Finding Gratitude in All Things

What was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life turned out to be one of the worst. Joe had finally finished loading the moving van and we were ready to head to our new house. Earlier in the day I was feeling a bit off. I had a dull headache and my body was aching a little bit. I chalked the dull headache to stress of the move and thought that the body aches had been from helping Joe the day before loading the first half of our stuff into the moving truck. Now as we were ready to head to our new house, I dreaded the idea of driving separately in my car. I wanted nothing more than to just lay down and rest. Unfortunately, I had no choice because our plan was that I was to follow Joe in my car with our cat so that later, he and I could head back to our old house in my car, load up our dogs, and bring them to the new house.

As I braced myself for the hour drive, my dull headache turned into a throbbing headache. Ten minutes into my drive, I began having a coughing fit. I coughed on and off for the majority of the trip and began to wonder if I was suddenly allergic to my cat that I have had for over eight years. Once we arrived at the new house, I just sat in my car not wanting to get out. My entire body was aching from my head down to my ankles. Yup, I had somehow gotten the flu.

I slowly climbed out of the car, holding the cat and informed Joe that I was pretty sure that I had the flu. Jokingly, Joe told me that I wasn’t getting out of helping that easily, but when he saw the look on my face, he knew that I was serious. Contemplating what to do and knowing that I was not going to be able to help him unload the truck, Joe grabbed what he felt were our most immediate needs. First, he grabbed the air mattress and set it up in the living room, so I could have an immediate place to lie down. Then, after some shifting of items, he managed to get our King mattress out of the truck and placed it on the floor in the master bedroom. As I laid on the air mattress in a ball, Joe softly reminded me that we still needed to pick up the dogs which was a two person job. Reluctantly, I removed the comforter, got up off the air mattress and climbed back into my car. Thankfully Joe was driving this time which allowed me to rest my head on the window and sleep.

After we loaded the dogs and got back to the house, I headed straight for the air mattress and curled up in the comforter and just slept. Not wanting to disturb me, Joe headed into the bedroom and slept on the mattress on the floor. The next morning when I woke, I felt absolutely miserable. I couldn’t remember the last time I had had the flu. Ten, fifteen, maybe twenty years ago. I had had colds before but this was purely awful. So awful that by mid-afternoon, Joe convinced me to go to urgent care, where they confirmed that I had the flu and gave me some medicine. The rest of the day and evening I just slept.

The following morning, I was awakened by a call from the moving company. The wanted to kindly inform me that our truck rental was due back and they wanted to confirm we would have it back by 1PM. Part of me wanted to laugh because I knew that there was no way possible. While Joe had spent the previous day moving everything off of the truck and into the garage, he too had now come down with the flu and neither of us was in any condition to drive. Yup, that’s right, we both now had the flu and everything we owned was sitting in the garage. This was not how I thought moving into our new home would be like.

As I sat up on the air mattress, having a small pity party for myself, I glanced out our back window and just looked at the sunlight dancing on the ripples of our lake. It was such a beautiful sight. I got up, wrapping the comforter around me and walked out to our deck. The sky was a robin’s egg blue and the sun warmed my face. In that moment, my entire perspective changed. I was grateful for the beautiful view and for God’s creation. I was grateful for our new home and what a blessing it was from God. I was grateful for my comforter, the comfortable mattress and the medicine that God helped to provide for me.

My shift in perspective helped remind me that I am to have gratitude in all things, even when there are struggles like the flu, a garage full of stuff, and a moving van rental that is overdue. While I have no idea when Joe and I will begin to feel better or when we will get to move our things into our new home, I know that I can look at each thing and find a blessing among them. When I shift my perspective, I grow closer to God and I can find my strength in Him, know that these struggles are only temporary. When I begin finding gratitude in all things, my heart posture changes and puts my in a place of humility, thanking God for all that He does.

Can you recall a time in your life when it was challenging for you to feel grateful? How did you navigate that situation? Do you practice gratitude in your daily walk with God? Please share in the comments.