the failures of a great man - abraham lincoln
1831 - failed in business
1832 - defeated for legislature
1833 - failed in business again
1834 - elected to legislature !!!!!!!!!!!!
1835 - woman he loved died
1836 - suffered a nervous breakdown
1838 - defeated for speaker
1840 - defeated for elector
1843 - defeated for congress
1846 - elected for congress !!!!!!!!!!!!
1848 - defeated for congress again
1855 - defeated for senate
1856 - defeated for vice president
1858 - defeated for senate again
1860 - elected as president !!!!!!!!!!!!*
shit happens. life happens. what happens is not as important as how one reacts to what has happened. he must learn from his mistakes and keep going. or learn from his mistakes and begin going in a different direction. Build on your strengths.*
consider moses, gideon and paul the apostle. they would not seem to be the best choices for the roles god put them in. but he knew their strengths. if you believe god has a plan for your life, then look to these men and their transformation into the men god wanted them to become. it wasn't easy. god trained moses for eighty years to deliver his people out of captivity and when the time came, moses argued with god and made excuses about his inability to speak well. gideon asked god for at least two physical manifestations on god's part to prove that he had understood correctly. paul killed christians until he came face-to-face with a blinding light. and these are the men that the omniscient chose to lead his campaigns. who are we to argue the circumstances in which we find ourselves? could moses have led out the children of israel had he not been a shepherd for forty years? could paul have defended christ so effectively and without respect to his own life had he not been respnosible for the deaths of so many. guilt may not be the most noble attribute but it sure is one hell of a motivator.
"and we know thatall things work together for good to them that love the lord and who are called according to his purpose."**
* taken from "whose child is this" by bill wilson
** R0mans 8:28, kjv
1832 - defeated for legislature
1833 - failed in business again
1834 - elected to legislature !!!!!!!!!!!!
1835 - woman he loved died
1836 - suffered a nervous breakdown
1838 - defeated for speaker
1840 - defeated for elector
1843 - defeated for congress
1846 - elected for congress !!!!!!!!!!!!
1848 - defeated for congress again
1855 - defeated for senate
1856 - defeated for vice president
1858 - defeated for senate again
1860 - elected as president !!!!!!!!!!!!*
shit happens. life happens. what happens is not as important as how one reacts to what has happened. he must learn from his mistakes and keep going. or learn from his mistakes and begin going in a different direction. Build on your strengths.*
consider moses, gideon and paul the apostle. they would not seem to be the best choices for the roles god put them in. but he knew their strengths. if you believe god has a plan for your life, then look to these men and their transformation into the men god wanted them to become. it wasn't easy. god trained moses for eighty years to deliver his people out of captivity and when the time came, moses argued with god and made excuses about his inability to speak well. gideon asked god for at least two physical manifestations on god's part to prove that he had understood correctly. paul killed christians until he came face-to-face with a blinding light. and these are the men that the omniscient chose to lead his campaigns. who are we to argue the circumstances in which we find ourselves? could moses have led out the children of israel had he not been a shepherd for forty years? could paul have defended christ so effectively and without respect to his own life had he not been respnosible for the deaths of so many. guilt may not be the most noble attribute but it sure is one hell of a motivator.
"and we know thatall things work together for good to them that love the lord and who are called according to his purpose."**
* taken from "whose child is this" by bill wilson
** R0mans 8:28, kjv
posted by scøüpe at 11:29 AM
9 Comments:
the thing that still sticks with me from bill wilson: "the need is the call"
nice post--so true, and yet we always need to be reminded of it
it seems that this is the theme for the week - trusting that God knows what he's doing, and we really are helpless, flailing through life pretending to have some modicum of control, when all we really should do is hand it over - - or, at least, recognize and admit our utter directionlessness (is that a word, jenna? a few too many suffixes, it seems...)
lovely post: it's almost prescient for things i've been pondering lately.
This is good stuff, Scoupe. Good things I need to remember. Thank you.
too many suffixes? no such thing! that's utter ridculositariousness!
1861 - Becomes first and only President in American history in office during a civil war.
1862 - Suffers series of military setbacks. Faces staunch criticism from his generals, abolitionists, immigrants, Northern Democrats, and even many in his own party.
1863 - Gives one of the shortest, yet most important speeches in American history - the Gettysburg Address. At the time, the speech is overshadowed by the two hour long oration of "featured speaker" Rev. Edward Everett.
1864 - Nearly ousted from the Presidency by a general he fired in the early years of the war.
1865 - Shot in back of the head by crazed southern sympathizer.
Even when you hit the top, shit still happens.
i should have realised that darren would have a better knowledge of this sort of thing.
hey, you should feel pretty great that he didn't correct any of the details of your post--it must have been historically accurate! :)
it'd better be; i took it straight from someone's book.
spoken like a true researcher. with that admission, you are now officially a scholar!
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