_{We can’t all be Olympians, but we can all be effective at who we choose to be and what we choose to do.}

Words to SPARK your Heart-Song from our co-founder Sherry Douglas.

Hi everyone. I’m Sherry Douglas with Heart-Song. It’s been a fun few weeks watching the Olympics! Although I enjoyed watching the athletes with their incredible talent, perhaps even more, I enjoyed hearing their personal stories. As some of you probably did, too, I found tears in my eyes as they shared their life joys and difficulties. Part of each story was the commitment to PERSEVERE. They all had to continue years of training even when they encountered problems or when they had little hope of success.

None of the athletes just woke up one day being able to compete at the Olympic level. Each one had a dream and made a decision to go after it. They couldn’t go in and out of the decision to train hard; they had to stick to it. Year after year. They had to PERSEVERE.

Many of you also have a story of PERSEVERANCE. You have a goal and you have stuck to it. Or, you have a life situation that doesn’t improve, but you keep working to make it better. We can’t all be Olympians, but we can all be effective at who we choose to be and what we choose to do. We can PERSEVERE and be committed to being the person we want to be. There are challenges, but we can overcome them. There are joys, and we can share them.

Romans 12:12 doesn’t just tell us to PERSEVERE, but how to PERSEVERE. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” When we have hope of a goal, we can rejoice in that hope. When we have an obstacle to overcome, we can be patient in that difficulty. And most important is to stay connected to the Lord through prayer. He, better than anyone or anything else, gives us the foundation we need to PERSEVERE. Live the way you want to be remembered. See you next time.