“The race is not always to the swift
but to the one who keeps on running.”
893 Quadrillion to One. That’s the likelihood of what’s happened to 20-year-old Dylan McWilliams. He was bitten by a shark, attacked by a bear, and bitten by a rattlesnake—all in just over three years.
A few weeks ago, Dylan McWilliams was body boarding off the island of Kauai, Hawaii, when he felt something hit his leg. “I saw the shark underneath me. I started kicking at it—I know I hit it at least once—and swam to shore as quickly as I could,” McWilliams told the media. The wound required 7 stitches. The odds of being attacked by a shark in U.S. waters is 1 in 11.5 million. For perspective, the average American has about a 1 in 5,000 chances of being struck by lightning during a lifetime.
While shark attacks get most of the media attention, the odds are that you’re more likely to be attacked by a bear (which is just one more reason to never go camping 😊). McWilliams, who backpacks across the U.S. and Canada, had a black bear bite him on the head while he was sleeping on a camping trip in Colorado last July. He escaped by poking the bear in its eye but it took nine staples to the back of his head. The odds of being injured by a bear are 1 in 2.1 million. In the lower 48 States just 14 people have been killed by bears between 1900 and 2009.
I should mention that in 2015, “Mr. Lucky” stumbled onto a rattlesnake while hiking in Utah. He said the bite had little venom in it so he decided not to go to the hospital, even though he was sick for a couple of days. The odds of being bitten by a poisonous snake in the U.S. are estimated at 1 in 37,500. The odds of being killed in a car accident are much more frightening at 1 in 112 (the moral of the story – don’t ride in a car).
Dylan McWilliams chalks all this up to being in the wrong place at the wrong time and encourages everyone to experience the outdoors. “I still go hiking, I still catch rattlesnakes, and I will still swim in the ocean.” But I believe that he’s a wuss…compared to a godly Mom who perseveres.
Motherhood can truly be the greatest adventure. Being a successful Mom doesn’t come from doing all the right things, or children making straight A’s or being all star athletes or the most popular kid, or even dressing them like they just stepped out of a Kohl’s ad. It’s not from buying natural food and preparing tasty, yet nutritional meals. It’s not from being able to balance out a career with being a Mom. It’s not even from having perfect kids or little angels at church. Great Moms are those who persevere!
We all know the horror stories of Moms who walked out of their marriages and worse, walked out on their kids. Yet, one can walk out emotionally and spiritually, yet still be 100% in place physically.
Being a Mom is never ending work. It’s to give it your all and do your best 24/7, but still be told that “You’re the meanest Mom in the world!” It’s to wonder what you ever did to be despised by those who you’d willingly give your life for, faster than a New York minute. It’s to be dissed by the media and culture who seems to only be impressed by super women, like a Senator who nurses her baby on the Senate floor, yet still holds down a powerful position. Or celebrities who six weeks after having a baby are back to their svelte high school figure.
Being a successful Mom doesn’t come from being beautiful or still able to fit in your wedding gown in middle age. While there are many spiritual fruits that are part of being successful, this first one is critical – persevering. It’s means that you’re faithful and still plugged in spiritually, mentally and emotionally when you’d rather bail. It’s saying “No” and sticking to it because saying “No” is the right decision. It’s saying “Yes” as much as you can to all that’s good for your children and what will help them be godly adults even when they’re screaming “No!” And when they’re adults and have walked away from God and everything you love and thought that you’d instilled in them, you still persevere on your knees.
One of forgotten heroines of the early church was Monica. Her son was a nightmare. Because of her faith, he ran away as far as he could from her. He was vile, debauched and immoral. He was everything that a Mom hopes her child will never be, but he was. To make matters worse, she’s married to a pagan husband and has no support at home or in her marriage. But even though her son ran from her, he couldn’t outrun her prayers. She made it her mission on earth to be the one who would constantly pray for her son…Augustine. To be the one, again from a human perspective, that God would use in bringing Augustine to Himself.
In his book, The Confessions, Augustine relates that his mother, Monica, told him, “There was only one reason, and one reason alone why I wished to remain a little longer in this life, and it was to see you…to see you become a Christian.” Wonderfully, Monica lived to see her prayers answered. Augustine not only became a Christian, he became one of the greatest leaders in Church History.
Mothers, God does not ask you to be successful. His first requirement is that you persevere, that you be faithful to Him. Study the pages of Scripture and Church History. You’ll find a consistent pattern. Often in the shadows, behind nearly every man or woman who loved Jesus and made a difference for eternity, is a faithful mother who persevered. It’s a Hanna, a Eunice, a Susanna Wesley or a Ruth Bell Graham…or YOU!
Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.
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