Progress

Progress....such a buzz word, and yet, so subjectively defined. My progress would not be your progress. What I deem as progress might be completely unappealing to you, or perhaps, something to which you would say "been there, done that!"

Progress reports in school (aka: Report Cards!!)
Progress in labor/delivery
Progress in technology
Progress in medicine
Progress...................................................

But, the other side to progress is what gets left behind. You can not move forward without leaving something back. And there may be a bitter-sweetness to that trade-off.

I just finished reading about a working mom who desperately wishes she were out of the work-force and at home with her two little ones. She feels trapped by an economy where living on one-income is growing increasingly more difficult. She is not a believer, but says if she were, she would probably "let go and let God." She actually watches clips of her children at daycare on her computer at work. (Where's Johnny? Oh, there, in the corner. Forty minutes have passed and he's still sitting there. Does he have a book? Yes, I think that's a book...) I had no idea there was video streaming available for this type of thing! But the point of the article by this mom was that the very freedom her mother's generation fought so hard for her to have (working alongside men, getting comparable salaries), is the "freedom" that keeps her bound. Is this progress?

Job opportunities may have increased for women, but unfortunately, with that comes the inflation of everything else. Real Estate today is unbelievably expensive...especially for a one-income family. The prices we pay in America often reflect the assumption that families exist on 2 lower middle-class incomes, rather than one. Some studies have shown that the actual rate of salaries for men has not kept up with former days because there is an assumption that the men don't need to make a healthy, support the entire-family type of income...now that their wives can work too. I don't know enough about this to say much more, but I know families where although the husband has at least a bachelor's degree, his full-time professional-grade job pays nowhere near what is needed to support a family of 5 or 6. And these are not families that live "high on the hog." We're talking bare minimum here! So husbands/dads are forced to take 2 full-time jobs to provide for their family, if they believe the wife should be at home. This is definitely a case where what once was thought of as "Progress" has come back to bite us all.

But the real reason I was thinking about "Progress" has to do with a spiritual nature. You see, the season that I've been in lately has been one where I don't see much progress on any tangible level. My home's beauty and order, my children's education, my physical fitness...all seem to be stuck right in the same spot. Nothing "feels" like it's moving forward, getting better, progressing. I haven't really talked much about this....other than to my husband and an occasional friend who catches me on a particularly emotional day. But I was reading through the recent posts at www.girltalk.blogs.com (our family of churches' resource for women), and saw that they've been addressing spiritual progress in the midst of things like PMS, postpartum depression, and menopause. This quote by nineteenth century pastor's wife Elisabeth Prentiss took my heart:

"God never places us in any position where we cannot grow. We may fancy that He does. We may fear we are so impeded by fretting, petty cares, that we are gaining nothing; but when we are not sending any branches upward, we may be sending roots downward. Perhaps in the time of our humiliation, when everything seems a failure, we are making the best kind of progress."

This is profound faith in God's purposes for us. This is "boasting in our weaknesses" as Paul says. This is remembering that in our weakness, God is strong. And this is one area where progress doesn't come back to bite us. Because we are becoming more like Christ and gaining an incorruptible treasure that is not of this world. I guess the neat thing about this is...when you can't see results...it's probably because they're all in heaven! Take heart.