It’s been a while, but finally the next sibling, Austin James. Age 14. Compassionate and strong-willed fourth child.
“… we triumph even in our troubles, knowing that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope—a hope which never disappoints us, since God’s love floods our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us”
-Romans 5:3, 5
Heyy guys! So it’s been a few weeks, and you can bet this brother of mine was not thrilled with the fact that I postponed the blog post about him for so long. (Life is crazy, sorry bud). But here I am now, and here he is now. And we’re all here now. Which is all that matters.
So moving right along, if you look at the Bible verse above, you will notice that it’s about overcoming troubles and obstacles. Well, this brother of mine has a very inspiring story about overcoming trouble. Throughout his middle school years, Austin was a self-proclaimed “fluffy” kid (aka he was a little bit on the chubby side). It was his biggest insecurity and made quite a dent in his self confidence. It decreased his ability to be a joyful, carefree kid; and it increased his moodiness and resentment towards his fit older brother, among other people. So basically it wasn’t a good situation. However, at age 13, Austin entered public school for the first time (previously having been home-schooled) and began to form better eating habits, and become more active by joining the junior varsity football team. All these factors resulted in an impressive transformation from an unhappy fluffy little kid, to an active, confident, and healthy young man. His attitude completely changed, his habits improved, and he inspired myself and my family into better health as well. And he is now set on breaking all kinds of weight lifting records (of course, there is also the little bit of conceited, proud behavior. But I guess that just comes with the satisfaction of accomplishing a goal that has long been a burden).
Bottom line, Austin triumphed in his trouble, which produced in him endurance, character, and hope. He couldn’t have reached his goal without the help of God. And now he has the ability to understand and help people who are going through the same thing. His biggest weakness became his biggest strength, and his life will be all the more successful and fruitful because of his trials. Austin’s story is the perfect example of how that Bible verse is still relevant today, even though it was written hundreds and hundreds of years ago. It reminds us that whatever troubles we have encountered, whatever goals we have set for ourselves that we have yet to reach, whatever has us feeling down and dissatisfied, we are able to overcome them. We are able to triumph. We can do all things with the help of God. In addition, the other thing we must keep in mind is that the hardships we are experiencing now are happening for a reason, God has allowed each event in our lives to occur and we can learn from every single one of them. But He works all things out for the good of those who love Him. So even if times seem rough, it will work out for the good because the result will be endurance, good character, and hope.
I’m going to end here with reassuring you all that there’s no need to despair or doubt. God has a plan, He works things out for your good, and you will triumph. That’s all. Stay sweet.
~Cassie
Cassidy Sangster 