When the alarm went off, every muscle in my body screamed along with it. It hurt to move. I pushed it to the back of my mind because I had to get boys ready for school. I chugged some DayQuill , three shots of espresso and tried to power through my day.
Then, I discovered a skin infection on Brody and the doctor wanted to see him.
Then, the school nurse called me asking to pick Tyler up because he was "sick".
"It's going to be a BAD day", I thought to myself. "Seriously, could it get any worse?"
I wanted to smack myself. Of course it could get worse! I was irritated with my own attitude, and suddenly something dawned on me. I could still choose to be thankful in the midst of this day.
Because Thanksgiving is this month, many people have been updating Facebook statuses to say what they are thankful for. I think that's a great start. But really, is it that hard to find things to be thankful for in our comfortable, affluent society? We have cars with heated seats, beds that adjust to our bodies for maximum softness, air conditioning, running water, food delivery services...do I need to keep going? Yes, our country has plenty of problems, but compared to the rest of the world, let's face it - we have it pretty good.
But, what if we could take it one step further and live out this verse in our lives: "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (I Thessalonians 5:18)
I think often of a powerful story I heard for the first time in high school. Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsie had been sent to a concentration camp for hiding Jews in Nazi-controlled Haarlem where she and her family lived before the War. In the midst of the arguably most horrible circumstances possible, they found reason to give thanks: {yes, I know this is "long" but take a minute to read it all - it will stick with you forever - I promise!}
We lay back, struggling against the nausea that swept over us from the reeking straw.
..Suddenly I sat up, striking my head on the cross-slats above. Something had pinched my leg.
“‘Fleas!’ I cried. ’Betsie, the place is swarming with them!’
“‘Here! And here another one!’ I wailed. ‘Betsie, how can we live in such a place!’
“‘Show us. Show us how.’ It was said so matter of factly it took me a second to realize she was praying. More and more the distinction between prayer and the rest of life seemed to be vanishing for Betsie.
“‘Corrie!’ she said excitedly. ’He’s given us the answer! Before we asked, as He always does! In the Bible this morning. Where was it? Read that part again!’
“I glanced down the long dim aisle to make sure no guard was in sight, then drew the Bible from its pouch. ‘It was in First Thessalonians,’ I said. We were on our third complete reading of the New Testament since leaving Scheveningen.
“In the feeble light I turned the pages. ‘Here it is: “Comfort the frightened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all…’” It seemed written expressly to Ravensbruck.
“‘Go on,’ said Betsie. ‘That wasn’t all.’
“‘Oh yes:’…“Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.’”
“‘That’s it, Corrie! That’s His answer. “Give thanks in all circumstances!” That’s what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!’ I stared at her; then around me at the dark, foul-aired room.
“‘Such as?’ I said.
“‘Such as being assigned here together.’
“I bit my lip. ‘Oh yes, Lord Jesus!’
“‘Such as what you’re holding in your hands.’ I looked down at the Bible.
“‘Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all these women, here in this room, who will meet You in these pages.’
“‘Yes,’ said Betsie, ‘Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we’re packed so close, that many more will hear!’
She looked at me expectantly. ‘Corrie!’ she prodded.
“Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed suffocating crowds.’
“‘Thank You,’ Betsie went on serenely, ‘for the fleas and for–’
“The fleas! This was too much. ‘Betsie, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.’
“‘Give thanks in all circumstances,’ she quoted. It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.
“And so we stood between tiers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.”
“One evening I got back to the barracks late from a wood-gathering foray outside the walls. A light snow lay on the ground and it was hard to find the sticks and twigs with which a small stove was kept going in each room. Betsie was waiting for me, as always, so that we could wait through the food line together. Her eyes were twinkling.
“‘You’re looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself,’ I told her.
“‘You know, we’ve never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room,’ she said. ‘Well–I’ve found out.’
“That afternoon, she said, there’d been confusion in her knitting group about sock sizes and they’d asked the supervisor to come and settle it.
“But she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t step through the door and neither would the guards. And you know why?”
“Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice: ‘Because of the fleas! That’s what she said, “That place is crawling with fleas!’”
“My mind rushed back to our first hour in this place. I remembered Betsie’s bowed head, remembered her thanks to God for creatures I could see no use for.”
If women being punished, who are completely innocent, can be thankful in the midst of living with fleas, surely I can be thankful in the midst of my "bad day". {Note that we don't have to be thankful for all things - ie, the Holocaust - but we can be thankful in the midst of all things - the opportunity to share Jesus in an awful place.} We can live life - daily - with a heart of gratitude. I feel like such a child when I think of my natural inclination to find things to complain about, or to dwell on difficulty. My prayer for this thanksgiving is to grow the gratitude in my heart to extend to all circumstances; to give thanks in everything - not just what is pleasant.
Today, I can say that I am thankful for hard days, because they require me to go to God for strength, to seek Him for encouragement and comfort that I can't find on my own.
What about you? What circumstances are you struggling to find gratitude in? What are your "fleas"? I always love to hear :-)
