"There is no difference between "I can't" & "I won't". One is defeat by the fear of failure, the other, fear of trying" I borrowed this yesterday from my friend Jason Pannell and used this as my facebook status. I have really thought about this over the last 24 hours. I think back to watching my children grow up. They amaze me everyday! I am amazed that God blessed us with two incredible daughters.
Over the last 24 hours, my mind has wandered back to the 2 and 1/2 years that we tried to get pregnant. There were doctors that said you CAN'T and you WON'T get pregnant. But Clay and I prayed and put it in God's hands. Surrounded by lots of love and prayers, we took can't and won't out of it! Then I did get pregnant! And I felt GREAT. At 28 weeks, Dr. LaRoche put me on bed rest. Her goal was to get me to 34 weeks. Well, I made it to 37 thanks to modern medicine. But there was one day that sitting in her exam room, I completely broke down. I sobbed and said~ I can't be pregnant one more day. She let me get it out then looked at me and said. OH YES YOU WILL! She hugged me and told me how strong I was, how hard we all had work to get to this point. And with love, support, and lots of prayers, I made it 3 more weeks to deliver two beautiful little girls!
Trying to raise them without can't and won't in their vocabulary was as important to us as not having the words hate, shut up, dang, etc, in their vocabulary. For the past 5 years, the girls have been swimming with Excel Aquatics. They have done things and made achievements that blow our minds. Thinking of Jason's statement~ I don't ever hear them say I can't or I won't. Katherine swims the mile for time along with the 200 butterfly and she does it because she loves it. Mary Lane is starting to branch out into some of the distance events and still I don't hear her say those words....but instead she says want to try it. Fear of trying or fear of failure have no place in their lives! And our prayer is that it never will!
The Bible says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." ~Philippans 4:6 Some synonyms for anxious are afraid, fearful, nervous, scared....So God reminds us that we should not fear even failure or trying something new! Fear is the devils way of trying to trip us up and taking our self-confidence. Self-confidence is not the same thing as arrogance as some would like to believe and think. Self-confidence is a realistic confidence in one's own judgment, ability, power, etc. and arrogance is offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride. And having self-confidence is having the ability to avoid the words Can't or Won't.
Yesterday, I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon. When the girls got in the car after school and I told them, their first response was mom we are so proud of you, that is really cool. I know that I have a lot of work to do before that but I CAN do it and I WILL do it. But I am mindful that if I had continued on the path of my past, I would not have tried something new this past February and I sure would not be signing up for anything like a 1/2 marathon. I have decided be a better example to my daughters and step out of my comfort zone and try new things. I don't want to look back on my life with them as just a spectator but as an active participant.
I am so grateful for lessons my daughters teach me. They are truly amazing young ladies that overwhelms me daily. I am so thankful that we have such a wonderful relationship that there is nothing they feel they can't or won't talk to us about as well.
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