The Unexpected Truth About Life

Russ and I have been astounded by our grandchildren. They are precious, precious, precious. We love when we hear our backdoor creak open and little footsteps patter down the back hallway. We stop everything and attend to that grandchild. Yes, she always has a parent or two with her, but we don't focus on those people. Ha. We focus on our baby granddaughters.

​Yesterday, as our fourth son, Matthew, age twenty something, drove his daughter around our new slick floors on an office chair, I heard my husband say how much he loved playing with his granddaughters. He was patient. Kind. All of the time. We have been pondering that. Where was our patience and kindness when our own children were little? 

Now, I know that even though we see our granddaughters quite often, we are not their primary caregivers. We also know that parenting full-time is difficult, sometimes crazy difficult, work. Right now we are experiencing the reward, not all of the work. We get that. But still. As we gaze upon these new little people, with their shining eyes and innocence, we have found ourselves understanding more about the arc of life, which has ushered in a brand new awareness: 

Life is a journey.

We were married young, with stars in our eyes and hope in our hearts. As the children came, our patience grew thin. Our expectations of how life should go were crushed under the weight of screaming toddlers and dirty diapers. 

In short, we didn't think we would make it. I was selfish, angry, controlling. It was not the life I had envisioned. Yet, slowly, slowly, slowly, waaaaaay slower than I could have ever thought possible, I began to change, to grow, to mature. 

I think God is fairly sneaky. He needs us to grow up so He gives us little babies, totally dependent on us for, well, everything. In order to do that even somewhat well, we have to learn how to be a person for ANOTHER. In short, He teaches us how to love. What a journey!

Yes, we are going on a journey towards something: heaven. But I also believe that God is allowing our walk to take so long because He is forming us along the way. The goal: to be people of love, to live heaven on earth. 

If I am alive, then I am on the journey. I am being formed. I am not done. And my friends, that is the unexpected thought that I have been savoring this week, which sort of feels like the first time I had a Werther's hard caramel—it was so deeply delicious that I found myself holding it in my mouth, relishing the richness while my brain said, "WOWOWOWOWOW."  Knowing that I am still being formed has been a delicious and unexpected truth, one that I am holding and savoring. I am not sure why, but I thought I would hit 30 or 40, surely by 50, and I'd have arrived at full maturity.

Knowing that I am always going to be changing and growing in my ability to love has been such a blessed relief.  

No matter where you are on the journey of life, keep growing. Ask for eyes to see and the ears to hear. Allow your heart to grow. Ask to see what is important in this life.  

One of the ways to do that is by simply gazing at your people. Look them them in the eye. See them. Connect. Smile. Enjoy. 

And when you don't attend, when you are selfish, when you get angry, simply pull back; you, like all of us, are on the journey of life. You are being formed, day in and day out. It will take years, decades, to be a person of love. 

I am not there yet. I wish I could say I had arrived. But I am still growing. And it's okay. And that, my dear friends, is the Unexpected Truth About Life. It is a long and awesome journey. 

Life. Be in it.