In Praise of Showing Up

Two different students say, “I wasn’t gonna come. But I did. I showed up.”

Excuses abound: it’s too cold, too early, too embarrassing to read writing aloud in class, too much work, too soon after a night out, etc.

I know all the reasons. I felt the same. I think about the lure, the temptation, to stay in bed and quit. But every moment I showed up—despite everything—culminated into weeks and months and then years of choosing the hard thing. Showing up mattered; it bore fruit. It proved that God does empower. Those days taught me I could be more than my old, scared, tired self.

I could be more.

So I showed up.

And you did, too.