Five minutes of free write on a given one-word prompt with Five Minute Friday. See more linked posts here.

There are so many things I do in a day that I take for granted. They are just plain easy.

Having little guys around has been a constant reminder that we start with a profound lack of skills. At the beginning, sitting isn’t even easy! Sitting! But then we grow. My boys can certainly sit (though they rarely do). Running, jumping, screaming and throwing – these things have moved to “easy” status. Every day it feels like more and more skills are moved to easy. Every day they grow in their abilities.

Right now our struggles lie in tying shoes, zipping jackets, calming tempers, going to sleep without a hundred sips of water. It seems as though for every skill that moves to easy, there’s a new skill to be learned. There’s a part of me that would like to keep doing these things for them. I like to feel sane, and I don’t have a lot of patience. But everyday, I’m reminded that maturity doesn’t happen in the easy; new skills aren’t learned on the path of least resistance.

As a parent, my role is to teach patience and perseverance. My role is explaining, showing and encouraging. My role is insisting that they give it a try, that they push through the things that aren’t easy.

Perhaps, God knows what he’s doing when he doesn’t allow me to stay in the easy. Perhaps, He’s teaching patience, perseverance. Perhaps, he’s just helping me grow.