Perseverance

Two weeks ago, Jacob walked in the door from school and he says to me, "Mom, you are going to be so proud of me." I reply, "Jacob, I am always so proud of you." "Yeah, but this time you are going to be even more proud of me," he says. He reaches into his backpack and pulls out a certificate. It reads - Maya Angelou Elementary School, This certifies that JACOB OLSON is awarded this certificate for Demonstrating The Character Trait: PERSEVERANCE, followed by the date and signatures by the school principal and his teacher. I was immediately happy for him because he has been wanting one of the "Student of the Month" awards since Kindergarten and has never received one. Back in November, Kayla came home with one for demonstrating Fairness. He was happy for Kayla but was mad because he says he tries to do the best he can and had never received an award.

I was happy for him and hugged and loved on him and asked him, "So, what did you get this award for?" "I don't know, it says on there." Perseverance. I started thinking, this is kind of a weird award. Who gets an award for perseverance? Fairness I understand. That's easy, but perseverance? I asked Jacob if he knew what perseverance meant. He said no so we decided to look it up together in the dictionary.

This is what we found:

per⋅se⋅ver⋅ance  [pur-suh-veer-uhns] –noun
1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
2. Theology. continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation.

per·se·ver·ance (pûr'sə-vîr'əns) n.
1. Steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose; steadfastness.
2. Christianity The Calvinistic doctrine that those who have been chosen by God will continue in a state of grace to the end and will finally be saved.

Perseverance Per`se*ver"ance, n.
1. The act of persevering; persistence in anything undertaken; continued pursuit or prosecution of any business, or enterprise begun. "The king-becoming graces . . . perseverance, mercy, lowliness." --Shak.
Whose constant perseverance overcame Whate'er his cruel malice could invent. --Milton.
2. Discrimination. [Obs.] --Sir J. Harrington.
3. (Theol.) Continuance in a state of grace until it is succeeded by a state of glory; sometimes called final perseverance, and the perseverance of the saints. See Calvinism.
Syn: Persistence; steadfastness; constancy; steadiness; pertinacity.


All I could think was WOW. Is this how my sons teacher sees him? Is this what he is like when I am not around, with his peers? I became teary, my heart was full, I was proud. I hugged and hugged him. He didn't think it was a big enough deal to bring his mama to tears, but they were happy tears. Jacob is such an amazing little boy and he is showing character traits that some grown men never have. He is mature beyond his years and he doesn't even know it. Still I wonder, what did he persevere through that landed him an award for it? Is he still trying to persevere through this? I am curious.

I guess it isn't such a weird award after all. I can't wait until conference time so I can sit with his teacher and discuss this more fully.

Congratulations buddy!