When you know better ...

I tend to find myself wishing things were easier, less taxing and that I could look up and be "normal"; but then I remember that nothing worth having comes easy and that God made us to stand out.

Things weren't meant to be easy. Many days we may find ourselves wanting to fit in. We may find ourselves on the outside looking in on our peers wondering if we'd get backlash for doing just a tad of what we see them doing. The answer? Heck yes! Knowing better and doing wrong makes for a life of disappointments, hurdles, heartbreaks, tears and regrets that you could have avoided had you just continued to live the life God designed for you. When you know better, you are then expected to do better. 

Years ago I looked up at my mom and told her that I wanted to be just like her when I grew up, not knowing the struggles she faced everyday and the regrets she may have had at that point in her life. Her response to me however, was to strive to be better than her not to be like her. Presently, I look back and remember those words and how confused I was hearing them. Why would someone I look up to tell me I shouldn't? But as I've grown and matured I've seen my mother go through a lot raising us as a single mother. I've seen my mother cry when she became overwhelmed and didn't have the answers to the questions she had or the solutions to the problems we faced. I've seen my mom struggle to make ends meet, sometimes the month ran longer than the money. But I never saw her give up. I always saw her make something out of nothing and I believe that is what I meant when I said I wanted to be just like her. I saw the the strength to make it and the faith she had in God everyday and that was what I wanted.

Knowing better and doing better has always been one way to view the situation -- you live and you learn-- but pushing through everything with her strength and faith was the view I had the entire time.