You Gotta Work for It

My darling daughter is three months old as of last week! Where in the world has the time gone?!?!?! I can HARDLY believe it! She is growing so fast, and learning so many things already that I am simply amazed at how wonderfully made we are- even as babies!

Opal has already learned to smile, she has laughed, and she can almost completely hold her head up. But there are still things she can’t do. She can’t sit up by herself, she can’t talk, and she certainly can’t walk around either. But, she will learn to do these things, it just takes time.

One thing that she started learning to do was roll over. She has almost mastered rolling from her belly to her back (mostly because she’s not a huge fan of tummy time). But, rolling from her back to her belly was a totally different story. Babies usually don’t learn to do this until they’re 5 or 6 months old, but she surprised her daddy and I.

Last week, we were hanging out in our living room, watching Opal as she was laying on her “entertainment center.” It is a colorful mat with four rods making a dome with a mobile at the top. The mobile plays music as it moves, and she just loves it. We were watching her, making her smile, and just talking to each other about how big she was getting. I kid you not, I literally looked away for a second and Ethan screamed, “Look!” I look over, thinking something was wrong because it was so sudden, to see Opal laying on her belly looking up at us. Y’all may think that maybe we put her on her belly and forgot and she was just laying there the way we left her. BUT, when we lay her on her belly, we watch her very closely because 1. she hates it, and 2. her neck is really strong, but sometimes she gets too tired to hold it up too long and being the first time parents that we are, we are constantly making sure she is breathing! So when I looked at her on her belly looking up at me, I was in shock. She wasn’t even exactly three months old yet.

So, we did what every first time parent would do, we flipped her back over and got the camera! As we sat there and waited for her to roll over, we were excited. She was so advanced! How in the world did she accomplish this at three months old?? We were proud, and we wanted to show the world, but of course, somehow babies always know when the camera is out.

She started trying to roll over and we watched intently with anticipation and excitement. But this time was totally different. As I sat there and watched her, I saw her struggle. Her smile instantly turned to a frown, she started to grunt, and no matter how much she twisted and turned, she couldn’t achieve what she wanted.

As I sat there watching Opal struggle just wanting to help her, I didn’t because if I did, she would never learn how to do it herself. I was amazed because I knew she could roll over, but for some reason, she couldn’t repeat it. I instantly heard the Lord speak to me. This is how God is with us.

Sometimes life is easy and rolling over is a piece of cake! Almost as if we did it all by ourselves and didn’t need a lick of help. But sometimes, life is a real struggle. We go through things and we are grunting, and we are tossing and turning, and we are wondering, WHY CAN’T I DO THIS? We wonder why God is leaving us by ourselves to “figure out” how to do life ourselves. But y’all, God never left us. He cheered you on when you rolled right over, and He continues to cheer you on through the struggle. Why doesn’t God always come to the rescue while we’re struggling? Well, there are two answers to that question. 1. God will NEVER leave you. He is always right there, so He’s there even before you call out for help. and 2. If He helped us EVERY time we struggled, we would never strengthen our muscles, and we would never learn to roll over. We wouldn’t grow and we wouldn’t learn. Just like with Opal. If I always rolled her over, her arms, legs, and neck muscles would never get strong enough to roll over on her own.

There are easy days and there are days where I have no idea how I made it through, but there is a Daddy up there watching you struggle. He is cheering you on KNOWING that you can do it. So my advice to you today is not to give up and to embrace the struggle. Yes, it’s hard, and yes it would be WAY easier to give up, but you are almost there. Don’t give up! Don’t give up! Don’t give up! God never left your side, He is right there and if you need a push or help rolling over, He will step in. BUT, remember, when life seems difficult and almost as if you’re not going to make it, you may just be on the verge of rolling over. Some things just take time! Keep pushing, keep trying, and never give up!