What I never anticipate fondly are the sniffles and sneezes that come with the season. The coughs. The fevers. The vomiting. You name it, it seems that at least someone at school, work, church or daycare has it from early fall through the winter. No matter how many vitamins I take, how bundled up we get when we go outside or how much antibacterial hand sanitizer we go through, it seems inevitable that at least something will infect someone at home. Which then leads to five infected people in no time at all. You’ve been there before, I’m sure you have.
Recently I had a day just like I described. Several incidents early-on turned a normal Wednesday into a “down in the dumps” day by mid-afternoon. And then my two youngest children both woke up sick from their naps, after only sleeping for 40 minutes. Just what I needed to make a bad day even worse! There were tears. There was whining. There were sniffles and sneezes. There were overpriced co-pays for the medicine we ended up having to get at the pharmacy. Wow, this day couldn’t get any worse! Or so it seemed as I sat around having a pity party for myself that night after finally getting two crying and overtired babies to sleep. Way to put a damper on my holiday spirit, God! Somehow going “over the river and through the woods” on the upcoming Thanksgiving day seemed like the last thing in the world that I would ever want to do, now that my good mood had been spoiled as a result of drippy noses and Pink Eye.
As I sat down at my computer to write some to-be-determined Coordinator’s Article (after stealing a much-deserved mini Heath bar from the kids’ Halloween stash!), the verse we had related to today’s MOPs meeting hit me square in the face. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Be joyful always. Not only when things seem to be going my way, when my kids are germ-free and my day has gone as I’ve anticipated.
Pray continually. Now there’s something that didn’t even cross my mind in the midst of all of my grumbling and worrying. Hmm, interesting how things start to seem not so bad when we let God into the equation and hand over our planners to Him.
Give thanks in all circumstances. That’s right, all circumstances: good or bad, sickness or health, richer or poorer. Pretty much God deserves our thanks at all times. It’s funny how long the list of things we have to be thankful for really is when we stop and take notice. Our “bad days” and misfortunes suddenly become the minority when we enumerate all of the bountiful blessings God has placed into our hearts and within our families.
For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Just as we parents desire our children to use good manners, to pray regularly and to be thankful to others, God has specially designed each of us to live a certain life and to handle different circumstances. We are not all alike. We are each uniquely designed by Christ to navigate our own life’s path, no matter what it may bring. And it would please Him and make Him glow with parental love to hear us use these manners that we teach to our own children in all circumstances.
So this Thanksgiving season, as you sit down to turkey and pumpkin pie, don’t focus on which family members aren’t present or how awful your travels were to get where you are. Instead, remember to thank God for all that he has given to you. We are not even worthy of the blessings he pours out on each of us, but as our Father, he gives them to us anyways out of love.
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