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Monday, May 2, 2011

Perseverence

A couple of weeks ago Brian and I had the opportunity to go to Martin's Cove (Wyoming) and learn about the Willey and Martin handcart companies.  I've heard pioneer stories my whole life but I was deeply moved to be in the place where those people suffered and sacrificed so much.  And I've thought about them often since returning home.  The words of the women, especially, speak to my soul and evoke tender feelings of love and admiration and gratitude and pride.  They were women without peer.

I can't begin to express my gratitude that their trials are not my trials.  I doubt that I will ever be required to walk from one side of this country to the other.  I pray that I will never have to watch my children die from starvation and exposure.  I hope to never face a blizzard, unprotected, in the vast Wyoming wilderness.  So how did they survive?  How did they live through trials of such magnitude?

As best I can tell, they just kept going.  In the absolute, literal sense of the word, they persevered.

I have trials, and while they aren't pioneer trials they're pretty huge for me (no pun intended).  Right now I'm trying to lose weight and I've been trying for two years.  I'm down about 35 pounds with about 100 to go.  I feel so discouraged because I'm giving it all I have; I can run a 5k on the treadmill whenever I want to but I can't seem to lose weight.  So clearly I don't have pioneer trials but maybe I've got just a teeny bit of that pioneer spirit because surprisingly I'm not giving up.  I've come too far and no stinking blizzard is going to turn me back now.  I will persevere, I just wish I could persevere a little bit faster.

1 comment:

Pat said...

At times getting up each day and making it though is beyond "hanging in there" but your goals are terrific and I know you'll succeed. You've already accomplished so much!