“I do hard things” is a phrase that I adopted after going through Havilah Cunnington’s study back in January. For the last several years, I’ve been more intentional in this aspect – challenging myself to go after dreams, stepping through scary doors. Also, this year it was a great reminder and encouragement when walking through the loss of our son at 20 weeks gestation. With the help and grace of Christ, we CAN do hard things. We can walk them, we can walk them well and there is ‘the other side’ and victory.

In some ways, this is an easy concept to grasp when I’m applying it to myself. It’s a whole other world when applying it to my kids. I wrote about the big change in our lives HERE. And let’s just say this first week of the new routine has been a ‘hard thing.’  Lots of tears and grieving over the lifestyle we have left behind. Schoolwork isn’t new but everything from the methodology of learning to getting up earlier to sitting in a class with other people to get that schoolwork done is so, so new. And the change has not come easy.

Watching your kids walk hard things is a level of ‘hard’ infinitely beyond walking them yourself. (Every mama say ‘Amen’.) My oldest is just 17 but I hear this gets harder and harder the older they get. On one hand, you’re thrilled for them in their pursuit of life, on the other, you’re dying that you can’t just stick a Band-aid on the booboo and snuggle on the couch to make things all better.

Everyday we pray for grace. Grace for the hard things that day. Remembering that we truly are more resilient than we think we are. Remembering that our God is so much bigger than we believe He is. Giving the adjustment process some time before bailing on the ‘hard thing’ we believe we’ve been called too. And speaking of bailing, we can do that – it’s an option. And so often, as people, we do. We start out a direction but when the wind picks up, we bail.

Often this week, I’ve reminded my kids (and myself) that when Jesus told the disciples to get in the boat and head to the other side, they did it out of obedience. They expected that if Jesus told them to go, they would surely be able to do it. I’m don’t think they expected a torrential storm to nearly sink them halfway through. But Jesus wasn’t surprised by the storm. And, in His kindness, He came to them in the storm to show them WHO He is and lead them to the other side – to victory. Jesus actually didn’t even give the disciples a chance to ‘bail.’  He came to them in their weakness and became their strength. And that was the goal.

As we walk through through each morning of anxiety, making our way to school, we remember WHO He is. And we remember that He who has called us to do hard things is well beyond able to walk us through them and get us into a place of victory. With the help and grace of Jesus, we do hard things!