Do Hard Things...

(Written by Dustin)

A few years ago a good friend of ours (Kevan Kjar) came up with a philosophy; a little slogan from which he made a bumper sticker to remind people to “Do Hard Things”.  It is a simple phrase, and a catchy one, but living this philosophy is not always easy or convenient.  The idea behind it is; if you learn to do hard things and push through them, not only do they become easier, but you also avoid harder things that come as a result of procrastinating the small ones. 

For example:  It is hard to study and prepare for a test in school, but it is harder to cram for it the night before and expect to do well.  It is hard to exercise, but it is harder to deal with health issues later caused by neglect.  It is hard to resist temptation, but it is harder to repent, or to overcome an addiction. 

We have very much enjoyed his wisdom in this idea, and one of the main reasons why we chose to do this trip is so that we could teach our kids to “Do Hard Things”.  There have been several times however, that Stephanie and I have realized we’re still learning this lesson ourselves. 

One of the hard things we've done as a family so far is deciding and accepting that we walk most places.  It is about 2.5 miles to town and to church.  Most days of the week we walk one way, and we’ll take a taxi back.

(Nice selfie, Steph)

Or, we walk the mile and a half each way to and from our service project each day. 


Yesterday we walked about 3.5 miles to a friend’s house so that we could use their washing machine to do our laundry.  We were going that way anyway, and it seemed easier than washing it all by hand, which Stephanie had done the week before.  That in itself was a hard thing and not pleasant…but it definitely made us grateful for the ability to just throw clothes in a washer and dryer every day at home.

While it may be hard to walk, especially on hot days, we’ve had some great discussions during those walks, made up stories, practiced Spanish, and gotten some great exercise.  And what we first dreaded we’ve actually come to quite enjoy.  Sometimes we’re offered rides, but we graciously decline and just say “we’re walking”.  (Except the one time we jumped in the back of a flatbed truck with a bunch of security guards who were just getting off work.  That was a fun adventure!)

This was a particularly hard day for Ellie walking home.  We had to capture the face and slouch.....

Another hard thing we’ve experienced was moving out of our beach house for 2 ½ weeks while the landlord

had someone else renting it.  We knew about this before we came down…
they had already prepaid for the rental 6 months ago.  When we looked for another place, we decided to rent an “island home”, owned by one of the locals.  It is a small two bedroom home right on a highway, so the traffic noise is loud.  And as much as they tried to “fix it up” before we moved in, it is still rather humble circumstances.  We were saving over a thousand dollars by taking this place instead of another more comfortable place…and we also thought it would be a good learning experience for the kids.

 A few days after moving in…Stephanie and I were lying in bed one night asking each other, “What were we thinking?” as the trucks roared by outside.  I had just taken a cold shower (there is no hot water), killed two cockroaches under the bed, and brushed my feet off before getting in bed, because no matter how many times you sweep, there always seems to be more dirt on the floor.

Had to get a picture of the clothesline under the house....

Anyway, after admitting that this was going to require a major adjustment (I’m reminded each day that it’s exactly like being back on my mission in Central America), we realized that while it was going to be hard, it was one of the main reasons we came here.  And I smiled as we realized that our kids had not complained one bit about our new accommodations. In fact, they really liked them (The pregnant cat that came with the house was a huge perk for them).  We concluded that she & I needed to toughen up, get our heads back in the game and carry on.  

We’re now half way through our stay at this humble house, and while there are still days we can’t wait to get back to our “beach” house, we’re recognizing the blessings that have come with this place; two bedrooms means a shared room for the twins, which means more conversation/laughing between them.  A smaller house means more togetherness.  No internet means more family game time.  Island neighbors means friends for our kids to play with everyday.  And the opportunity for them to be fully immersed in another culture was exactly what we wanted in this adventure.

And so, each day we realize…that it is through Doing Hard Things that we learn, we stretch, we grow, we sacrifice, and we are strengthened.