Growing Pains....

They don't call them growing "pains" for nothing!! Last weekend I spent an AMAZING 2 days at the Women of Faith conference with some fabulous friends. 2 days filled with Hope, Grace, Faith, and Love. 2 days filled with the Spirit of Christ...2 days filled with growing pains!! My favorite verse in the bible is Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. This is one of the verse we selected to have read at our sweet Leah's memorial service. This is the verse I reflected upon following 9/11. This is the verse I read when my heart hurts, when my hope feels lost, when the pain feels unbearable. Why, because Romans 8:28 is filled with hope, faith, love....HOPE!!! After listening to the amazing testimonies of the speakers, the beautiful voices of the singers, and watching the love for Christ that swelled out the doors at the stadium, I was reminded of Romans 8:28. All things work for the good of those who love Christ....ALL THINGS...the painful things, the scary things, the uncomfortable things, the joyful things, the happy things, ALL THINGS. The one thing that is purposefully missing from this verse is any reference to these things being pain-free....because we all know that with growth comes the growing pains. I do not know why my baby girl was born into heaven...I do not know why I never got to hear her cry, feel her heartbeat, see her breath, kiss her warm skin...I don't know why I have to walk this path....but what I do know is that God works for the good...that ALL things work for the good....And I am SOOO thankful for that!! So thankful for Christ in my life...so thankful that I am not dealing with the growing pains alone!!

Why are growing pains so stinkin' painful?!?! When do we stop growing?? Of course I know the answer to that...NEVER! As a teacher I know that...as a mama I know that...as a christian I know that...but sometimes I just wanna throw up the white flag and surrender...for the wrong reasons. I do need to surrender...but instead of surrendering because I quit, I need to surrender my life to God...to turn it over to him and ask him to lead me, guide me, support me, love me. Sometimes the growing pains are unbearable. Sometimes they make us feel bad inside. Sometimes they hurt beyond words. Sometimes they make us feel inadequate, unloved....scared. But I do know that those growing pains are the times in our life when we need to turn our lives over to Christ because God works for the good...those growing pains are for good!!! Because after all, when we stop growing we stop living....and I got a lot of living left to do :)