{"id":20717,"date":"2024-09-08T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-08T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=20717"},"modified":"2024-09-07T05:32:30","modified_gmt":"2024-09-07T10:32:30","slug":"we-can-do-hard-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=20717","title":{"rendered":"We Can Do Hard Things"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I flipped on the TV and started watching the 2024 Paris Paralympics. I was in awe of the talent, physical strength, drive, and sheer determination to do what those who have all their abilities intact \u2013 wouldn\u2019t consider doing.

These incredible Paralympians do what others would think is impossible. My heart opened with a new sense of \u201cI can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength.\u201d (Philippians 4:13)

I was wimpy about accepting a leadership role at my church. I was thinking: \u201cThis is for younger women. These women have young children. I\u2019m long past those years. How can I relate?\u201d Satan was intimidating me with all kinds of silly concerns \u2013 especially in that sense that I had been them \u2013 raising my children AND they survived, and so did I!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly, with the inspiration from a dear friend, and the Holy Spirit\u2019s voice, came: \u201cI CAN do this!\u201d Wimpy-ness has no place in my life OR yours! I can\/you can DO THIS!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we feel like we have every reason in the world to quit, let\u2019s look around at those who have more reason than we do to quit… but they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One glance at the athletes in the Paris Paralympics, and I\u2019m instantly reminded of what the human spirit is capable of when it refuses to give in. These athletes don\u2019t focus on what they can\u2019t do; instead, they push beyond the boundaries of what seems impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Take the story of U.S. Paralympian Oksana Masters. Born with birth defects from radiation exposure in Ukraine, she had both legs amputated above the knee at a young age. But that didn\u2019t stop her. She not only mastered multiple sports, from rowing to cycling, but she also won multiple medals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking gold in her first race of Paris 2024, Masters reached the landmark of 20 Paralympics medals at the Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oksana\u2019s determination is a living testimony to the power of perseverance. She doesn\u2019t just adapt; she conquers. She\u2019s living proof that obstacles might just be the gold medal when we all refuse to quit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, what\u2019s our excuse? We, too, can soar when we adopt this same mentality. People who soar aren\u2019t waiting for life to change \u2014 they change it. They visualize in their hearts and minds that they are overcomers, and their vision propels them forward. Complaining or wishing for things to be different is not part of their narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s refuse to be whiners with low self-images. We have the power of Almighty God residing in us. Like those extraordinary Paralympians, we push through and pull up because \u201cquit\u201d is just not in our vocabulary. Let\u2019s serve notice to the enemy of our souls that we are winners \u2013 not whiners. We are conquerors \u2013 not the conquered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We really CAN do all things through Christ Who gives us the strength to win and conquer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I flipped on the TV and started watching the 2024 Paris Paralympics. I was in awe of the talent, physical strength, drive, and sheer determination to do what those who have all their abilities intact \u2013 wouldn\u2019t consider doing. These incredible Paralympians do what others would think is impossible. My heart opened with a new…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[30506,13013,30510,1210,1769,1111,1392,7697,30505,777,2391,40,30512,30513,30509,30507,1685,1528,30511,2363,4424,22956,30508],"class_list":["post-20717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2024-paris-paralympics","tag-athletes","tag-birth-defects","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-determination","tag-facebook","tag-gold-medal","tag-hard-things","tag-holy-spirit","tag-i-can-do-all-things","tag-inspiration","tag-legs-amputated","tag-no-quit","tag-oksana-masters","tag-paralympians","tag-philippians-413","tag-quit","tag-radiation-exposure","tag-strength","tag-talent","tag-ukraine","tag-wimpy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20721,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20717\/revisions\/20721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}