In this account from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is awakened by His disciples when a storm seems to be threatening their lives. In the middle of what they considered a frightening situation, Jesus asks them, “Where is your faith?”

Once at a summer camp, I observed three kids struggling to maneuver a canoe in a small pond. As the camp counselor sat on the shoreline and yelled directions to them, the children became confused and scared. From what I could tell, their feelings were probably brought on by the fact that they were not listening to the counselor or that they were just making wrong decisions. Nonetheless, they didn’t understand how to properly paddle and they lacked the faith that they would be safe.

Maybe it’s my athletic background as a player and as a coach, but there is  something in me that dislikes the word quit. Of course, at one time or another in our lives, we have all had to face that word in choices we have made. There will always be difficult circumstances in life—some so bad that it is hard to see an answer. It is at those moments that we are faced with the alternative of quitting. The world would make that choice easy, asking,“If you don’t like the way things are going, why don’t you just quit?” It applies to our marriages, our relationships, our jobs, and even to our faith.

My oldest daughter, Stephanie, graduated from Millard North High School in May 2004. Just a few weeks later, on June 16, 2004, she was a passenger in a car that ran into a tree, and instantly she was taken to be with the Lord. Stephanie was never interested in sports like our other two children, Jacob and Abby, but she did understand that to have a team, you need at least two. She wrote the following poem, "A Team Needs at Least Two,” about a year before she died.

I like to cook, and I like simple recipes. For example: open can; pour contents into pan; heat until hot; serve in bowl. Now that's my kind of recipe. Coach Lou Holtz gave the recipe of a winner when he said, "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." Ability,motivation and attitude are all ingredients of a winner, and they cannot be omitted or substituted.

Likewise, Peter gave us the recipe for effective Christian living. The two main ingredients the Lord provides are His power (2 Peter 1:3) and His promises (v. 4). As we mix His power and promises into our believing and living, He'll strengthen our ability, inspire our motivation and empower our attitude.