We who are strong have an obligation...

This morning my Bible study reading centered around Romans 15:1-2:  'We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.' 

Over the next few days, I will be hashing out this verse, picking it apart so that I can better understand it.  I invite you to join me.  Today, I am focusing on the word 'strong'.

My first questions to myself were:  What constitutes strong?  Am I taking measures each and every day to strengthen myself?  Am I strong?  What will make me stronger?

The 1828 Webster dictionary had much to say about the adjective 'strong'.  I read through the meanings, highlighting the ones that helped me interpret this Bible verse:

STRONG, a. [G., L. The sense of the radical word is to stretch, strain, draw, and probably from the root of stretch and reach.]

1. Having physical active power, or great physical power; having the power of exerting great bodily force; vigorous. A patient is recovering from sickness, but is not yet strong enough to walk. A strong man will lift twice his own weight.

2. Having physical passive power; having ability to bear or endure; firm; solid; as a constitution strong enough to bear the fatigues of a campaign.

3. Well fortified; able to sustain attacks; not easily subdued or taken; as a strong fortress or town.

4. Having great military or naval force; powerful; as a strong army or fleet; a strong nation; a nation strong at sea.

5. Having great wealth, means or resources; as a strong house or company of merchants.

6. Moving with rapidity; violent; forcible; impetuous; as a strong current of water or wind; the wind was strong from the northeast; we had a strong tide against us.

7. Hale; sound; robust; as a strong constitution.

8. Powerful; forcible; cogent; adapted to make a deep or effectual impression on the mind or imagination; as a strong argument; strong reasons; strong evidence; a strong example or instance. He used strong language.

9. Ardent; eager; zealous; earnestly engaged; as a strong partisan; a strong whig or tory.  

10. Having virtues of great efficacy; or having a particular quality in a great degree; as a strong powder or tincture; a strong decoction; strong tea; strong coffee.

11. Full of spirit; intoxicating; as strong liquors.

12. Affecting the sight forcibly; as strong colors.

13. Affecting the taste forcibly; as the strong flavor of onions.

14. Affecting the smell powerfully; as a strong scent.

15. Not of easy digestion; solid; as strong meat. Hebrews 5.

16. Well established; firm; not easily overthrown or altered; as a custom grown strong by time.

17. Violent; vehement; earnest.

18. Able; furnished with abilities.

19. Having great force of mind, of intellect or of any faculty; as a man of strong powers of mind; a man of a strong mind or intellect; a man of strong memory, judgment or imagination.

20. Having great force; comprising much in few words.

21. Bright; glaring; vivid; as a strong light.

22. Powerful to the extent of force named; as an army ten thousand strong.

 

So what constitutes strong?

A strong man is a fortified man.  He is well established.  He did not get this way overnight.  Just as it takes time to build physical muscle, it takes time to build spiritual muscle.  Building spiritual muscle results as we spend time reading and soaking in God's Word.  Spiritual muscle must be built so that when the difficult times come (and they will!), we can withstand.

Just as a strong man can bear twice his weight, a strong Christian will be able to withstand much. He will be able to endure and bear up. He will be able to stand firm. Not because he himself is strong, but because of the strength of He who resides in him:

'The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.'  Proverbs 18:10 'But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.'  Psalm 59:16 'He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.'  Psalm 62:2 A strong Christian can withstand attacks from the evil one, because greater is the one who is in him than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4). A strong Christian will stand out, will shine as a bright and vivid light to all around him.  He will be a strong example for the purpose of pointing others towards his Father.  In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said, ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

So--am I strong?

As Christians, we must ask ourselves this question.  We must evaluate ourselves, not comparing ourselves to others but comparing ourselves to the Word of God.  Where am I drawing my strength?  Is it from God's Word or from man's word?  Do I spend more time reading the manna that satisfies and nourishes or more time reading man's manna that eventually grows stale (blogs, books, twitter, facebook and the like)?  While Christian books have value and their place in our lives, they can never take the place of 'the One and Only'. 

Do I spend more time talking to God about my problems or more time talking to people?  Again, Christian counseling is helpful and has its place, but it should be used to direct us towards more time spent with Him and His Word...it should direct and guide, not replace.   

God does not want us to view spending time with Him a chore.  Nor does He want us to be guilted into doing so.  No, He wants us  us to want to.  He wants it to be the joy of our life.  And if we don't want to, He invites us to ask Him to give us a desire and a passion to spend time with Him.  That is a prayer that He wants to answer with a resounding yes!  And, as Beth Moore says, 'you can take that one to the spiritual bank!'  He desires us to spend time with Him because He loves us so.  Don't you enjoy spending time with the people you love?  So does God.

Lastly, I rejoice in the fact that God is the God of first, second and third chances.  He beckons us to come to Him, whether we have been faithful in spending time with Him in the past or not.  Oh, He can make up for lost time like nobody's business!  While we will never 'arrive' on this side of heaven, God's hope is that we choose to strive.  Strive to become stronger...strive to live more out of our Spirit than our flesh.  Choosing to strengthen our strength in His strength. 

¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Phil. 3:13-14. 

A Synopsis of State

Call it weird, but I often find myself humming music in my head from movie clips in relation to what we are doing.  For example, when I am looking back at pictures of my boys playing baseball, I hear the music from the Rookie in my head.  Or when they are playing in the yard with their neighbor friends, I tune into the Wonder Year's theme song.

The week leading up to State was an exciting and anticipatory time.  As I watched the events play out leading up to race day, my mind kept hearing the music in 'Remember the Titans'.

The Thursday night before the meet, the boy's team got mohawks, the customary Heath state haircut.  All the boys met out at a team member's house and his mom had the honor of hawking up the hair.  Even Coach Durfee got in on the action:

The finished product:

An ultimate team bonding experience:

This one was my personal fav:

The team was scheduled to leave Heath High School at 7:45 A.M. sharp to make the trek to Lexington.  Prior to leaving, the school was going to do a send-off.  Many of us parents came to be a part of the excitement.

As we waited in the lobby (prior to the first bell ringing), students began gathering in a circle.  We quickly realized they were going to pray:



We found out afterwards, that every morning students gather in prayer prior to the first bell ringing.  They have been doing this every day since the school shooting several years ago.  This absolutely brought tears to my eyes, bringing to mind Romans 8:28:  

'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.'

Loved, loved, loved witnessing that.

After the bell rang, the principal called all the students out into the hallway.  As music played over the loud speaker and the band played the drums, our Heath runners ran down the hallway--proudly holding their Regional title trophy, high fiving students along the way.

...Remember the Titan's music...

This event--this moment--was one of those that was going to be forever etched in their mind, a memory never forgotten.  I have a handful of those moments from high school.  This was one of those--one of their handful.  Watching this reminded me, again, how thankful I was that they were going to public school and getting to be a part of times like this.  As I walked out of the school with a few other mothers, we dried our tears and laughed over the fact that we were shedding tears.  But it can't be helped.  As our children grow up and move closer and closer to that inevitable day of graduation, the tears come more often and more frequent.  They just do.

All the adults gathered around the bus, laid hands on it, asking for God's protection over their trip...  

And off they went to pick up all of the Lone Oakers, then on to Lexington it was.

Parents trailed behind sporting the school spirit.





The rest of the hours that day were spent on the bus, checking into the hotel, jogging the course, eating a pasta dinner and hanging out at the mall...

And before you knew it, the morning was upon us and it was time to fuel up for the day.

Here are two of my very favorite Paducah families--God has blessed me abundantly with girl friends like these:

Last minute preparations of the utmost important must be made:

And it is off to the horse park.

 Upon arrival we settled in...

 Coach Sturm prepared to get the Heath girls together cause they ran first.

But clearly the top priority are some pictures.

Walking to the start line...

 Ready, set, go!

Little buddies playing at the side of the course.

Sophie came through the finish at 57th.  Not bad for a seventh grader!

The rest of the team came in at 116, 121, 132, 134, and 147....giving the team a 18th place out of 20 teams.  As our team wasn't even expected to make it to state, we were completely thrilled and proud of every single one of them for their effort!

Next up were the Heath boys.  

Deep breath.  Deep breath.

215 lined up at the start line.

Here is Zach and Joshua hanging in the top twenty.

Heath runners looking strong.

Jacob Thomson from Holy Cross won the race and smashed the course record with a time of 15:21.  It was an amazing sight watching this young man run.

Zach led our Heath boys, placing tenth!

Unfortunately, Joshua had issues with his foot beginning around mile two.  We knew running so soon after his injury would be a gamble.  Still, having been ranked in the top ten, he was completely disappointed with his finish of 79th.

This picture hurts his mama.

He was mostly disappointed, though, for feeling like he had let his team down.  But they did what good teams do--sticking by your fellow teammate and encouraging him in the good and the bad...

And this team was exactly that--a team.  The other runners came through with solid finishes of 37th, 43rd, 56th, 72nd, earning them a podium finish of 4th place overall.  Fourth in the state!  Way to go Heath!

Not only did Zach finish in the top ten...


He also received the Sportsmanship Award.  We are so very proud of him!

We are so going to miss these seniors:

Deep breath.  Deep breath.

Cause it is time for the 2A Girls race.  Gotta cheer on our Lady Lone Oakers.  Some of the Lone Oak boy runners drove all the way up for the day from Paducah to cheer them on. Loyal these boys are. They decided to make themselves known by all.  Wes and Eli got in on the action too.

Go Lone Oak, Go!

The Lone Oak girls ran, 34th, 39th, 44th, 119th, & 142nd, placing 8th overall as a team.  We were oh so very proud of them!

And I gave them the cutest socks on the course award:


To finish the day off, we did what any runner will tell you is the world's best way to finish a race.

We went and ate pancakes.

Well, I just went for the coffee and not any ole coffee mind you.  Yeah, I went for the good stuff.

We came.  We saw.  We conquered.  We ate. And I drank.  

A fantastic ending to a fantastic day.