Resilience

Resilience: the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused by compressive stress; an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

Someone commented on the resiliency of my daughters and it caused me to look up the true meaning of the word. I don't know if I truly understood what they meant by such a comment, do you, after experiencing so much change, go back to the same life as before? To fully understand I had to go back to the word recover, and its meanings. The one that applies best to our experience is "to save from loss and restore to usefulness." I can say He is in the process of restoring back to usefulness. God saved us from the loss of Ron, He has not allowed us to drown in our own grief and sadness and is faithfully restoring us back to life. I don't think we'll ever be as we once were, but it's true, children are resilient. We are so surprise when we see children recover from the most traumatic of situations, for we adults tend to hold on to grievances, taking them out again and again when things don't go our way, using them as a ready excuse for our lack of discipline. Children take these things as part of life, we are unique in America that adversity and suffering are rare, but in most of the world, children are expose to life challenges early on. I grew up surrounded by human misery, beggars and deformed people on the streets, starving animals waiting to pray on small unattended children, famine and death, war and pestilence and these things didn't weaken or impeded my growth, in fact they made me stronger and more determined to rise above it and do something about it. No wonder I became a teacher and social worker, then when God called me, I was willing to go where He sent me. These experiences are what makes me who I am, what He so gently used to mold my heart and as I continue in this road I see He's not quite done. My daughters are no different. Loss has changed them forever, their hearts are more compassionate, their faith a little stronger, their complete surrender unhindered by logic and free to trust the One who holds our future. This change is painful, but change without pain is not truly real change. There is a steep price to be paid for the most valuable lessons in life, those are the ones that permanently mold our future, the ones that never leave us, that direct our decisions and embark us in the road less traveled. It is true my daughters are resilient, but is there less resiliency as we age? Have I reached my limit of being able to adjust to misfortune or change? Again I am at a loss when it comes to my ability to adapt and my life continues to surprise even me. I have come to understand that this is not about me but about Him, for His glory and His eternal purpose. When I began to see it that way a big burden was lifted off my shoulders for it's not how much I can take, obviously I'm weak, but how much He can take in me, so resiliency is not something that only children can experience. The true life of a believer is defined by our resiliency to His continual molding and shaping...isn't that what sanctification is all about? This is a journey in which I become more and more useful to Him who guides my steps and holds my future.