Word of the Day-- Courage!

Our Sunday School lesson this morning dealt with the courage that Peter showed when he was brought before the Jewish council after he was preaching that Jesus was the One and Only Savior and after he healed a crippled man. The point of our lesson was that it took such courage to speak out this way; he could have easily been killed for his words!

It made me think about when we have to display courage in our own lives-- and especially in our faith lives. We may not feel the threat of imprisonment or torture, but we still can be made fun of--or if nothing else, it's sometimes much easier to just not stand up for something important.

So when have I showed courage? Probably not often enough, but I try to do it in small ways . .. I try and show courage by not gossiping with everyone at the ballpark and by being friendly with everyone. I try and share my faith when I can--I'm not a "preach in your face" kind of Christian, but I do try and live in a way that makes others think I'm a nice person who has a good heart. I hope that they wonder why I'm that way!

McKenna shows courage by standing up for her beliefs at school (just the other day she was telling me that she thinks adults think that teenagers don't have real problems or stressors in their lives; she complained that adults always say their lives are so tough, with bills and jobs and everything, but that they don't realize how stressful a teen's life is. She pointed out that she especially feels pressure to be a good Christian role model. She does all she can to talk about her faith and to at least stand up for what she knows is right. This SO impressed me and reminded me that teens do have a lot of pressure. So hug your teenager today!).

Delaney shows courage by being as friendly as possible to even those kids who aren't very loveable (she shared with me just last week that there is a boy in her class that everyone makes fun of, but she said that she really tries to be nice to him and encourages others to as well. You all know how mean 4th graders can be!! It takes a lot of courage to be nice when everyone else isn't!)

Maybe we can all learn a lesson from my daughters today--be strong and courageous and do something just because it's the right thing to do!