When the Challenges Just Keep Coming

Just before Robbie started Dental School, I bought a little journal and had people who knew him write letters of encouragement and advice for him. That way if he was going through a particularly difficult week, he would have someone other than just me telling him that he can do it (sometimes I start to sound like a broken record).

All of the notes his friends wrote were so wonderful and heartfelt! To know that we are not alone in this--that people who care about us are praying for his success, praying for his growth as a man, praying for our marriage-- is just indescribable to me. One of our friends wrote something that I've brought up many times when Robbie is feeling weary. He wrote:

"Robbie, you are preparing to endure a difficult but necessary trial in your life. Necessary for your career- yes, but more importantly, this is a rite of passage. It's what I call the 'hard thing.' Every young man must endure and victoriously conquer his trial before he can have the authority to speak into other men's lives."

What an excellent perspective! Dental School isn't supposed to be easy. If it was easy, where would the growth be? I believe one of the desires of a man's heart is to prove that he has what it takes. As his wife, I already see and know that he has what it takes to become a Dentist, but there's something in him that needs to prove it to himself. Robbie has told me that men both love and hate this struggle within themselves. They love to be faced with a challenge but at the same time hate to face the possibility of failure. Deep down, though, we all know that any task where success is guaranteed is not a true test at all.

Dental School does a pretty good job at keeping the students out of their comfort zones. Just as you seem to be getting a handle on one skill, they throw in a new one for you to learn. I've found that taking photos of his work has served as a good reminder and encouragement of how far he has come. "Remember when this was difficult for you? Now you can laugh at how hard it seemed at the time because you've gotten so much better!" 

"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." -James 1:2-4 (The Message translation)

"Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation. Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." -Romans 5:3-5 (Amplified Bible translation)

I thought I would switch it up and use some different translations this time. :)