I Can't See Any Progress
I believe God wants us to be successful … and yet success is not always obvious. The Chinese bamboo tree does absolutely nothing — or so it seems — for the first four years. Then suddenly, sometime during the fifth year, it shoots up ninety feet in sixty days. Would you say that bamboo tree grew in six weeks, or five years?
I think our lives are akin to the Chinese bamboo tree. Sometimes we put forth effort, put forth effort, and put forth effort … and nothing seems to happen. But if you do the right things long enough, you'll receive the rewards of your efforts.
S. Truett Cathy
Imagine the elation of architect Robert Mills. On that day in 1836, the fledgling Washington National Monument Society announced they had chosen his plans for the soon-to-be-constructed monument to the nation's first president. Mills had slaved for months over the elaborate drawings, and he had dared to dream big — a granite obelisk soaring over 555 feet high. It would be no less than the tallest structure in the world. Mills had designed many other buildings in his career, but this monument was different. And now his dreams were becoming reality.
But the funds didn't come in as fast as the society had hoped. Construction wasn't able to begin for five years, ten years — a full twelve years later. Then the engineers discovered the ground at the site was too soft to support the weight of the huge monument, so they had to start over farther north. Work proceeded fairly smoothly for six years, and major figures began donating marble to the project. But in 1854, when Pope Pius IX donated a marble block from the Temple of Concord, a group of saboteurs stole the block and destroyed it. The incident shocked the public, and donations nearly stopped. Then members ...
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