"Mom, we had the worst substitute ever today!" My daughter scowled and let her story spill out to me, telling me the injustices she had suffered in P.E. It seems their teacher had made them run 5 laps, work hard, and (gulp!) exercise! "And then," she added, "he smiled at us on the way out and said, 'See you tomorrow!'"
The complaints continued to pour forth, and I quickly thought about P.E. at the school where she is most likely heading next year. My son loves P.E. and his teacher, but it is hard work. The teacher has a passion for helping kids learn to love to exercise and stay fit.
"Rachel, have you thought about how God could be using this hard thing for you? Do you think He's preparing you for next year?" We sat and talked about this idea for awhile: how God uses hard things to make her stronger and even to help her learn to be more like Jesus.
This is not a new conversation for us to be having. Earlier this school year, she had some tough friendship problems with another girl in her class. We alerted the teacher, talked with Rachel about how to respond, did some role-playing, and prayed. She learned how to speak up when treated wrongly and that sinful behavior does at times need to be addressed directly in another person. Things quickly improved. Rachel has shared with me excitedly how that little girl has now come to Christ and undergone a transformation in her behavior. We've seen together the truth of Genesis 50: 20, "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..."
Last night, unprompted, Rachel prayed at bedtime, "God, please help me with P.E. tomorrow, that I won't complain."
And Lord, help her mother not to complain but learn to embrace hard things for Your sake, too.
1 comment:
I can't seem to pull together a reasonable comment, here, I'm so moved! Thank you for sharing this. What a wonderful example of how God can change things in the blink of an eye. Makes me want to walk by faith even more and to expect to see God's move even the next time my eyes open.
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