The hardest thing is the best

I'd like to tell you about one of the hardest things I have ever done.

It is watching my children grow up.

Every single day they get bigger, and every single day the very thing I wanted to grow up and do is one day closer to being over.  Now I know you're always a mother.  I know my children will probably never leave me alone.  But I just wish it would all slow down or that I could stop time every now and again.
My sweet precious flower Violet has begun to babble "Mah mah mah."  Why does this make me ache inside?  Because my infant is talking to me, that's why.  She's growing too fast.  It goes too fast.

Yet I trust the Lord.  He has designed us humans to grow at just the right rate.  And while it is bittersweet that my baby is babbling and on the verge of crawling all over, I am so thankful that she is healthy and growing.

But there is a "but" here...It may be hard that they change fast and grow up without my consent, but it is the absolute best thing at the same time.  It is fun, it is exciting, it makes my heart overflow.  The hardest thing is the best. 

This is true in much of life.  Trials, difficulties, suffering...how many times have these been the very thing that sprout within you good?  Parenting is hard in many ways, not just the "it's hard to watch them grow up" way.  It is war at times.  But it's still the best thing I've ever done.

The hardest thing is the best.