Growing Pains

Growing pain is the name we give the pain our children feel when they are little and their legs ache in the middle of the night from a hard days play. The pain they feel with the breakup of their first love. Or the disappointment that comes, when they find out that the hard work they put into a project just isn’t enough. But, growing pains do not end in adolescence. They carry on into adulthood and plague us at different stages of our lives.

There are times in our lives we can see change coming, other times we can be completely side swiped. When you go to bed the night before your wedding, you know tomorrow things will be different. You leave behind your single life, and begin a new life with your spouse. You know the day the test comes back positive, it marks a turning point in your life. A time that calls you to be more then who you were the day before. Whether we want it to or not, our life will not continue with the old status quo. Parents grow older, kids go through tough stages, friends move away, loved ones pass away. This is the flow of life. Our hard times may change us, but they do not define us.

When we are on the door step of change there can be a pang in your chest. These are the times that we reflect on where we have been, and where we want to be. Sometimes it is a matter of growing out of one person’s shadow, to move into place that you can claim for yourself. Mistakes can be made, some big, some small. Stretching beyond the old, into the new is not always a pleasant time. There is a commercial I like on TV. It is advertising for a business collage. The actress is wearing a fast food outfit and the announcer says “If you keep doing the same thing, what is going to change?” I don’t like to think of commercials as holding wisdom, but this one does. I turn my thoughts to that commercial when I find myself attacking problems with old habits that don’t give results.

Recently a friend sent me an article about Hillary Clinton visiting Our Lady of Guadalupe. From the questions Hillary asked, you could tell she did not know what to expect. She did not wake up that morning expecting to be face to face with a miracle. It occurred to me how much Mother Mary urns for us to come to her. To embrace her, and find comfort with her. She urges us to take up her cause, and fallow the path that God has laid before us. How will this change Hillary? I spent the day wondering….What would it be like if Hillary Clinton became a pro-life advocate? It seems it is not our choice to grow. Our choice is weather we grow closer to God. We are bound to stumble along the way. We have to try to be patient with ourselves and others. Growth can be painful , and it is not always easy. Change does not come in a day, a month, or a year… but a in a moment.

Unexpected renewal

The running theme in my life is: Unexpected renewal.

The picture above is the perfect example. A tree fell on our swing set. At first my heart sank as I looked at the damage. My next thought was how we could rebuild. I am hoping we will be able to go to the lumber yard soon. With this unexpected destruction, we have the opportunity to replace it with something stronger and better.

Every spring I turn over the dirt in my garden to get rid of the weeds, and soften the ground. I throw aside the rocks, raked the rough ground until it was smooth. Then I add a little fertilizer, and finally plant the seedlings.

Sometimes God does the same in my life. Things get disturbed, and out of place. With work we smooth out the rough spots, throw out the distractions, then do the work that will ready ourselves for harvest. Sometimes you have to let go and let God.

Before and After

Yes, this is the same house. Before and After.

A friend of mine asked, "Do you think God sees the house we live in, the car we drive, the clothes we wear? Or does he just see our spirits, and how we interact with each other?"
I revisit that question often when money is tight, and choices have to be made. I also think of it when I go to confession. For some reason it came to me when I saw this house.

I wonder if God sees our souls similar to how my husband sees a house in need of repair. Full of possibilities. The top picture has been neglected. Literally the people who lived there, closed the door to the back room to hide the hole in the roof. The hole let in the weather, and a few squirrels. Eventually the neglect damaged the house. With a little vision and a lot of hard work, the house was repaired. When we go to confession we walk in damaged by our sins. With grace we leave renewed.

Don't close the door to try and hide something embarrassing or ugly. It costs less to keep up with repairs when they arise. Don't scare yourself out of reconciliation.

Criticism, like rain....

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots. - Frank A. Clark


We have had rain everyday for 5 days. Not constant, but at least some every day. I wanted to mention this, in case you were wondering why water has been a big part of my theme for the last week....