Aren’t we products of our experiences? We take the trials of life, process them through our ethical framework and then react or behave, formulate our ideas, add to our knowledge base, adjust ourselves morally. The struggles, then, often make us who we are as people, do they not? We stand to learn a lot from Iggy Iggs. She definitely seems to have an appreciation of the role adversity plays in perseverance.

We (well, NICU peeps) have all known that family- the baby who is barely 24 weeks gestation; the mom with history of multiple pregnancy losses before she finally carried this one to greater than 20 weeks. She’s grateful for the nurses, appreciative of the care. She looks at her fragile baby and remarks on his strength. Why? How? Did her struggle give her knowledge? Insight? Hope? I believe so.

Life is hard sometimes- it just is. Practicing self control, doing what is right and just, making healthy eating and exercise choices, devoting yourself to others. When it’s 3 AM and the body and mind want rest but the NICU demands work, well, “s*** gets real.” It’s difficult to focus and move forward, engage oneself in the experience. But when the hardship is over come, the “storm” passes or you survive the shift (thanks be to caffeine) , the experience gained is invaluable.  I find this applicable to so many areas of life: health, relationships, exercise, child-rearing, careers, learning.

So, today, I pledge allegiance to the struggle (props to Ms. Azalea) because my struggle made me into the person I am. I give thanks to the God who loves me and knows my struggle, and I challenge myself to embrace, immerse, and engage myself in the struggle so that I can glean from it what I need most in order to do God’s work.