The Itsy Bitsy Spider

As I was singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider to Emma, it struck me that, it is not simply a fun song, it teaches kids, and adults, a lesson.  What lesson is that?  Perseverance despite and through adversity.  I know, I know, it is designed to teach hand and eye coordination, but there is more to the song than that.   Think about it.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout, down came the rain and washed the spider out.  This tiny creature was trying to accomplish something, was making progress, when adversity (rain) stopped it in its tracks and pushed it back to the starting line.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.  The spider could have just given up, gone on to something else and abandoned its goal, but it didn't.  It patiently waited out the storm, and, when conditions were right, attempted (and accomplished) its goal.

Makes you think, doesn't it?  How many times in our lives have we tried to accomplish something, only to face set back after set back, failure after failure?  How do we handle that?  Are we like the itsy bitsy spider, waiting for a better moment and trying again?  Or do we give up on our goals, deciding that what we want to accomplish is not worth the pain and effort, not worth the struggle?

Many times in our adoption journey, we faced set backs and failures, taking that first step over and over again.  There were times it would have been easy to just give up, to stop trying.  We knew that to do so, to give up, would mean  losing out on the beauty that waited at the end of the struggle.  Had we given in and stopped trying  we would never have known the love and joy of parenthood.  We would never have met the tiny person that so richly completes our lives.

Being Emmas parents, holding our sweet angel, makes all the pain and heartbreak, all the struggles and failures, worth the effort, worth the perseverance.  I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

So, whatever you are trying to accomplish, whatever goal you are struggling to reach, don't give up.  Be like the itsy bitsy spider and try again when the time is right, persevere and I promise, the outcome will be worth the effort.