Source: Barn Owl Primitives on Etsy
This morning as Nicholas and I were practicing skip counting by 4s in our morning circle. Well, not circle really—it’s just the two of us during his main lesson—but we take some time before getting down to the main lesson to say a verse, light a candle, do some movement and review work. So… skip counting by 4s. We swing our arms back and forth in front of us—1… 2… 3…—and the around the top for 4.
As we do it, I can see him fighting his own body. It doesn’t come naturally to him. He can’t quite coordinate his mind, body, and speech.
It’s a little hard to watch.
And as his mother, part of me wants to say “You know what? That’s OK. We don’t have to do this. We’ll try to learn multiplication another way.”
I’ve actually done this before. It’s the reason none of my boys knit. It’s the reason we’ve skipped form drawing. It’s the reason I’ve let a million little things slide— a desire to protect them from failure, to shelter them from the uncomfortable.
My heart is in the right place.
But this morning, something new hit me. You see, all around the internet I’ve been seeing the words “We can do hard things.”
When I had my consult with Melisa from Waldorf Essentials, we talked about the importance of strengthening my own will.
And this morning, as I watched him struggle, something clicked.
There is something to be gained in a struggle.
There are victories in mastering hard things.
And when we rush in and rescue our children (or ourselves!) from doing that which is uncomfortable or a little hard, we are doing them a disservice, because we are denying them the chance to master the moment. We are stealing away their victory and we are weakening their will.
So, press on! Do hard things! Because eventually, that will lead to doing great things.
Lovely reflective post Annette, and a good reminder to challenge ourselves and allow our kids to be challenged too. Thanks for sharing
Thank you!
“So, press on! Do hard things! Because eventually, that will lead to doing great things.”
Love that. Great thought. Thank you for the nudge!
Thanks!
Beautiful. I am really struggling with some things that require great will strengthening on my part. Thank you.
I feel your struggles! We’re going through it here as well.
I read this post this morning.
Then I went to my Community Bible Study where the following story was read by the leader. (I found it on the internet. I don’t know who wrote it.) I had been thinking about what you wrote and was once again amazed at the way the Lord puts in our path the same message we need over and over. We can do hard things….
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress.
It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. So, the man decided to help the butterfly; he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch the butterfly; expecting that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for the flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.
Thank you so much for sharing that! It reminded me of another story about a little girl who was wrestling with her dress, trying to get it over her head. When her grandmother went to help her, she said “That’s OK; Papa usually let’s me struggle a bit until I get it.” And how like that little girl are we with God, who often let’s us have a bit of a struggle to work things out ourselves.
I have a feeling if you and I ever got together, we’d have tons to talk about! Thanks for commenting!