I hate being uncomfortable. I hate tension. I hate change. I want everyone to be happy and healthy and for life to go smoothly. I want disagreements to be limited to chocolate vs. vanilla or tea vs. coffee (the correct answers being chocolate and coffee, of course!)

But..life isn’t like that. There is discomfort and tension and change. There is unhappiness and sickness and disagreements that rip people apart.

It’s not that some people enjoy the above-mentioned horrors. But some can manage them better. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. My husband jokes that, in difficult times, I am like a snapping turtle – I either sink into my “shell” and avoid everyone, or I come out snapping off fingers and toes!

Lately, I have bounced between both locations, I am ashamed to say. And the fact is, I don’t feel any better in the shell or out snapping. Those responses don’t make situations better. They don’t solve problems (in reality, they make the problems worse!).

I have come to the realization that I have to learn to embrace the uncomfortable. That doesn’t mean enjoying tough situations.  But it does mean that I keep my head outside of my “shell” – with my mouth closed – and that I keep moving.

The only way through difficult times is to go through them. Like it or not, comfortable or not, no matter how tough it is. God has called me to follow Him. Sometimes, He leads me beside still waters and other times, through the valley of the shadow of death. But no matter what, He is with me. I will trust in Him.