Faking It

The other night, my older son, Grant had his spring concert. He joined the band this year and played the saxophone. He is NOT musically gifted, but he joined to try to make friends since this was his first year in a new school with no friends and not much hope either. Joining the band has really helped him feel like he belongs to something. He was in such need for friendship that the fact that he didn’t know the first thing about how to play any instruments or read music or even spell the word “saxophone” didn’t stop him. I’m so proud of him, even though I wish he’d practice more, and communicated better…I’m still proud! (He didn’t tell us about the spring concert until the night before, which sent me on a panic spin for I knew the shoes I had bought for him back in December for the Christmas concert did not fit anymore!)

At any rate, we went to the concert and we watched him look splendid. At the end, I asked him, “how much did you fake it? 50%?” Back in December, for his first concert, the Band director told him, “if you can’t make it, fake it,” since he knew Grant was just not ready to be a performer yet. To my delight, Grant said, “this time, I played 60 to 65% without faking it.” LOL!

That’s my boy.

After I was done laughing and teasing, I began to think: “how much do I fake it in my own life too?”

I wish I could say I never fake it…the truth is, however, I’m probably right there, next to my son, when it comes to faking it/not faking it ratios.

I want to run a good race. I want to press on and give it my all. I want to always do my best. But over and over and over again, I fall short. Just like the disciples at Gethsemane, when they were supposed to stay awake, make company and give moral support to our Lord, and they fell asleep, I often fall asleep on the road to meeting Him too. 

What is there to do?

Jesus tells us:

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26: 41

I know it sounds common sense, and to some perhaps even simplistic, but it is what we ought to do, and so many times we don’t. We need to keep vigilant and pray without ceasing. To be a Christian is to know Christ, and to accomplish that with our limited minds, we have to stay connected to Him. Prayer is the answer. Prayer is the outlet, the cable and the plug. Requesting the guidance of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis is the way to go. And we need His guidance for all the steps we take…not just the big and transcendental ones, but also even the small.

I don’t want to fake my Christian walk. I don’t want to fall asleep on the road either. But my flesh is weak, so sometimes I, inevitably, will again, stumble and fall. But I just want to remember that prayer will get me going 100% of the time.

Grant signed up for band for the coming year. And I am delighted! I’m sure, however, that there will be times, less and less I hope, when he will still have to fake it again. I pray, for the both of us that we won’t have to anymore. As I try to teach my son about the power of prayer, I want us both to remember than rather than faking it, we should always just pray through it.

Linking with:  Whole Hearted Home and Little R and R