Thriving

"Wow, Jennifer, he's thriving!"

One of my friends made that comment about Jacob last week and for that beautiful moment, I reveled in it.  I soaked it in for all the work that went behind it and thanked the good Lord for that moment of encouragement. 

Just a few hours later, we were back in the trenches, doing the same hard work and doing our best to keep making progress.  The word "thriving" melted into the background of my mind as I watched Jacob struggle through letting go and fully depending on his new family. 

I found myself saying, "Are you really thriving?  What does that mean anyway?"

The online Webster's dictionary defines the word "thrive" as to grow vigorously, to gain in wealth or possessions, and to progress toward a goal despite circumstances.  As I pondered the word and it's meaning one day in my car, I was listening to the CD "Struggle", by Tenth Avenue North and in the title track song were these words:

 

Hallelujah

We are free to struggle

We're not struggling to be free

Your blood bought and makes us children

So children drop your chains and see

 

There, in my car I realized, yes, he is thriving.......even I am thriving!  Thriving doesn't mean you have "arrived" and life has to be perfect.  It means we are pressing onward toward our prize.  It means that despite the struggles we have hope and can be joyous.  It means we keep doing the hard work, relying on God's love, and being thankful we get to walk this life beside Him.  Thriving is a process, not a destination.  It is a condition we can walk in when we trust our Savior. 

Close to mealtime that night, a time we often struggle with some of Jacob's anxieties, I picked him up and looked him in the eyes and said, "You don't have to do that to get Mommy's attention.  I love you.  You can just come and ask me with your words.  What you have to say is important to me." 

These words from me were evidence that we are both thriving.  He is learning to trust and depend on me, and I am learning even more how to meet his needs and provide the environment he needs to grow and heal.  We are "growing vigorously, and pressing toward our goal despite our circumstances."  Praise be to God.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1–3—NKJV)