To Struggle

The hard outer shell is cracked around the upper circumference of the egg.

Then there is movement beneath the thin membrane.


Suddenly we see a small damp face breaking through.

Then with a quick push, a chick emerges, head, feet, and body.

Before long it gets its feet under it and fluffs up a bit.

And I sit and wonder, "Is the chick like a butterfly or moth?  Does it have to struggle in order to live as it was intended?  Must it break through the hard parts on its own to survive thrive?  Is the struggle a vital part of life?"

There are men who struggle for a day and they are good.
There are men who struggle for a year and they are better.
There are men who struggle for many years, and they are better still.
But there are those who struggle all their lives.
These are the indispensable ones.  
From the song "In Praise of Fighting" from The Mother by Bertolt Brecht

If I'm completely honest, I don't like to struggle.  I actually avoid it when I can, but the thing about life is, that it's filled with struggle.

During the past couple of months, I've been reminded of this over and over.  Reminded as I read the autobiography of a woman named Malalai Joya.  Reminded as my mother-in-law endured a lumpectomy and radiation therapy.  Reminded as my husband works to build his own business.  Reminded as I tend to the daily needs of my household and four children.  Reminded as a friend deals with her ex-husband.

We all must struggle.  And once we are free, living "outside the shell", it takes time to adjust to the new reality.   The chick never looked back at its old shell.  It didn't try to climb back inside what had once been comfortable.  It did make quite a lot of noise on the outside, as though cheering for those chicks that were still pecking on the insides of their shells.

As I observe, I see this truth, and I pray that I will struggle with grace and truly be content, no matter the circumstances.  I pray that I will have the strength do to my working out while another works within.  And I pray, that in the places that I know freedom, I will call back encouragement, not judgment, to those still behind the hardness of a shell that contains them.

lorie

I met  Lorie Park in Gainesville, FL.  Five of us girls signed up to participate in a ministry called "Apples of Gold."  We were all relatively new to the area, had no friends and were struggling to find a place.  What a life long bond we made.  Lorie is eloquent, funny and a hardcore sarcastic girl in the shell of a sweet, loving, missionary-type.  Homeschool mom, Dentist wife, care taker of many...