Repost: We CAN Do Hard
NOTE: Today's post was originally published on my blog in July of 2010.
Based on all that's going on in my life, my friends' lives, and the world in general,
it felt like a good post to kick off a new week.
About a year ago I was watching Larry King when he interviewed the Chapman family (Christian singer Steven Curtis-Chapman's family). The family was on to talk about their struggle to keep moving forward after the death of 5 year-old daughter. She had passed away as a result of a car accident on their property just a few short months before the interview (with the car being driven by their 16/17 year old son).
It was a heartbreaking interview, so hard to hear and watch.
Talk about pain.
Talk about injustice.
Talk about loss.
Talk about grief.
Talk about devastation . . .
And yet, something Mary Beth Chapman (wife/mom) said during that interview has stuck with me all this time.
At one point Larry King said to her, "How do you go on [after a loss like this]?"
And she looked at Larry King and said, "I've told our family, this is going to be hard. This will most likely be THE hardest thing we face. BUT Chapmans can do hard."
That one statement encapsulates faith for me: We can do hard.
And I'm just so thankful I heard that interview--because I repeat that thought to myself, my kids, my students--all the time.
Because we will ALL face the good, the bad, the ugly . . . and the hard in this life.
And sometimes it's more bad, more ugly, and more hard than we ever imagined!
But, we really are stronger than we know. (Aha! I worked it in--stronger than you know. Yay!)
And even though we may not LIKE the things going on in our lives, we can DO them.
We can do hard.
