The Last Push Is the Hardest

     I hit a wall on Saturday at about 4pm. It seemed like for a few hours (a few days even!) I had been staring at my laptop, writing a few sentences, and then erasing them. Finally, I closed my laptop and went on to other tasks around my house. 
 
     I so badly want to complete this book and have the assurance that it is finished. I feel like I’m close to the finish line, but now, in these last few weeks, it’s like the wind has picked up—and I have to fight harder to make any progress.
 
     I’ve felt like this before. With my construction loan, with my seminary degree, and now with my book, I’ve felt…

• this impatience with myself,
• this frustration with the process,
• this doubt & fear of whether this will actually happen.

 
     I can see the finish line…almost close enough to where I can reach out and brush it with my fingertips. But that last push is the hardest.
 
     The last push is the hardest. Is this true of childbirth as well? Perhaps it’s true of birthing dreams.
 
     This weekend I started praying according to Philippians 1:6. I prayed that “He who began a good work in [me and this book] will carry it on to completion.”
     Completion. Does that word sound really good to you today? Is there something that you’re pushing through, running against the wind, so close and yet so far away?
 
     Well, today I’m praying that for all who read this, that if God began a good work in you, that He will carry it on to completion.
Hard work, perseverance, and then by the grace of God, completion.
 
     I felt kinda weird about using a childbirth metaphor, so I texted my sisters: “Awkward, random question: in childbirth, is the last push the hardest?”
     Poor Rachel said that her babies were fat, and the whole process was just really hard. But for the last push, she at least knew that it was almost finished.
     But Shari texted (and I quote), “The last push is the best!!! Get that baby out!!!”
 
     So there you have it. The last push might be the hardest, but it’s also the best.
 
     God bless you. I’ll pray for you; you pray for me, and #WeWontShrinkBack.
 
P.S. I can’t help it. I have to share my new favorite Toby Mac song since it’s about not giving up. Here’s the link for “Move (Keep Walkin’)”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX1G71WK-FA