Being Thankful for Hard Things

Being Thankful for Hard Things

It was two years ago, that my Mom changed her residence from
this place we call home to a better place. Where there is no more pain.
For that I am thankful.
I always wished I was a person who could just
roll with the punches and move on and " just get over it."
I am not, still, trials come and I think too much and I remember...
I remember the laughter and the good times and the things we
did. I try to move on but It seems as if I must for a time dwell
in these lands.

I was thinking today, about being thankful for the hard things.
It is hard to be thankful when someone you love is in the middle
of a personal crises, and all you can do is stand by and watch.
My least favorite place to be. So this morning as I was praying
and trying to be thankful and try and see the good in this
situation, as the song says, I started trying to "count my blessings
one by one."

What I thought about is without hard things, I never notice the beauty
of the early morning sunrise. I never notice the red of the last leaves,
that have fallen as they lay upon the grass.



Without the hard things, I don't notice the little ways that people around
me show me love. It is only when someone I love hurts, that I see the love
I live with every day but take for granted.



Without clouds, we would never get rain. Without rain,
we would live in a desert. Then we would never see the
green of life. Rain brings cleansing and refreshment. The
same comes I think from the trials that are allowed. Then
I experience the sweetness of the joy of the evening sunset.



I think trials narrow my vision. One of the many
quotes I have used in my trials are these.
"If God is almighty, there can be no evil so great as
to be beyond His power to transform. That transforming
power brings light out of darkness, joy out of sorrow, gain
out of loss, life out of death." (Elisabeth Elliot)

Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they
shall sorrow no more at all. (Jeremiah 31:12)

I have not yet learned to find joy in my sorrows.

When I feel disappointed in someone, It's usually due to my
expectations rather that their actions.

Anxiety is the opposite of peace. To overcome it I must remain in
the presence of God.



So today, I am thankful for the hard things, because they
seem to make my vision clearer, my loved ones more dear.
They make laughter more vibrant. The trials make
the touch of God more real and His Word more alive.
Trials cause me to run back to God from the places I have
strayed. They make a touch, a word, a smile, seem to be magic.
I have come to realize without the pain of life, I never know joy.

So today, I am thankful for hard things, because in them I find
the joy of life.

~Kim~