SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP

SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP
Read: 2 Samuel 12:1-15
"For I want very much to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine." Romans 1:11-12
This morning at 4:15 a.m., I had a minor disagreement with my alarm clock.
That disagreement? It told me to get out of bed, and I did not want to.
“If you didn’t want it to go off that early, why did you set it for that early?” you ask. It’s a perfectly reasonable question, and one I spent the next five minutes sitting on the couch in a dark living room asking myself.
The answer is a very simple one. About 8:30 p.m. last night a friend of mine sent me a (mildly) joking four-word message: “Suck it up, buttercup!” It was because of those four words ringing in my head I chose to listen to my alarm instead of crawling back under the covers.
See, the friend who sent me this message invited me to begin taking a 5 a.m. fitness class three days a week starting last week as I was healing from my ankle injury. The class has turned out to be an important part of the injury’s healing process, both from a mental and physical standpoint.
But after a long weekend of short sleep and a lot of time chasing down my energetic two-year old daughter, I hit a wall Sunday evening and was fairly certain I did not want to subject myself to another short night for a pre-dawn Monday wake up call.
After I reiterated as much in a message, my friend returned with that four word reply.
And so the alarm sounded, I tossed on my workout clothes with a grumble, and made it to the 5 a.m. class, where met with the companionship of friends, including the one who lovingly told me to suck it up.
It’s important to have this kind of a friend, too – the kind of friend who will pull you out of a stupor and keep you accountable and motivated when life gets hard and you are ready to throw in the towel. We need the friend who sees enough in you to know when you are not giving the best that you have and pushes you to be better because they know you have it in you.
It is nearly impossible to find growth in life, and in our walks with Christ, if we only surround ourselves with people who tell us its okay to settle for where we are at, and never push us to be more. We cannot move forward if all we have is “yes” friends.
Instead, fill your circle with friends who love you enough to keep you accountable. When the do hold you accountable, too, embrace the humility to takes to accept their Godly correction. As you grow, then, strive to be the same kind of friend, willing to hold others accountable, but being sure to do so with the loving, compassionate heart of Jesus Christ.
The next time a friend or relative tells you to, “Suck it up, buttercup,” thank them for the love it takes for them to say it. Then praise God for placing those people in your life.
Prayer: Thank you for the friends who love me enough to hold me accountable in love and help me grow. Give me the humility to embrace their correction, and help me to be the same friend to others, as well.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FINDING LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS - RACE REFLECTIONS

It is amazing sometimes how God's plan can so vastly differ from my own. In the past couple of days, I have begun to reflect on my experiences at the Run for the Rocks Half Marathon, and the aftermath thereof. A week ago, I was approaching it with no real concrete goal in mind. I planned to take it easy, and run little more than a relaxed (for me), leisurely pace - a chance to recover after a difficult, but fulfilling, summer of racing. But somewhere about three days before the race, I started to feel like God's plans for this race were far different than my own. On His leading, I decided to run the race to support and represent Prodigal Ministries of Kansas, a small men's transitional shelter I have been involved with on several levels for nearly a decade. It felt like a calling to be a voice of light for a ministry that, on so many levels, changed my life and my heart many years ago when I was in a dark, dark place. With this renewed focus put on the race I was r
Read more

MAKE YOUR DAYS COUNT

Nine years  ago  last Monday, I ran my first road race. Eight months  ago  today, I finished my third marathon. But four months ago, the real race began.   I have spent the last four months literally, and figuratively, having my heart tested over and over again.    Physically, the aim has been to diagnose exercise-exacerbated chest soreness through an extensive battery appointments and tests culminating in a heart  cath  Tuesday which leaves me sidelined, even from lifting my daughter, for the next two weeks.   So far, the results have been positive, in a sense. There are some issues my heart that go along with getting closer to 40 – some leaky valves and now, it appears, some slight narrowing of the arteries. So, as long as it’s monitored, I am not, God willing, going anywhere anytime soon.   Hmm...God willing.   These words carry a lot more weight and a lot less cliché now. I have spent a lot of time the last four months wrestling with my own mortality, at t
Read more

FINDING REFRESHMENT IN A BITTER WORLD

“ Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your  words  will be an  encourage ment to those who hear them.” Ephesians 4:29, NLT Most of my mornings start early – like, no daylight, crickets-still-chirping early – around, or often before, 5 a.m. If I’m still in bed at six, even on the weekends, you might want to check my pulse. The pre-dawn hours before the day turns the wind-up crank on my energetic two year old daughter Makenzie is my time of refreshment and renewal. In those times, there are generally three constants – a pair of running shoes, multiple cups of coffee, and a camo-covered Bible. By way of confession, sometimes there are too many cups of coffee and not enough time with an open Bible. With a hyper personality made significantly moreso by seemingly endless refills of java, finding the balance is not always easy. Countless stresses that overload and overwhelm the already hectic pace of life. The morning news is filled with stories of grief, disaster
Read more