Influenza and Other Trials

Sometimes life is hard.

My wife has a sister who recently moved to a place a few hours' drive from our home. She has three little children, one about two years old and two about three months old. Her husband has been out of town for a few weeks and we just learned last night that she and her three little chicklets have all had the flu. In addition, she contracted another infection, has had very little milk to feed the infants, and in general, is pretty miserable. I don't know if I got all those details right and I don't think I've adequately described the extent of their suffering, but hopefully you get the idea that life is pretty dang tough for her right now.

Luckily, this is a lady that's pretty tough. She's spunky. But all of us have our limits and sometimes we're driven to our knees by being pushed to the extremes of what we can take. I can't speak for her, but I can say that if I were in her situation, I'd cry ... a lot ... and often. Thankfully, my wife was able to drive down there today and she'll hopefully be able to relieve some of the suffering. I'm grateful she was able to do that. That's the kind of task that makes life meaningful to me. Thanks Emily.

So of course I began thinking of trials in general. And since this is my blog, I will bore you with my philosophy. Don't complain - you're here by choice.

Each time I've been pushed into a situation where I suffer, I sure hate it at the time, but I almost always look back and see the good it did for me. That doesn't mean I run back and get in line for another turn in the pressure cooker, but I am grateful for the refining effect those challenges have on my soul. I posted not long ago something like "Count your blessings, not your trials." But seen from another perspective, maybe those two things are really the same. It's not always productive to tell that to someone who's suffering, but it's good to think about all the same.

I won't post personal info on other people without their permission, so we'll just pretend my sister-in-law's name is Maggie because I like the name. Good luck, Maggie. We're praying for you.