 August 10, 2021
You Can Do Hard Things, With a Little Help
TRACIE BRAYLOCK Lee en espaƱol "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV) We would spend our weekends together driving all over town, visiting family and friends. As a child, I was quite comfortable journeying along with my grandmother, happily observing the interactions and conversations taking place while I remained pretty quiet in the background. One day, in the midst of our travels, we stopped at a store. When we walked through the door, I immediately saw one of my classmates. And after the classmate and I spent several minutes staring at each other from across the store, my grandmother asked me if we knew each other. I said, "Yes, ma'am," and she quickly asked me if we had spoken to one another yet. This time, I told her no. And before I knew it, she had my hand and we were walking across the store toward my classmate. I couldn't believe it. I didn't like this feeling, the awkwardness of not knowing what to say or how to say it. My classmate hadn't spoken to me either, so maybe it was best that we just stayed on opposite sides of the store, I thought to myself. But there we were, face to face, now staring at each other in close proximity. My grandmother recognized that the distance didn't change our hesitation to engage with one another, so she began to guide the conversation. Nothing too difficult. Simple greetings and a casual discussion. When I walked away from my classmate, I felt a bit disoriented. Yet I also felt that, with a bit of help, I had accomplished something that seemed like such a big deal to me at the time. Over time, I've grown to truly appreciate what took place that day. Had my grandmother not taken the time to support us through the interaction, we may have carried on in our comfort zones, continuing to miss out on opportunities big and small. It's often easy to recognize what we want, need and have God-given access to. Unfortunately, it's also easy to remain right where we are, staring at something, unwilling to move our feet. Consider for yourself how many times you've decided not to take action because even the thought of doing so felt overwhelming. If we dig deep enough, we'll also recognize the times when we've continuously prayed that God would do something or bring something into our lives, and when it became available or within close proximity, we didn't budge. | 
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