Two are Better than One

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, MSG

 " It's better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps. But if there's no one to help, it's tough!" 

 I have been drinking in this lesson lately. Pride stops me from asking for help sometimes. Pride keeps me from being the godly woman God wants me to be. Pride tells me I don't need help in most scenarios, but clearly the Bible teaches differently. So, I am taking that and applying it quite literally. 

 In some scenarios, I do not have a hard time asking for help. In other ways, I can be as stubborn as the old mule. I want to figure out how to do it. I want to become a better runner. I want to be stronger. I want to host a better 5K.... see the theme? While the verse that says two are better than one didn't necessarily speak directly to those areas of life per say, it's still applicable.

It's not to say that I can never be independent or never work out a scenario on my own. I just have been learning too often lately where support and a second person are better than me trying to tough it out alone.

 I have struggled with my running lately. Not in getting out on my own or in getting up in the mornings, but I have hit a plateau I am fighting to get through, and I need help. My friend, Mary, is a faster, more lean runner than I am, and she is gracious enough to run with me one day a week now. It will take time to become faster, but - it's better to have a partner than to go it alone. During the fall when I was training, it was going well and that was a season that was clearly meant to be time of just me and God on my morning runs. So, I wanted to pridefully push through this difficult block on my own, but humbly I will accept the help. I'm honestly grateful for it. When no one is there to help, it's tough! When no one is with me to tell me to stop walking, will power only goes so far.

 I have been frustrated with strength training. That's never been an area I have succeeded well on my own (or in general). The TRX class has become a perfect setting for me. There is accountability and there is encouragement. I don't really know what I'm doing (yet) and when my legs are in the handles while we work our core, I certainly flail around at times. But little by little, I am getting to know the others in the class and becoming more comfortable. They are there to be my help as much as they are there to enhance their own strength. There is beauty in numbers. And while I may be one of the more quiet ones for now, the high fives and silly banter make me smile.

 In pushing through some personal obstacles and overcoming negative aspects of life, the prideful me wants to say "I'm strong enough to handle this!"But honestly, I need a partner. (Or 2 or 3) I need a friend to help me stay strong in my convictions and remember where God has placed me and how far He has brought me and where He is leading me. In my weakness, I am inclined to give up. But, I am an overcomer. Not on my own strength, mind you. But there is power in numbers. And strength in God's grace.

 In parenting, I need Michael to be my backup - or maybe the frontrunner. And since I don't have my mom to go to for advice, I use the help of other women around me who have walked this road before me.

 Two are better than one. When I fall, when I need a word of encouragement, when I need a shoulder to cry on, when I need to keep going, when I need someone to pray for me, when I need advice, when I can't see clearly..... the other is there to get me. Whether it's my best friend, my mentor, my husband, or my boss.... this is a lesson not alway easily learned but beautifully being played out. One day at a time.