Suffering

To celebrate the birth day of our son, Isaac, we were all blessed with colds in our noses. All three of us got big bang explosive snot simultaneously. It hit Isaac first the evening prior to his first birthday party and within 24 hours, we were all down for the count.

I find myself wishing illness upon others. It's not very Christian-like, that's for sure. But when you are in the midst of suffering... And now it lingers. It's been a week and I still sound like a 60-year-old chain smoking cat lady with a New Jersey accent, hacking up...well I'll spare you the details. I even developed the accent for amusement purposes.

At this point I'm asking "Eli Eli lema sabachthani?" Perhaps God wanted me to suffer this week so that I can have a tiny glimpse into real suffering. It is very very tiny in comparison. Suffering is what we Christians celebrate this "Holy Week". Jesus' suffering...much more than my tiny cold. I am physically reminded to take a look at what true suffering is and what it means. And as I reflect, I find myself wondering if I praise God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do? Or are my praises in hopes of selfish fulfillment? Are my prayers to have him heal me of this cold when they should be lifting Him up for the truly amazing God He is? There's nothing in this life that can compare to what He has done for me. And there's no amount of suffering I can endure that He has not ten-fold. So I praise you, God, for giving me this cold as a reminder of what I should be grateful for. And as a gentle reminder to quit my bitching.