Pain, Growth and Side Effects
Paiton is teething!
This may seem like a simple statement; however there is much more than meets the eye. The subject of teething provides a great opportunity for me to discuss some of the deeper concepts of life: the bottom line we can all learn from a baby is:
When our teeth hurt, if we cry loud enough and long enough someone will eventually come to help us.
We may not make many friends, but we will get some help.
Teething means we are all in pain. Paiton is experiencing pain as a result of her teeth popping through her gums (not gooms). We are experiencing pain because she is the model that did not come with a mute button. You are now experiencing pain, because you are reading this and certainly can imagine the sound of an infant screaming her lungs out with no logical way to calm her down.
I am pretty sure that from her perspective, the pain is more than weakness leaving the body. For Paiton, pain is more than a gentle reminder that something that needs to be changed…which leads me to generalize a little on the topic of pain:
Teething means there is good news around the corner. More than just some big chompers and a smile she can be proud of…..teething means that soon she will be able to eat more, which means she will continue to grow more, which means she will sleep longer and we will sleep longer…which leads me to generalize on the topic of growth:
See I told you this would be painful!
In a nutshell, if you have pain in your life that is good. It may very well indicate growth and that growth will be worth the side effects you have to endure.
This Sunday the service will focus on the value of putting forth the effort (though sometimes painful or at least inconvenient) to faithfully read and understand all that Scriptures were meant to communicate. My last nutshell: everything you invest into your spiritual growth is worth it!
This may seem like a simple statement; however there is much more than meets the eye. The subject of teething provides a great opportunity for me to discuss some of the deeper concepts of life: the bottom line we can all learn from a baby is:
When our teeth hurt, if we cry loud enough and long enough someone will eventually come to help us.
We may not make many friends, but we will get some help.
Teething means we are all in pain. Paiton is experiencing pain as a result of her teeth popping through her gums (not gooms). We are experiencing pain because she is the model that did not come with a mute button. You are now experiencing pain, because you are reading this and certainly can imagine the sound of an infant screaming her lungs out with no logical way to calm her down.
I am pretty sure that from her perspective, the pain is more than weakness leaving the body. For Paiton, pain is more than a gentle reminder that something that needs to be changed…which leads me to generalize a little on the topic of pain:
- Pain has a way of cutting through all the niceties and getting right to the point (when we are in pain we don’t stop to analyze if we are in pain…..we know we are in pain).
- Pain is hard to describe (try it sometime) but very easy to recognize.
- Pain is good (though it often gets a bad reputation, try living without it).
Teething means there is good news around the corner. More than just some big chompers and a smile she can be proud of…..teething means that soon she will be able to eat more, which means she will continue to grow more, which means she will sleep longer and we will sleep longer…which leads me to generalize on the topic of growth:
- Growth represents both pain and satisfaction (it is impossible to find satisfaction apart from growth).
- Growth develops a desire for more growth (I doubt she will be happy just to get teeth…I’m thinking she will want to walk some time as well).
- Growth gives us an ability to tolerate more pain (though I am sure I would not enjoy popping any more teeth, I am pretty confident I wouldn’t scream my head off).
- The positive effect of growth is of more value than the combined pain of side effects.
- Understanding the side effects for growth makes the pain more tolerable.
- Accepting side effects as a part of life allows us to keep our focus.
See I told you this would be painful!
In a nutshell, if you have pain in your life that is good. It may very well indicate growth and that growth will be worth the side effects you have to endure.
This Sunday the service will focus on the value of putting forth the effort (though sometimes painful or at least inconvenient) to faithfully read and understand all that Scriptures were meant to communicate. My last nutshell: everything you invest into your spiritual growth is worth it!
posted by Admin at
5:57 PM
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