Recently, I had to take my 10 year old Sam in for a check-up. The doctor came into the room with a very concerned look on her face. "Sam has only gained 4 pounds in the last year." She said. "Sam has always been thin, no matter how much I feed him, he just does not gain weight easily." I replied. Long story short, we came up with a plan for him to try and get him gaining weight. One part of that plan was to do a blood test to make sure that he doesn't have any underlying issues going on more than just genetics and a super high metabolism. The doctor wanted to look for things like Hyperthyroidism, and Diabetes 1.
Sam had never had his blood drawn before. No amount of encouraging, explaining, bribing, or hand holding could make him feel more at ease about it. So they had to use three different nurses, one to put him in a bear hug, one to hold his arm, and the other one to actually draw the blood. He cried and yelled and hated the whole experience. I stood in front of him, held his hand and tried to comfort him through the process. It wasn't helping. My two youngest children Marcus (2) and Emily (4) were at this apt with us and when Marcus saw Sam crying, he got down off his chair, came over and puts his hand on Sam's knee and looked up at Sam with concern on his face. Then he looked around at the nurses, picked the one closest to him and walked over and kicked her leg, then went back to Sam to tried and comfort him more. I am sure in his little mind he was thinking, "Don't worry Sam, I am on it. I'll kick this lady and then she will stop hurting you." Sweet that he was trying to protect his big brother like that, but sad that the lady got kicked. She laughed a bit and said "I wasn't even the one drawing his blood, I was just helping."
I was thinking about this experience and my perspective vs Sam's and even Marcus' perspective. I was standing up and looking at the whole situation, seeing that though it was not fun watching my child cry, I knew that this was a necessary step in finding out how to best help him to gain the weight he needs to be healthy. I knew that it was only a small moment of pain to bring about a needed result. I could also see from my perspective that the nurses weren't trying to hurt him, they were only doing their job and trying to help him by testing his blood. Sam was convinced that this was the most painful, horrible thing that he could ever go through. He said he understood why it needed to happen, but he didn't want to go through the process or the pain to get the result. Marcus could only see that people were hurting his brother and he wanted them to stop, so he felt justified in hurting them to bring about that result.
I was thinking later that day about the whole experience and realizing how God looks down on us during our lives. He sees the whole picture and sees that many times the trials, the pain, and heartache we go through how ever hard they might seem at the time, are for our growth and development. We can choose to grit our teeth and hate every moment of it, we can choose to get angry and take it out on others, or we can choose to hold on and have perspective. We can choose to see this is just a small moment of pain and discomfort on our way to greatness. It is worth holding on and staying true to the things we know. We know that God loves us. We know we are here to learn to become more like him. We know that even Jesus Christ had to suffer all things and he was perfect, he didn't deserve it, but he chose it, so that he would know how to succor each of us in our moments of pain and trial. We know that we need to forgive those who hurt us as hard as that may be. God can see the whole picture, we can't. Maybe that person is going through their own rough time and they are reacting, and they lash out at us, maybe we are the closest person to them. Not that it excuses their behavior, but it does mean we are not qualified to judge them, because we can't always see the whole picture. Just like with Marcus and that Nurse. We don't know that person's history, or what they have had to pass through, but God does. So we can pray to God for that person, and for us to have a forgiving heart. Sometimes that is all we can do.
Here's another experience I had recently, to preface this, Don and I have striven through the time we have been married to live within our means. We save up and buy cars in cash, we avoid credit card debt when at all possible and we have enjoyed living debt free except for having a house payment. Because of this life style, we have lived simply and humbly, but comfortably. I have always been blessed to stay at home with our children which is what I always wanted to do.
In our church we are asked to pay Tithing. The Lord gave a commandment in the Bible to pay 10% of our increase back to him. We pay ours to the church for the building of churches, temples, printing of scriptures, and other church materials. In our church the leaders are not paid, they give their time and service for free, but everyone that is a member including the leaders of the our church is asked to pay that 10%. Because we believe that the Lord gives us all we have, giving 10% back has never seemed like much of a sacrifice. In Malachi 3:10 the Lord says: "Bring ye all the
tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and
prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Throughout my life, I have paid Tithing and never thought twice about it. But for the first time, last month, I struggled to pay it. Since we moved from Alaska to Texas we have been struggling financially. We haven't been doing anything different, but the Army does pay us less to live down here and it just seems that every time we turn around we have another unexpected expense and our hearty savings is down to pennies. As I wrote out the tithing check for December I cried thinking I don't know where this money is going to come from after this, this is all we have left in savings and it seems every penny in our checking is spoken for with a mortgage, bills, and a family or 7 to feed. I thought. Later that day I was telling my worries a friend and she said "Stacy, the Lord has said PROVE ME NOW HEREWITH." Then in church that Sunday I heard the same scripture repeated. We were hit with a huge dental bill that month for one of our kids and I didn't see how on earth we were going to pay it. A few days before Christmas, we received a rebate check in the mail that we had sent off for months before and it covered part of that bill. Then a very generous family member gave us money for Christmas, enough to cover another portion of that bill so only some of it had to go on a credit card. We made it through the month of December without going into the hole. We felt the Lord was answering his promise because of our faithfulness to paying our tithing.
The first Sunday in January, I bore my testimony in church about this principle and how it had strengthened me in my resolve to keep God's Commandments even in those times where we can't see how things will work out. On my way out of church someone pulled me aside and asked "Are things better financially now?" I told him not yet, but I had paid my tithing for January and was holding on to my faith that God would come through again. Last Sunday that same person stopped me on my way out of church and asked if we were still struggling. I said "Maybe..." "Yes or No Sister Larson." "Um...yes..." "Come with me." he said. Then he handed me money and said "This is from my emergency stash, this not a loan, this is a gift. I started crying and said "I can't take your emergency money." He said "You are having the emergency, not me." I thanked him from the bottom of my heart. Then the next day Don and I were able to go grocery shopping for food for our family because of the money that he gave us. We would not have been able to, otherwise.
Yes, sometimes the Lord blesses us through other people. I have a testimony that the Lord knows each one of us. He knows are struggles, our heartaches, and our joys. He is ready and willing to bless us if we are ready and willing to keep his commandments and follow his Son's example. I am grateful for this knowledge and for life's little lessons that strengthen my faith and remind me of His love for us.
