Thankfulness even when you don’t feel it….

Honestly, I struggled with writing a post this week.  When I thought of what to write, NOTHING came to mind except venting about how rough and miserable this week has been.

After the incident with Kinsley’s head last week, she came down with a 103ish fever Friday evening and all day Saturday, as well as complaining that her throat hurt.  After calling our doctor in NC to make sure it wasn’t related to her head (which they didn’t think was the case), they suggested we take her to the doctor to have her checked for strep throat.  I had strep throat over a month ago, so while it wouldn’t be unheard of for her to have it, it would be weird for her to get it this far out.  The doctor tested her and the strep test came back negative.  They didn’t know what was wrong other than she had a viral infection.  Her fever went away Sunday morning, but it basically left us inside all weekend, which can be torture here in Colorado when you want to get out and enjoy the mountains and explore a new place.

Then, on Monday evening, she was still complaining that her throat hurt and not eating well, so I looked in her mouth and saw a few mouth sores.  A friend I was talking to that evening in NC suggested I look into hand, foot, and mouth.  So I did.  And as soon as I read the symptoms, my stomach dropped.  I have heard horror stories about this virus and how miserable it is.  After calling her doctor the next morning in NC (again!), they confirmed what I already knew – that they too thought it was hand, foot, and mouth.  And to that the fact that Emerson had her thrush return and two rounds of medicine had not gotten rid of it.  I had to cancel plans with friends and had a horrible attitude about being stuck for another day in this two bedroom apartment.

And then, the Lord really gently tapped me on the shoulder, convicted me on my attitude, and reminded me that I had to make a deliberate choice to change it.  A verse came to my mind – 1 Thess. 5:16-18  “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in ALL circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  I could choose to stay miserable, be angry about our circumstances that I couldn’t change, and sulk, or I could choose to rejoice, pray, and give thanks.

So I choose the later.  Here are the things that I chose to give thanks for, among many others:

1 – This little girl who has all the sickness makes me laugh daily, brings so much joy to my life, and has such a great personality and honestly, considering what happened last week, it is a praise to the Lord that she is still here with us.  Things could have turned out so much differently and for that I am thankful

2 – She has a very, very mild version of Hand, Foot, and Mouth.  Honestly, there were a few times yesterday that I asked “Does she even have it?”  It hasn’t affected her eating, she hasn’t complained since Monday about it hurting, acts completely normal, and has no rash.  The doctor said she just need to be quarantined while she had a fever, but we kept her in a few more days just to be safe.  What I was originally anticipating as having to spend a whole other week quarantined turned out to be completely false.

3 – Ed is learning so much in his classes and is excited to be able to take it back to campus.  He is taking Biblical Interpretation and Communication (where he learns how to interpret the Word correctly and then use that to speak that Word to others in a form of a sermon or message), Old Testament, and God, Bible and Holy Spirit.  All of these classes will better equip him to minister to college students and lead our team.  This is our whole purpose of being here and it is happening.  The benefit is that we are in Colorado and get to enjoy beautiful scenery and an abundance of things to do, but enjoying Colorado isn’t the main reason we are here.

4 – I got to reunite with an old college friend in the middle of our “sickly” weekend.  Shannon was my roommate for a year in college and lives about two hours south of Fort Collins in Colorado Springs.  She came up to our area for her nephew’s birthday party and stopped by to visit.  So fun to see her, catch up on life, and she got to meet Emerson for the first time!

4 – My parents are coming to visit!!  They decided to close their restaurant for the July 4th week and take a road trip across country to visit us and see places that they have always wanted to see such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Graceland, Mt. Rushmore, etc.  We are so excited to see them (though Kinsley doesn’t understand why they aren’t here yet) and for them to see the beauty of the Rocky Mountains.

I am sure there are many more things that came to mind, but I am so grateful to the Lord for giving me an attitude adjustment.  I sure needed it!

2 thoughts on “Thankfulness even when you don’t feel it….

  1. Thanks for the post and a reminder on how The Lord calls us to be thankful through all things. Not always easy depending on the day/week, especially with kids. Sounds like y’all are keeping busy in Colorado. We miss you here and can’t wait for y’all to come back home 🙂

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