How do you spell Success?

            I grew up in a family of brothers.  I could either like it or lump it.  My parents did the best they could to offer me a sister with two more brothers to follow my eldest brother and myself.  If I was going to survive in this male dominated world, I had to make the best of it.

            My brothers all played little league football. 

My choices were to sit on the wooden bleachers with my parents or become a cheerleader and enjoy hot chocolate on those crisp fall Virginia nights.  I chose the later.

            I became a little league cheerleader with the goal of a costume and a cup of hot chocolate during half time.  They forced me to learn little jingles they called cheers or chants.  These cheers included ridiculous hand motions, clapping and stomping.  I felt more like a trained horse than a pitiful little tike who simply wanted something hot to stay warm.

            I learned one particular cheer which served me well.  I not only chanted this in elementary it carried over to my high school and college days of cheering.  Some of you may know it. 

S U C C E S S

THAT’S THE WAY YOU SPELL SUCCESS.

            Learning to spell “success” was a treasure for my fourth grade spelling test.  But it didn’t really answer the question of what IS success? 

            When do you consider something a success? 

            Tonight I was blessed by watching a young man play the “box drum.”  If you aren’t familiar with this instrument it looks like a wooden box that the musician sits on and beats with his hands. 

            I wondered if his momma let him play in the closet when he was a little boy.  He may have picked up shoe boxes and pretended they were drums.   I wonder if his mom corrected him for beating on the kitchen table. She may have asked him repeatedly to stop hitting on the ottoman.

            But tonight that little boy was a young man leading worship.  Directing a small crowd of people to march forward to the throne of grace.

            Sometimes our little ones don’t look like they will be successful.  They seem to be noisy or uncooperative or not able to focus.  God has made them in such a way to be a success in His eyes.

            An older friend of mine shared how she thought she was going to pull her out trying to get her son through high school.  English in particular was laborious.  He spent hours and days trying to write a poem.  Years later he too is a worship leader and writes the most beautiful lyrics and music.

            Moms, lets see our children as God does.  He will make them each successful in His economy.  S U C C E S S is the cheer our God has for our children and us!

            (Challenge:  Spend time in Joshua 1: 5 - 10 and determine how God spells Success. If your children are elementary or below make a set a drums with them using shoeboxes, oatmeal containers, old paint cans and then teach them to tap out SUCCESS!)