Our family recently finished a book on the Lewis and Clark expedition. We were amazed by the level of both hardship and beauty they encountered. I was particularly convicted by the chapters describing the party's journey negotiating a narrow ledge through the Rockies for several weeks--experiencing bitter temperatures, slippery snow, and lack of food most of the way. As each day's description unfolded, I kept wondering, "How did they make it? Why didn't they just give up?"

I suffer from a common malady. I too often assume that, if someone is on the right course, it should unfold before them. Obstacles should clear; blessings fall. History teaches that it so often doesn't work that way. The soldiers at Valley Forge, Christians who hid Jews in Europe, missionaries who took the gospel to foreign lands--all too often these faced overwhelming circumstances and I'm sure questioned, "Why not just give up?" But, they didn't. And their efforts achieved greatness--in spite of, or perhaps because of, the hardship.

I want my children to learn these lessons of history. Hardship doesn't mean you're on the wrong path or made the wrong choice. Sometimes hardship is a key element of the right choice. Rather than allowing my children to buy into the cultural attitude that life will simply fall into place, I want to train my children to make good choices, courageous choices, then be prepared for the hardships that might come.

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