and challenge as bad things.

Now don’t get me wrong. Life can be hard, and sickness, physical pain and death are no laughing matter.

However, the idea that our futures and dreams should be handed to us on a silver platter – that life “owes” us something – needs to stop.

Somehow, we have to reverse this mindset, and I’m going to start with my seventh and eighth grade classes. The following phrases are hereby banned:

·         It’s too hard.

·         I can’t do it.

·         That’s impossible.

The only way we grow is through challenges. Self-discipline needs to be welcomed as a friend, not shunned as a foe.

In keyboarding this year, I’ve introduced my students to keyboard covers which hide the letters and numbers of the keys when they type. Why? If students can’t see the keys, then they have to refer to their textbook visual and learn the proper fingering – no hunting and pecking allowed.

Each day when I hand out the covers with this huge smile on my face, I’m met with groans. You would think I were asking them to memorize the Hebrew alphabet.

Before we are too critical of my dear students, let’s stop and think. What are the “keyboard covers” in our lives, the things God gives us to challenge us and make us grow? Do we find ourselves thanking Him for them – or complaining about them?

Keyboard covers – and many other trials in life – aren’t going to kill us. They’re designed for our good.

So let’s embrace our challenges and stop pretending this life is supposed to be easy. God’s Word never said it would be, but it does say that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength (Phil 4:13).

Time for a new adventure

So far, 2013 has been a year of goals met and adventures had. I quit my day job to spend more time writing. (And by the way, the first rough draft for book number three is done!) My brother and I hiked 22 miles in the Grand Canyon. A week later, I helped chaperone a youth mission trip to New York to run a Christian day camp.

Now, I’m starting a new adventure: full-time teaching at a private Christian school. Frankly, I never thought I would be a teacher. People have told me I would make a good one; I just wasn't sure education was the job for me.

But if I’ve learned anything from the last several years, it’s that God’s plan is not what I mapped out – It is better.  

So here I am, making lesson plans, plotting out the first semester, and getting excited for school to start. Reality hit me when I was shopping last week, and a voice behind me said, “Miss Hogrefe, you’re going to be my 8^th grade teacher!”

Appropriately, I was reading in Isaiah today, and chapter 41 verse 10 reminded me that no matter what lies ahead, my God will always be there to help me.

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

What about you? Are you beginning something new? Perhaps you are persevering through a difficult time or maybe working hard to finish a major project. Regardless, the future holds new adventures and challenges for each of us.

The time is now to get ready and go in the strength of the Lord.

Go Farther: Lessons from the Grand Canyon

Have you heard the story about a little boy and his father who were playing football together? The son was getting ready to throw the football to his father when the boy shouted, “Go farther, Daddy!”

Children sometimes overestimate their abilities, but I think adults tend to do the opposite. We cheat ourselves into believing, “It’s too hard; I can’t do it,” and opt to sit on the sidelines instead of tackling challenges that seem larger-than-life.

My brother and I just returned from hiking Havasu Falls, Grand Canyon. The trip taught me a few things about pushing limits.  

You can go farther than you think you can.

As I trained for this trip over several months, I took frequent 2-4 mile rucks around my neighborhood with my 20-pound backpack. I hoped that this steady practice plus a dose of adrenaline would be enough to help me hike down the canyon to Havasu Falls. (The trail is supposedly 8 miles down to the Indian village and another 2 miles to the campground. It’s really more like 11 miles total, according to my brother’s GPS.)

What I never expected to do was hike out 11 miles the next day. My plan was to get to the village early and catch a helicopter ride out.

However, when we arrived, we learned that the helicopter sign-up didn’t open until 6 a.m., and the first flights didn’t take off until 10 a.m. – and there really was no guarantee you would get on board.

That left us with two options. Sit in the hot village for four hours waiting for the helicopter and risk having to hike out in the heat of the day if we didn’t get a flight; or just hike out.

We opted to hike out for a total of 22 miles in 2 days. 

You can push yourself harder than you trained.

Not only can you go farther, but you can also push yourself harder. Both down and up, my brother and I hiked the trail in 4 1/2 hours. The first day, we started hiking around 5:30 a.m., and the next day, we started at 4:20 a.m. Both days, we woke up around 3 a.m.

*Groan*

You are tired. You are sore. You are beat. You just put one foot in front of the other, and keep moving.

But it is so worth it.

The winding, steep mountain trail leading back up the canyon wall to the parking area was 1.5 miles high. Coming down was slippery; going up was the ultimate cardio workout.

You have to keep a good attitude, and humor helps. Along the path, my brother joked, “Pain means you’re alive.”

Thanks, Dave. Yep, I’m still alive.

The bottom line is that you can do all things through Christ. He is our source of strength.

My favorite verse is Isaiah 40:31 which says, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Ask yourself what areas in your life could use a good stretching. And if you're looking for an adventure, may I recommend Havasu Falls?