A Reason To Be Happy

Do you wake up in the morning happy and feeling blessed every single day? Hmm...that's not likely. Our family has endured many great losses over the last couple of years. Most of you who read this blog already know that over the last 4 years, we have had many deaths in our family. We've also had many, many illnesses in our family over the years as well. Sarah had brain surgery for Arnold Chiari Malformation Type 1 in August of 2006. My Uncle had 3 amputations in that same year, Terry was in a car accident in December 2005. My grandmother was hospitalized for months prior to her death. I am sure many of you who are reading this are thinking, "What the heck is she getting at." Throughout all of these ordeals, I have found myself thinking... I should be so grateful, grateful not for the materialistic things, but for family, friends and all of those relationships. It is so hard to find the blessings in difficult circumstances. I, myself am guilty of this. When we found out that Sarah had to have brain surgery, I was angry. I was angry with the doctor who missed a diagnosis for 4 years... angry that God could let something like this happen to my sweet little girl, angry just to keep myself from feeling sad. Doctors were looking for a brain tumor. Fortunately for us, they found no tumor. They found the ACM. Brain surgery was NOTHING in comparison to what she would have had to endure if she had a tumor. We had been blessed. We had a reason to be happy. Those of you who know my Mom know that she can quote the bible better than anyone... she also lives what she preaches, she has always taught my brothers and I and even my kids to look to God for help. When we were in Pre-Op with Sarah waiting for them to take her down for this surgery, she asked the surgeon and the nurses to pray with her. She asked God to guide their hands and to help her to be okay. I cried on the spot. Then something just "clicked". I cried because my daughter who was just 6 years old, had more faith in her pinkie finger than I had in my whole body. Immediately, right there, at that very moment, I was a changed person. So a couple of months after Sarah had her surgery, a friend and I were out shopping and I found a sign that said:

REJOICE IN HOPE,

BE PATIENT IN AFFLICTION,

AND FAITHFUL IN PRAYER

ROMANS 12:12

I immediately bought it.

So the point of my story is this:

No matter how bad you think things are, look for the blessings in your life. Look for the silver lining to that grey cloud. If you look hard enough, it's there.

This picture was taken 8 months after Sarah's brain surgery... this picture means the world to me.... she looks so peaceful. Like she's saying, Thank You. I never asked her what she was thinking about at the time this photo was taken, I can only imagine.