SEASON 8, EPISODE 18, “DAYS OF SUNSHINE, DAYS OF SHADOW”

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KEEP RUNNING!

“No sir, I’m not going to give up. Everyone has problems once and again. You can’t let that stop you.”

—LAURA INGALLS

Perseverance focuses on the future, not on the heartache of the past. When a tornado moves through Walnut Grove, it destroys Laura’s home. She doesn’t realize the extent of the damage because a tree limb knocks her unconscious as she is rescuing a cat. Recovering at her parents’ house, Laura has plenty of reasons to dwell on the past. After a few days, Laura is ready to see the house and takes Baby Grace along with her.

This episode is one of the few we vividly remember filming, and I love the lesson it teaches. It reveals our human nature when we let current circumstances dictate our happiness. Laura has just told Baby Grace how she won’t give up—and then they come upon the demolished house. She is furious and begins throwing boards into the already broken windows. At that moment, afraid of her sister’s anger, Grace turns around and runs.

When we were filming this scene, Michael told us to keep running until we were out of frame. Baby Grace didn’t know exactly what “out of frame” meant, but we did the scene perfectly. As the camera rolled, Michael yelled over and over again, “Keep running! Don’t look back!”

I imagine God saying something similar, encouraging us to persevere, with our eyes focused on our future hope, not on the mistakes or damaging events of our past. Looking back at disaster only makes us angry and sad, like Laura seeing her home dismantled into a pile of twisted lumber. It wasn’t an easy road for Laura and Almanzo, but they didn’t give up. Persevering and focusing on the future, they eventually built a new home filled with happiness.

Keep running and don’t look back.

I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

PHILIPPIANS 3:13 TLB

How can you persevere by forgetting the hurt of the past and focusing on the future?