It's Going to Get Easier, Right?

I am close to a yet another set of grandparents now raising their grandchildren. (For some reason this is becoming more and more common) While visiting the newest members to this club, the grandpa pulled his new toddler from a potential disaster and said, "It gets easier as they get older, right?" All I could do was laugh.

God gave me a realization a year ago that carries me through the bizarre ups and downs of my life: Stop waiting for it to get easier. For some reason, I get stuck on trying to find some path in life that, once I'm on it, life will finally get easy. The futile search of 'maybe this' or 'maybe that' is as exhausting as it is disappointing. Instead of praying for a lighter load in life I've learned to pray for a stronger back. Life never gets easier. But if we are willing to learn the lesson each situation brings us, the level of stress we can handle goes up. And as our ability to handle stress increases we become more aware of the joys in everyday life.

My great-grandmother said, "We thank the Lord for dirty dishes because they have a tale to tell. While others tonight will go without, we are doing rather well." I am thankful for dirty dishes because it means that I ate today. I am thankful to pay repairs for my car, because at least I have a car that needs fixing. And I am thankful for the many people in life who challenge me in my patience, because at least I have people in my life.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is streadfast, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3