Growing Pains

By Kathleen Leavell

One of the most exciting and desirable things we all want to happen to us and our world is growth. Growth calls to mind images of breaking through boundaries--becoming something more, becoming something stronger. Flowers emerging from seeds and rising past the earth, chicks breaking through eggs, the miracle of childbirth; from the outside, these images are beautiful.

But from the inside, they may look very different. The images may be of pain, fear and even trauma.

And yet our mission calls us to grow.

We ask this of those we serve. Even though we can’t truly understand how hard it is for them to let go of the ideas, understandings, and habits that have defined the world all their lives, we ask them to step out of their comfort zone and change. When they do, sometimes they move forward and great things happen. Sometimes it takes a good deal more. But always, they grow. They move a little further away from that which held them back and are a little stronger and more prepared for the next try. We don’t get to see everyone cross the finish line, but we get to see them step closer to it.

The same is true for us. Our mission calls us to constantly look at what we do, how we do it, and how it is working. Sometimes this means letting go of ‘the way we always did things’ to see if something new will serve people better.

That’s often uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful, but it makes us a little stronger, a little more prepared for the next try, and we grow.

We all encourage each other along the way, but in the end, it is the individual who must decide to change, to let go and to step forward.

Somewhere out there, beyond the limits of our comfort zone, and just past the walls of our opinions lies God’s plan for us. May God grant us all the grace and courage to embrace it and become who we were created to be.