Growing up?

I've been trying to decide something lately:

Is the world getting more complicated or am I just growing up?


I am not sure of the answer, although it's most likely both. Let me explain.

Lately, it seems like everyone around me is surrounded with trials. And I'm not taking your every day trials. Some of these trials you can see. But most, you can't.

Some of these trials that my family and friends are facing include:

Health problems
Loss of spouse
Addiction to prescription drugs
Abortion
Loss of job and income
Infertility
Pornography addiction
Communication problems in marriage
Depression and anxiety
Addictions to drugs and alcohol
Bankruptcy
Death of a child
Inadequacy

I could probably go on, but these are honestly trials going on around me. In my own family members and in my own neighborhood.

If you know me very well, you know that I am a spiritual person. I feel that we are here on this crazy, beautiful Earth to show our Creator that we can be good little creations, in spite of our mortal flaws and vices. We all will fall, but we have the chance to get up again. Over and over. Thank Heaven for that!

It just seems to me that these issues, major issues, are more common today than they were 20 years ago. Or maybe it's just that 20 years ago I was about to turn 10 and I had the best childhood a kid could ask for. Sure, we had our hardships growing up. My dad was without work a few times. But I didn't really notice. I honestly had a carefree childhood. I am truly grateful for that.

So many of my friends, and even a couple of my own siblings, did NOT have a carefree childhood. So many have grown up with scars of abuse and mistreatment. So many adults struggle every day with the effects of their actions or the actions of others.

In my own adult life, I have had to deal with some big issues. I have felt the bitter pains of hurt. Hurt that has come from the actions of another. Hurt that has made me feel like dying would be better than feeling that pain. A few years ago, I didn't think that anyone else would understand that.

But since I'm growing up...I realize that I'm not the only one. My family, my friends, and my neighbors have problems. Some are big and some are small. Sometimes we think that someone we know has the "perfect life" or the "perfect marriage."

Sometimes we place judgements on others based on what we see.

But we don't see the grieving of a mother for the child they long for. You can't see the physical need for alcohol someone is struggling to fight back.

You can't see it...but if you're open and loving, you can feel it.

A friend of mine recently shared with me that she had an abortion over 5 years ago. I was shocked, but mostly that she hadn't told me this before. We have talked for hours at a time over the last few years that we've known each other and she is very open. This was obviously not something she shares regularly.

That day I felt part of her pain with her. We cried together as she wondered what she lost. The hurt is still strong for her and she feels it every day.

I recently heard a wise man say, "Life is messy." I'm not sure how much more accurately I could have put it.

But in the midst of all that mess and confusion, there is love and hope. We, God's little creations, can help one another through life's bumps and bruises. Instead of judging, gossiping and avoiding, we can embrace, sympathize and work to understand.

Growing up is hard. Some days, I am not too fond of it. I often miss the lazy, innocent days of my childhood when I never wondered if I would have food or shelter and I was ignorant enough not to know how grateful I should have been. Most days though, I am thankful for the problems I have had and DO have in my life. They are messy but the messiest of trials in my life have resulted in the happiest feelings in my life.

And I think that that is what life is all about.