Uphill

Sometimes, life goes uphill.  And. It. Is. Hard.  Our uphill travels bring us strength.  And, sometimes we only get strong when we do the hard part by ourself.  

Last evening we went to the Grover Beach boardwalk.  It is one of our favorite places to take a stroll especially on warm summer evenings.  There is a rather big incline that Evan likes to do all by himself.  Sometimes people look at us, like we are the meanest people in the world, because we don't help Evan up the hill.  We don't help him because he wants to do it by himself.  He knows it helps him get strong muscles.  Sometimes, people just encourage him and say, "Great job! You can do it!"  Usually, I walk backwards facing him, and chat with Evan as he rolls his way up hill and Mike is usually trailing behind him.  

Do you see that man in the blue hoodie down there talking to Mike?  Well, he stopped and said to Evan,  "Do you need some help?"  And before Evan could answer he said, "Oh, I see what is going on.  You must be strong willed. I see what you are doing.  That is the most touching thing I have seen!"  He was surprisingly very emotional about it.  He said.  "I really want to help you, but I see you need to do this!"   Mike stopped and talked to the man for a while and Evan and I just kept going to the top!  And then what a view!  

Life is that way too!  There are hills to climb, some are very tough.  We need to continue our uphill battles to get strength.   We meet people along the way, sometimes they really want to help, but they know we will only gain the strength as we work things through on our own.  But, we are really never alone.  There are people here to encourage us.  Sometimes, it's parents, sometimes friends and sometimes just strangers!