It’s In The Little Things

Sometimes I feel like things have been a little hectic around here lately, but really, it’s what I needed.

As I was driving to town, (“town” is about 20-25 minutes away for me), I was doing some thinking about the past few months. It was one of those moments between me and God, that I needed as a reminder that He truly has us in the palm of His hand. It has been the little things, in the difficult times, that I couldn’t be more thankful for. Let me explain.

Last week, I told Dan that I wish I wasn’t so busy. I was wishing I had more time to just sit in our living room and play with Mazy. Granted I feel like we are always playing, but I seem to always have something else I have to do at the same time. Do the dishes, fold laundry, pick up the house, you name it. I told Dan that I missed having that uninterrupted, quality time with Mazy. For pete’s sake, I have the summer off, but I feel like it’s been nutso!

Now for those of you who know what happened this past weekend, God gave me what I wished for. End of last week, Mazy was getting pretty clingy and ended up coming down with a nasty virus which landed her in the hospital for a little over 24 hours. Sitting in the waiting room at the walk-in, all Mazy wanted to do was cuddle. I treasured that. Little did I know that for the next 48 hours, I would be cuddling that little girl; cuddling and snuggling with her like I haven’t been able to do in a long time. And lets be honest – she’s a toddler – who wants to sit and cuddle when there are fun toys to play with? Forget mom, right?

By all means, I never wish for my child to get sick or be in the hospital, but I think back to that statement I said to Dan last week. God knew. Not the way I intended for that desire to be fulfilled, but I had that quality time with my sweetie and it was in the little things, that we both treasured at that moment, which was each other.

Second, it’s in the little things, like time, that God revealed Himself to our family. Granted Dan was gone on a retreat when Mazy went to the ER in early June, but because of my doctor’s proactive approach, she was given an antibiotic, just in case she had pneumonia before we left for a two week trip to Michigan. Sure enough, that is what she had. So, Dan came home, we went to Michigan, and could enjoy a wonderful time with family, with Mazy on the mend, and did not end up in the hospital with her for a recurrence of the pneumonia. God’s perfect timing.

Dan leaves for Haiti next Monday, for 2 weeks. We had a 2 week span between coming home from Michigan and Dan leaving. God chose the perfect time to allow the whole virus situation to happen. Not that I couldn’t have done it alone, but let me tell you, having my husband there in the hospital this past weekend with Mazy, was such a blessing! Granted I have a rockstar of a husband, but I told him I am glad we got our first hospital experience under our belt, TOGETHER. He even surprised and brought me a blended mocha Sunday morning because he knew I would love it. He took care of our daughter AND me. God’s perfect timing.

And then there is patience.

That is a virtue that I sometimes struggle with. To be honest, I thought I was patient. When Mazy was a colicky baby, I have to say, I had a lot of patience those first few months. It maybe dwindled a bit by month 6, but Dan’s patience was sky-high, so we were good. Well, over the past month, I have been a bit frustrated with Mazy’s sleeping patterns at night, and my patience dwindled a bit again. Not terribly, but I found myself just wondering what I was doing wrong? I would hear her cry and just ask God, what is going on?

Well, it was this past weekend, that God refilled that whole patience portion again. I would have thought I would have lost all patience after all the tears she had, but all the more, it made me want to have all the patience in the world because I couldn’t stand to see her hurt like that. I would have done ANYTHING to take away that pain and hurt she felt. That moment I lost it in the hospital room when she was crying uncontrollably, it was because I couldn’t comfort her and I just wanted her to feel like a normal 15 month old. Yet she hurt. She felt sick. And I couldn’t do anything about it, but just love, hug, and kiss her. God filled my patience bucket to overflowing this past weekend and that is what I needed.

In the busyness of life, the nonrecognition of God’s perfect timing, and my lack of patience – those are the things that get in the way and steal these moments away.

It has been in the little things, that I have learned some of life’s most valuable lessons. Wait, let me rephrase – AM learning. I have not arrived. I have a long ways to go. But God is pruning and I am slowly learning.

UPDATE ON MAZY: She is doing very well! Her rash is almost completely gone and she just LOOKS so much better! She is getting back to our crazy Mazy, which we have missed so much. To see your child healthy again, wow, we couldn’t be more thankful! Thank you for all of your prayers – they truly have been answered!