growing pains.

when i was a little girl i remember often having pains in my legs and wrists, 
when it happened at night, i would head straight to my parents bedroom whining 
saying my legs were hurting again. every time my mom would say, "jessica, they're 
just growing pains, now go back to bed." and begrudgingly i would head back to 
bed even though the pain was still there and mom didn't magically make it go 
away or didn't even acknowledge that it was a HUGE problem. at the time, it was 
the worst thing in the world. looking back, it was "just" growing pains and 
really it WASN'T a big deal. 

except with life, growing pains never go away. and when the growing pains of 
life hit, i always think back to those days when my legs hurt and wrist hurt, 
those pains really WERE nothing.  

the only positive to the growing pains of life verses growing pains of childhood 
is there is a life lesson involved. and if you take away from the growing pain 
the lesson involved and the reason for the pain, you just become a better and 
wiser you. 

and even better, once the pain is over. it's really over. and if the lesson in 
the pain was gained you never have to deal with that pain again. 

amen.