A Work In Progress

When Kourtney was a little girl, a man came up to me and started yelling at me because I had accidentally tapped his car with mine.  We were parked, but I tapped him when I took my foot off the brake.  There was no damage done, I was fully in the wrong and truly sorry, but the guy was clearly upset.  After he yelled obscenities at me and walked away, my three year old stared at me, sobbing, and cried, “I didn’t know bad guys were real!” 

We have quoted that often as the girls have been growing up.  It is always a harsh and disappointing reality to come to grips with the fact that there are really bad guys in this world. I have had that quote go through my head a couple times over the past week while interacting with others. Not that these people have been “bad guys,” but I have just found myself discouraged in the knowledge that not everyone is easy to deal with.

That is not new information. I know that I, myself, am not always easy to deal with. I find myself getting my feelings hurt too easily, feeling overwhelmed daily, and wanting to just slip away, unnoticed, from even the smallest of conflicts or challenges. However, there is a greater part of me that wants to grow. Sure, people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say. Sometimes I am misunderstood and don’t feel known at all.  The question is how can I grow in those moments?

I spend a fair amount of time listening to podcasts, sermons, and in the Bible app on my phone. I listen to worship music and genuinely long to grow more and more like Jesus.  Yet, when I’m faced with difficult relational issues, I have a long way to go. Let’s just say there is lots of room for improvement. Focusing on that fact can cause me to feel so discouraged that I just want to withdraw and avoid people altogether. Obviously, that is not the answer. I’m asking God today to help me. Help me to grow. Help me to be different. Help me to reflect Jesus so that others leave my presence knowing and seeing Him more.

I'd love to get feedback on practical ways you've learned to manage tricky relationships in your lives and see authentic growth in your own lives. Anyone?