Don’t Give Up
by Phoebe Cary
If you’ve tried and have not won,
Never stop for crying;
All’s that’s good and great is done
Just by patient trying.
Though young birds, in flying fall,
Still their wings grow stronger;
And the next time they can keep
Up a little longer.
Though the sturdy oak has known
Many a blast that bowed her,
She has risen again, and grown
Loftier and prouder.
If be easy work you beat,
Who the more will prize you?
Gaining victory from defeat, –
That’s the test that tries you!
At a recent principal’s meeting the topic of poor resilience amongst many of today’s students was discussed. For various reasons students give up when things are hard or they don’t do well at something, sadly preventing them from soaring, as the above poem alludes to. Would we ever have learned to walk or even to stand if we gave up along the way? The Christian life is a kind of pilgrimage, a kind of challenging journey in which we need God for each step towards our appointed destination. Talk with your children about a “never give up attitude” which the power of Christ can give us.
