"Stubborn Courage"

You may remember last year when I mentioned this mule
in a post I did about a trip to Wyoming.
Mules are known to be a bit stubborn...
But have you ever thought about stubbornness as a good thing?

Earlier this spring I was asked to give a talk
to our Compassionate Friends group,
and the title of my talk was
"STUBBORN COURAGE".

At the time I gave the talk,
I was grieving the affects of cancer
that appeared to be consuming the life of my sister.
A friend of mine had given me a book entitled
"A Tearful Celebration:
Finding God in the Midst of Loss"
by James Means.

Toward the end of the book the author used the term
"STUBBORN COURAGE",
and the words just seemed to jump off the page at me.
I began to write down thoughts about the subject.
Here are a few of them that I shared with our
local Compassionate Friends group.

STUBBORN COURAGE can be a gift from God
to keep us going when we feel like giving up.
It's hanging in there when you don't know
how to handle your feelings,
don't know what to do,
and don't even know how to pray!

STUBBORN COURAGE is a determination
to keep on going even when you feel like God has failed you,
and He hasn't met your expectations.

STUBBORN COURAGE grows my ability to trust God again,
even if He doesn't answer my prayers the way I want.
In the process, He molds my character,
and makes me more understanding of others.

STUBBORN COURAGE helps me to determine to
take control of negative thoughts that would try to get me down.
A counselor friend of mine says,
"You may not be able to control your emotions,
but you CAN control your thoughts,
and your thoughts can change your emotions."
Philippians 4;6-9 tells us not to be anxious,
but to think on good and lovely things,
and then God restores our peace.

STUBBORN COURAGE is putting one foot in front of the other,
trusting God,
muddling through difficulties and challenges,
and then looking back and seeing that God was there all the time!
It was God who dried our tears.
It was God who gave us the strength to go on
when we felt like we could go no further.
It was God who put a friend in our path,
someone to put their arms around us
or give us an encouraging word or smile.
It was God who gave us the courage to HOPE again,
and to DARE TO BELIEVE in His goodness.

Meet my friend Jim Davis,
a cancer survivor,
who lives to encourage
other cancer victims.

In my opinion,
he is someone who exemplifies
STUBBORN COURAGE.

One of his quotes is:
"...Milk the life out of every breath
until the last one comes"!
You can find out more about his story HERE.


Thanks for stopping by!
I hope this post on STUBBORN COURAGE is an encouragement to you.
Many thanks to my husband's cousin,
(and also my friend)
who reminded me of a promise to do this post!
Here it is, Sharon!

Don't forget to check out my Names for God on Rocks
on Rock4Today!