Growing Pains

     I have three children:

• The 11 year old boy who just got braces, loves legos and is learning to play the saxaphone.
• The 8 year old girl who exemplifies "Type A," adores animals and wants to be 7 different things when she grows up.
• The 1 year old girl who has an amazing smile, walks like a champ and calls everything "Da."

They are all remarkable children who are brilliant and funny and have soft hearts.  As I am getting ready to have my eldest become a teenager, I can honestly look back over the past twelve years and say, "There has not been a single easy year."  Not one. 

     Don't get me wrong...they have been joyful and wonderful.  But not easy.  And I can't imagine moving into the drama and angst of the teenage years will make life any easier.  I look at each child, at each stage of their development, and I am amazed that there are always growing pains.

     The Baby has her molars coming in.  The red and swollen gums are accompanied by constant gnawing, crying and lack of sleep.  But even as we navigate that pain, we also have to deal with bumps and bruises that come because the little legs couldn't change direction in time and so she ran into a wall.  Or there is the frustration that she can't communicate beyond pointing and "Da da da da DA!"  The older ones have to navigate academic angst and body development angst as well as try to figure out this whole social interaction thing, not to mention who is God and what is Faith and why do we go to Church.  They collapse into their beds every night, exhausted yet unable to sleep because their mind is racing or their body is aching and they are not sure how to make either one stop.

     Parenting kids is hard.  The big issues (and there are lots of them) can easily get lost in the mundane repetition of daily life.  My children are shocked and offended that I want them to comb their hair again this week.  And why do they have to put away clothes when they are just going to wear them again?

     I bring all these up not to be discouraging, but rather to say that we as parents cannot be waiting for the easy times in order to enjoy and celebrate our family.  The growing pains will always be there.  But hidden just beneath the surface of those pains lies the wonder and the joy and the laughter.  It is vital for the sanity of the parents and they health of the kids that we dig for those things together in order to be thankful for all of the moments that we get to spend together as a family.  It is not easy...but it is good.

     I have been thinking about this as it relates to Joel's Place.  I keep looking for the easy times.  The times when the money is flowing and the youth are pouring through the doors and the staff are happy and the building has no impending catastrophe and the Board is thriving and...and I keep looking.  There have been no easy months during my time in this job.  Joyful, yes.  Wonderful, yes.  Easy, no.  Part of my motivation in writing this blog is to highlight the treasure that lies under the challenge.  It is a way to embrace sanity for myself and offer encouragement for the staff, youth and partners that we have.  When I am confronted with different crises throughout the week I remember that they are not omens of doom.  They are growing pains.  And you don't get growing pains if you are not in the process of maturing.

     Maturity...maybe that's when life gets easy.