This past week our older two kids were riding bikes with their mom and they were out a long time. My wife relayed the story how my daughter, who has mild cerebral palsy, was starting to get tired and weary. She was struggling to keep up with her little brother who can ride all day long no worse for the wear.
My wife called back and told her she could take a break and walk for a bit or just catch her breath. He was visibly fatigued, but this was her response,
“No. I’m going to choose pain!”
And then with a surge of new motivation Morgan began peddling at a faster rate and aggressively sought to bridge the gap between her and Colin.
It was a moment we’ll remember because it resonates with our life.
This season of moving our family to the Philippines has been chaos and complex and required energy and determination and perseverance beyond much of what we’ve ever faced. We’ve had many moments where we’ve been so weary, tired, overwhelmed, or discouraged. I supposed quitting would have been an option – we sure were tested and challenged to remember at points why we are doing this in the first place.
So we’ve faced that same moment at many points – get off the bike…or choose pain and go after it.
There are challenges in life and moments where you just have to dig deep and keep going. That’s the season we’ve been in of late.
And to drive home the point, our son a couple nights ago spontaneously started to share. He’s felt the change the most and has had the hardest time dealing with the loss and the change. As such he’s been pretty anxious of late. But this is what he shared at our family dinner,
“You know sometimes there’s things you don’t want to do because they’re really hard or they’re really scary, but sometimes you just have to go through them.”
Later on when clarifying he said,
“Yeah, like trusting God and stuff.”
It’s amazing watching our kids grow through being stretched, especially when they didn’t choose the challenges they are facing.
It’s an encouragement to us to keep persevering in faith and maybe it’ll serve as an encouragement to you the next time you find yourself having to choose between getting off the bike and “Choosing Pain!”
