When it comes to anything in my life (relationships, circumstances, etc.) I want to be the kind of person who, in a given situation, would choose to grow, rather than choose to be happy. I want to choose growth, not happiness.

I read a blog a while back where I woman and her fiance were in pre-marital counseling. The pastor mentioned something that struck chords in her heart and mine as well.

Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator

He said, "The purpose of marriage is not happiness, but growth."

In her mind, and mine, that sounded so deep and insightful and I loved it. She did too.

"No you don’t love it", he said, "You’re happy right now, so you feel up to the idea of growing. Growth usually happens when you’re not up for it. You love the idea of it, but you’re not going to like it. And that’s okay, but it’s important to expect it."

These words, for me, ring true in any situation or anything God brings my way. If I'm in the middle of a challenging time in my life, I'm not going to be happy or look at it as a "growing moment" in my life. It's not until the storm has passed and the sea has calmed itself again that I can look out into the still waters and see that God was present in all of it.

He was there before it happened, to me, he was there as the storm was beginning and I barely knew what was happening. He was there when the first wave smacked me in the face and tossed me off my boat and into the sea. He was there as I struggled to get back in my boat, but with no luck, was tossed back into the waves. He was there as the boat tossed and turned and I struggled around the boat to pull ropes and try my best to control a very uncontrollable situation. He. Was. There. He was there when the waves died down and the storm had come and gone. He was there through it all.

It doesn't seem like a growing period in the beginning or in the middle. It's not until the storm has passed that we see where the growth took place and that God was there from the beginning.

Life, in essence, is like a mirror. God designed life as a way to reflect on what has happened and on other people to reflect what is and isn't echoing him. We can choose to be upset and not look into the mirror and push others away when we don't want to own up to who we are when we look into the mirror. Or, we can choose to recognize and accept what's ahead on our journey. We can thank the people who have gone before us for showing us what they've gone through and what to expect, and ask that they love us and help us grow in our journey, life, and walk with Christ.