Tuesday, November 23, 2010

give thanks, day 23

A Growing Challenge

Something “clicked”. One day my children couldn’t read and the next they could. Now, it’s really not that simple, there’s a lot of hard work that goes into learning to read - lots of patience and practice. Still, it’s simply amazing how their brains have done what brains do and now they’re reading.

Being around a child who is learning to read is an amazing experience. Watching and hearing as the connections are made (the letters becoming sounds, becoming words, becoming thoughts) stirs a great sense of wonder in me.

As I think about my children learning to read, I am drawn to consider the experiences I have had struggling to master a new skill or task. Those puzzles which cause me to stop and scratch my head. The obstacles I have to work to overcome. Like reading, the pieces of life which open me to new ways of experiencing the world.

As I reflect, I recognize I haven’t always appreciated such difficulties. Yet, I’m finding it is in these times and through these experiences that I grow the most.

New strategies are developed. Relationships are tested and strengthened. New ideas are born. Most importantly, I am invited into a deeper understanding of God’s presence in my life and in the world.

Maybe you are experiencing challenges in your life? If so, I invite you to join me in thanking God for those challenges. They are a chance to grow closer to one another and closer to God. Growing through challenges…for this I am thankful and I pray you are as well.

Shawn Franssens

No comments: