When I think of grit, I think of a pine tree. The one thing that can live, no matter what season or what hardships are thrown at them, and still stand tall without losing their leaves.
This idea was presented to me while talking about perseverance and a Christian sports camp a couple years ago. Despite it only being around three years ago, I was significantly more oblivious than I am now. I thought that having perseverance was easy.
Now, coming home from my second mission trip, I realized it was so much easier said than done.
Jesus placed me in a scene that I would have never expected myself in: with 11 strangers with the expectation of building a 32 by 9-foot deck despite us lacking any knowledge of carpentry.
We were dropped off to our site with a book, our tools, some materials, and an elderly man that was ecstatic to get a new deck. I was still oblivious, so I thought this project would be a piece of cake.
I definitely felt as if I jinxed it after our site coach came and told us we had to redo something with each visit. It was so disheartening spending hours on something and being proud of it, and then having it be demanded of you to tear it apart and do it again.
We only had a couple days to build the deck, so when our coach told us we had to pretty much remake the entire deck the morning of the last day, my heart shattered.
It made me have a pit in my stomach. How could I leave this site without finishing the deck? Why did I do everything wrong, four different times? Is the old man going to be mad at me? What about the Lord, will he be disappointed?
I knew that after that day I wouldn't ever see the house or the resident again, but I just wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I left them without a finished product.
Then it all sparked, I never had an experience of failure like this and that day wouldn't be the first. The theme of the week is grit, and that's what we needed to get the project done.
Luckily, God made a man appear on our site, he dropped everything he was doing to make sure we saw the project through. Our site coach also came back.
That's when all my inner grit came out, I became my own pine tree. We all focused and worked as hard as we could in the 95-degree humidity. My friend and I had several matching cuts and blisters on our hands.
We stayed three hours over, but the deck got finished. Pretty much in a single day. In the final stages of building, the granddaughter of our resident was sitting on the bench we put on the deck. She was laughing and reading her book, looking so happy.
It was nothing extraordinary, but seeing that was so rewarding for me. These people were so excited for a deck; something that I definitely had no appreciation for in my own house. It wouldn't have been there if my team didn't build it.
After that, I realized that it's more than a deck, it represents so much. It shows the growth and love I adapted with all the people on my team. It proves that God is there, and he is so good. It makes the residents strengthen their faith and think of Him every time they walk through their front door.
Jesus gave me the ultimate test of grit this week. I've become a more determined person because of it, and I know that for a fact. As said in James 1:12, "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him."
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