4:30 am. I rolled over in bed, squinted towards the bedroom door to where a sliver of light lay softly over my feet, coming from the hallway. Mutely I press my face into my pillow and stifle a groan. “I will not complain” I mutter as I swing my feet out of bed, turn to kiss the sleeping baby, and reach for my robe.

I pad down the hall, down the steps, and into the kitchen where my husband visibly brightens. He says nothing to me, the darling man who has learned a thing of two in his almost 16 years of marriage to me, his wife who does not do mornings well.

My heart warms when he brings me my coffee. My steaming, hot cup of Kaffee brimming with healthy fats. I sit beside him with my Life Map in front of me. The words slip soundlessly under the surface, like a feather drifting to the bottom of my ocean where I am still, resting in a peaceful stupor. “If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles” I read.

Slowly my brain springs to life. Its 6:15 AM. My husband left for work. My sheep are starting to stir. My Kaffee is all gone, and I am ready to step forward into life and grasp it by the tail. I am ready to take dominion over my God given vineyards.

You are wondering where this is all leading, right?

What you see here in bold letters, are all the places that I pulled up my big girl pants. Pulling up your pants is an action verb. In that moment where your spirit shrinks, you reach down, you hike those pants to your chin, and you take a forceful step forward. (or a little stumble, as case may be)

Pulling up your big girl pants is not something that happens automatically. It’s not accidental, nor is it a habit. Just like you don’t wander out of the bathroom with your underwear and pants pooling around your ankles. Nope, you bend over and pull them up, some of us higher than others. (I see you with the underwear above your belly button) Life works the same. You can go around with your underwear and pants in place or you can stumble around with them pooling around your ankles.

“ Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” Somewhere In James

“You shall be a daughter of Sarah if you do good, and are not afraid”. Somewhere in Peter

We know “to do good” is a good thing. But do we really know it. Do we know it all the way down at the bottom of our ocean where no one else sees?

Do we know it in a way that fills us with the power to do good?

Our life work is so simple. Walk forward, take the step that God has made clear. Wash those dishes, rock that baby, write that article, say YES to that opportunity that fell into your lap. (Sometimes the next right thing is to say NO)

Simply be obedient without worry for the next step, or how it will work out. Do the next right thing, from this minute, to the next minute, to the next hour, into the next day. As you see truth, walk in it, trusting our God to provide direction and reproof if needed.

Learn self control, if you want to learn how to most effectively pull up your pants. Self Control is integral to a life bringing honor and glory to God. Being a slave to your lusts and desires is the antitheses to a life lived in contented, joyful, victory.

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” Somewhere in 1 Corinthians 9.

“So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.” Somewhere in 1 Thessalonians 5.

And of course one of my favorites, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Self-discipline is the precursor to pulling up ones pants. Self-discipline gives you the power to pull those pants up to your chin and wade straight into the fray.

I am going to include a quote from our pastor Steve Wilson at Grace Community Church in Bowling Green.