My daughter cried during swimming lessons today.

No, she was not injured.

No, she wasn’t freezing.

She just wasn’t having fun. She had run up against a challenge. A task she could not do. A task that could not be accomplished without work. She did not want to work. She wanted to give up. I saw it in her eyes, although she didn’t say it.

I saw those words settling there, “It’s too hard,” even though she didn’t say them. I called her over, held her hand, and first stated, “There’s no crying in swimming.” Then I told her, “Be diligent, work hard, and never give up. Keep trying. Persevere.”

She sucked it up and kept going. She finished her lesson. She wasn’t her usual chipper self, but the crying was over, thankfully. Next time, she would do better.

Today, the children pushed all my buttons. I yelled. I threatened, I did not listen. I just wasn’t having fun. I had run up against a challenge. A task I could not accomplish without work. I did not want to work. I felt those words settling in, “It’s too hard.” I felt the tears well up, and then, like a hand holding mine, words of Scripture comforted me and saved me once again. “So do not fear, for I am with you.” Isaiah 41:10

Be diligent, work hard, and never give up. Keep trying. Persevere.