Anything is Worth Having is Usually Hard

Somewhere along the way my kids got the idea that things are supposed to be easy.   I think I also harbor that idea somewhere in my psyche as well.  I have decided in my short life that life can be hard, but God is good.   He is ever faithful and ever present.

I praise the Lord we have come out of one of those harder seasons of life.   The life we lived last five years I would call hard.   We faced moving cross country twice, raising two toddlers, earning one MBA, completing one CFA designation and having a huge question mark regarding Jason's job for the last two years.   Those were the biggies.   There were countless little things along the way as well.   An example being my son's first broken arm.   That night was REALLY hard.   I wrote his "first" because I expect there to be more.   I just asked the pirate, otherwise known as my son, to climb down off the back of the couch.

 Today, the hard things we face include practicing violin, cleaning bedrooms, and fighting Houston traffic.   One thing I continually tell  my kids is that anything worth having is usually going to involve a lot of hard work. The Bible actually speaks to times in our lives that are hard.   It is found in the first chapter of James.  James writes in James 1:2-4.

   Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.


I don't come close to facing the persecution the first century church endured.   My biggies are inconvenient and disruptive of my comfort.   They do not threaten my life.  Though my inconvenient circumstances, I have seen my faith mature through trials.  I have learned countless lessons and grown more aware of God's faithfulness and patience.  I still have a long way to go.  God is good.   We cannot expect a completely fulfilled life this side of heaven.

I look at this season of my life and I'm thankful for where I've been and I'm looking ahead to the future.