What did you collect as a kid? For my son, I have hundreds of Beanie Babies (mostly the bats and dinosaurs). He also had Pokemon cards and thousands of NFL cards. I told him all of this was his college savings – and yet, we never cashed in. I did give away the Pokemon cards – great act of generosity, poor economic decision. I still use (play with) the Beanie Babies, but the NFL cards are sitting in a box raising in value hopefully.
But when I was a kid – my first memory of collecting anything was the Coke bottle caps with the 15 Apollo mission seals. These are gone now, but I can get them on Ebay if I wanted to spend over $100. Nah, I’ll pass. But I did love the space program. I wanted to be an astronaut. some say my head in space most of the time. I passionately watched Star Trek, I looked into Annapolis as a career path in Nuclear Engineering … and maybe, just maybe, I could be an engineer for NASA. Nah, that path didn’t work out.
But I have been keeping up with the newest NASA endeavor – the Perseverance and the mission to Mars. Yesterday, she landed. the 300 Billion dollar project has provided early success. She has cameras, radar, a weather station, a microphone to hear the surface and more. She even has a helicopter that will navigate the atmosphere to see how that works out.
We even received photos of the dry and dusty landscape. NASA posted them on the specific Twitter account … NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover @NASAPersevere … and being on Twitter, it was quickly morphed into a meme.
America has some of the best minds for exploration and science. We are not alone obviously (Russia and China just announced a joint effort for a moon base!) But we can accomplish quite a lot – I love America and what she stands for. Perfect? No. But the name of this Mars rover says quite a bit – Perseverance!
Jesus talked some on this concept – be vigilant, keep watch, faithfulness. One of the verses that state the concept pretty clear is in Hebrews.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us … Hebrews 12.1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us …
Hebrews 12.1
But before we run, we need to know two things … We have a great group of people encouraging us on … and … We need to get rid of anything that entangles or slows us down. Being a bitA ADHD, this idea of focus is tough. But it is essential. In my marathon of life, I stumble, get sidetracked, lose focus, and more. But I am determined to persevere – get back up, return my focus to the important, and keep my eyes on Jesus (that was Hebrews 12:2 – go look it up!)
You too can perseverance, but there are requirements – get rid of the excess and keep your eyes on Him. You’ve got lots of people cheering you on. Keep on my friend.
please note – if you feel you are all alone, that no one is cheering you on? reach out to me … i would love to share more how you are never alone!
Muddy Shoes by Todd 
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