Grace to Grow

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Moi, a few moons ago. 

I looked at the person holding the birthday cake in the picture. I remembered all the struggle that happened before that perfect, social media moment. I remembered the hopes and also the disappointments. I remembered where I was. Don’t worry, I knew I was cherished. I also knew I wanted to grow as a human being. I looked at myself holding that birthday cake and I decided to give myself what the closest people in my life were giving me: grace. Yesterday I was blessed to see another year of life. Part of my thanksgiving to God includes my commitment to personal growth. It’s hard to measure it but I know that either I am growing or regressing in my character. Part of my search for personal growth comes through the goals I set every year. Although none of them say: “this year I want my character to grow as tall as a tree” such growth has the opportunity to happen. It often happens as a result of how I bounce back from personal struggles. Honestly, I don’t sign up for that but they do come year after year. I am determined to stick with the God I serve, who never leaves, forsakes but always guides me to all truth. It seems to me that through whatever worthy goals I pursue, I pray that I gain better composure, that I walk with dignity and that personal sacrifice is just part of the deal. Developing a mature character is supposed to be costly. That’s the part of goals we don’t often read about. Yesterday, there wasn’t a photo of me holding a cake but we did take our traditional family photo. I hope that a year from now, I will look at myself and remember that I made the right choice which is often the hard choice. I chose growth through grace over remaining who I was the prior year.