Beautiful Endurance
Anything worth value at its core is built on relationships. They are what bring depth, joy and sorrow into life and they are most difficult to maintain because they require beautiful endurance.
Marriage is something I have found embodies beautiful endurance. As my husband and I walk our journey together there are areas that challenge us in the commitment we’ve made. Our differences can chaff and the fit can feel like two mismatched puzzle pieces. His easy going nature and my driven personality can leave us both feeling frustrated. Marrying young put our roots together, entwined but our branches seem to grow at times in opposition; fighting for what direction we are headed. We prune to give each other room and at times we endure trying to give each other space while being true to who we are. But there is beauty. Beauty in how our hands fit so well together, years of reaching out and finding each other and holding on tight. There is joy in being together doing nothing special but feeling complete because we are present with each other. He knows me like no one else and still loves me and I can breathe and rest with him.
Being a mother also reflects beautiful endurance. From the first moment I held my children there was an acknowledgment of commitment. That choice has carried me when I have held them crying, knowing I can’t fix their pain but wanting to be there with them in the midst of it. Watching them be hurt, watching them hurt others, and supporting them in their right to live the life they choose can feel like something I need to endure. But there is beauty. These amazing people allow me into their lives, they trust me with their hearts, and they call me their friend. The love I feel for them and from them is so deep, so sacrificial I can’t breathe at times for the gift I have been given.
There are others in my life, not tied to me by a vow, not related to me by blood but women who have chosen to be my friends. Knotted together by choice they also remind me of beautiful endurance. Some of our deepest memories are when we have been there for each other in times of pain. We hold each other up when one of us is weak. We refuse to let go even when our friend brings nothing to the table and doesn’t seem so very lovable. But there is beauty. Laughter so deep it feeds my soul, shared memories that make me blush and smile. A history of shared dinners, glasses of wine, praying for each other and phone calls that stretch for hours. They are a constant support in my life and no matter how often we see each other I am aware and blessed by their presence.
The epitome of beautiful endurance has been in my relationship with God. He loves me unconditionally but won’t let me lay contented in my brokenness. He challenges me to try and comforts me when I fail…and then challenges me again. When I am at a place in relationships where I feel I can’t go on I think of Him and that He endured the cross and all that meant because of love, because He loves me.
If I were a house my husband is the framework giving me a safe place to be myself, my daughters are the lights shining brightly in my life, my friends are the roof letting me know I can come under their protection and God is the foundation. Never letting me down or cracking under pressure, He is the perfect example of beautiful endurance.
