It Could Be Worse

"Difficulties are God's errands; and when we are sent upon them, 

we should esteem it a proof of God's confidence." ~Henry Ward Beecher

There is a little boy in one of my husband's P.E. classes named Jacob. Jacob is 10 years old and loves life. He is all boy and Jason enjoys being around him. Jacob lost one of his legs when he was 3. His dad accidentally ran over him with a riding lawnmower. Gruesome, I know, but this kid never lets it slow him down. He has a prosthetic leg to replace the one he lost and he can outrun most of the kids in his class. Awhile back, Jacob broke his wrist and was unable to participate in normal P.E. activities. This week he was all healed and ready for action.

P.E. class takes place outside in the parking lot. Oh yes, I could spend a very long time explaining why this is so, but for now, all you need to know is that the setting is not ideal for physical activity. Jason has to remind his students daily to be very careful, especially when they run. During one of their exercises this week, Jacob took a tumble face first into the concrete. He landed on the newly healed wrist and broke a tooth. Jason found the broken half of his tooth, rushed him to the office and they called his mom. Jacob's mom was not too happy. They ended up taking Jacob to the hospital because his wrist was hurting so badly. Jason came home feeling terrible, envisioning poor Jacob having to have bolts put into his wrist and a chipped tooth to go along with his prosthetic leg.

The next day, Jason received an email from Jacob's mom. She began by saying he had not broken his wrist again, it was just a sprain. Whew. She then admitted that when she got the phone call from the school that he was hurt, she became very sad. She didn't blame anyone, she was just wondering if her son would ever get a break. It had been one challenging thing after another his whole life and she was ready for something to give. She finished by telling this story: when they went to the dentist to fix the chipped tooth, another boy the exact same age as Jake was in the waiting room. He had broken the exact same tooth. Turns out he had lost one of his legs at the age of 6 in a tractor accident. Yep, it's the truth. The mother of the other boy had been wanting to get him a better prosthetic leg, but didn't know how to go about it. She had also been longing for a friend for her son and someone she could talk to who understood what she was going through. Because of Jacob's pain, the two families have now connected and will be sharing dinner in the near future.

When my husband told me all of this, he was almost in tears. In our life, we deal with a new storm on a daily basis it seems, and hope has not been something we profess regularly. We have been guilty of questioning God and wondering where the relief is. Why must we suffer for someone else's wrongdoing? When will the waters recede so we can come up for breath? We are faithful people, so where is our light at the end of the tunnel?

Jacob reminds me that it could be worse. I have realized that if I had only sunny days, my life would be a desert. The rain is necessary to produce fruit and sustain life. Granted, I would prefer a light drizzle every now and then instead of the monsoons we have been blessed with recently, but I have freely chosen to do His will and he never promised it would be easy. When I hear stories like Jacob's, my faith is renewed and I know that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him".

Romans 8:28