Louisa Groce. A beacon of faith, fearlessness, and fortitude. A woman one can look to and think: “Yes, I can do it.” After 40 years in education, Pastor Groce went to seminary in her mid-seventies, was ordained at age 81, and served a Lutheran church in New Jersey until her retirement at age 90. They should be making a movie of her life as Wonder Woman II.
There are many factors in life that tempt one to think that we cannot do one thing or another. I’m too weak. I’m too dumb. I’m too poor. I have no talents. I’m too uneducated. I’m too old. The “too old” claim didn’t enter Louisa’s mind. She pursued her second calling and helped/guided a group of people for ten productive years. By my lights, she deserved to retire at age 90, but I’d be willing to bet that at age 99 now she’s not sitting still.
The old if-there’s-a-will-there’s-a-way adage may be overused and not operative 100% of the time. But the great majority of the time it is a principle that holds true. In many (most?) cases the primary thing that holds a person back is him/herself.
I’ve used the quote previously, but it bears repeating. WE LIVE AS WE THINK. One’s body (or one’s life) will never go where one’s mind doesn’t go first. To be sure, thinking something will not guarantee its happening. But not putting one’s mind to something is generally a guarantee that it won’t happen. To quote the great hockey star Wayne Gretzky: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Take the shots. One won’t score points every time (Gretzky didn’t) . . . but take the shots.
