Pushback

When pursuing a goal or dream of mine there has almost always been a struggle along the way. I’m not sure if it’s because God wants to develop greater grit and tenacity in me, or if it’s just opposition to me walking in what God has for my life. If I’m being honest, in my walk with Christ there is pushback. I can get so far ahead, and then I get pushed back. The goal is to keep moving forward, to keep making steps forward even if it’s a slow process. Regardless, there’s progress being made.

In our culture, so often we want it right now. We want the spectacular, and it needs to happen fast or I’m out! This isn’t a Biblical perspective. If anything, the Bible teaches quite the opposite.

In the community of mommas that we serve in Be Loved, we’re teaching these concepts day in and day out. It’s the small steps that lead to big changes. It’s continual pursuit, and not stopping. What may look like a small step in someone’s eyes is a huge step and obstacle some of our moms are having to overcome.

Every person’s situation looks different. One Be Loved mom in particular who graduated with her associate degree was accepted into a nursing program. Due to the location of the school, she has to move to a new town, leaving her support system. This means she’ll have to get a job to pay for her living expenses while in Nursing school. If you’ve been through nursing school, and you have a child to care for you know how difficult this is going to be. During her first week of school, her baby’s father served her with court papers. Since then, he has been trying to take her daughter away. He has made false CPS calls, tried to run her off of the side of the road, was the cause of her youngest sister being physically abused, he makes threats, and has persistently harassed her.  That’s not including what went on prior.

You can believe she and I had a conversation about this topic, pushback. This girl knows what pushback is. It’s grit that keeps her from giving up, it’s that precious little face she sees every morning when she wakes up.

We all have experienced pushback in some way. We can show empathy to others and seek to understand their situation, offering them support and encouragement to pursue their goals and dreams. You nor I know the push back others have experienced in their pursuit of God and what He has for them. Let us seek to understand, offer empathy, support, and encouragement. May we be a people who offer hope not judgement. May we be a people who acknowledge push back. Let us praise every step and every attempt to get back up and move forward even if it doesn’t look like what we expect or want to see.

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