Monday, October 27, 2008

I AM NOT LIKE YOU

Just because something is similar does not make my circumstances the same.
I am not like you.
We walk the same path, yet differently.
I am not like you.
We choose the same career, but yet...
I am not like you.

We went to the same school.
I went my way, you went yours.
We worked at the same job.
I did mine and you did yours.
Just because the footprints walked down the same path
does not make me like you.

When trials affect
I am not like you.
I see the positive, you the negative.
I am not like you.

The same trials often affect two very similar people in very different ways.
I see a lot of people who compare apples to oranges. Two different people will endure many things the same, but there is always one thing that keeps us different. Our perceptions.

Yesterday a lot of bad things were pointed out to me, but I didn't view ANY of them as being negative.
My father is a truck driver, right now it is a very lean time in that industry and he doesn't get many loads....God is keeping him home safe....yes, money is tight for them, but DHS is helping them get things that if he was working more he still wouldn't be able to afford because of their cost, but because he isn't getting the income they are helping him get his furnace fixed.
I see that as a positive....if he had more money, they wouldn't help...and the proportions are way off.

My mom had the flu, she also had a flu shot, they do that, that's how you get the antibodies, sounds pretty good to me, if she didn't get the flu from the shot, she would likely get it from a person later and be much sicker....sounds more like a positive than a negative to me.

My grandmother had a stroke, ok this isn't really a negative turned positive, but think about it this way....she is 90 years old, she had a good long life. She isn't dead yet. When my mom had her stroke it was a bit different, she was 48, not 90, at 90 I don't see it as a bat thing, there is a time to stay and a time to go. She isn't going to live forever, and why would anyone want to exist solely in a nursing home in this day and age...her life was full and its not over just a bit harder right now...she isn't really suffering it even took them a while to figure out that it had even happened. While it isn't a positive, its part of life.

My daughter got scolded for interrupting, ok this is the norm in my house, she has my total attention MOST of the time, so when the phone rings, she wants my attention. I don't appreciate the interruptions, but I do find it positive that she isn't afraid to come to me because she knows I won't hurt her just because I am on the phone.
If anything, maybe I shouldn't be on the phone while she is awake since she needs me more than whoever is on the phone if they are irritated by her needing my attention. I am her MOM, that means she is my job.

I have been sick, very sick....But God has not yet abandoned me. When I feel really bad, God shows me what I need to get through. When I am depressed he shows me why that's not what he wants for me. I have been able to talk to my husband more since I got sick than the entirety of the rest of our marriage. We have found several potentially life threatening conditions before they became life threatening. No, I can't walk on my own, but I am not wheelchair bound.
I had a heart attack nearly 10 months ago, but I am not dead. There are many people who are much sicker than I am....and I don't see most of them trying to off themselves because "life's too hard now" So I am just grateful that God has given me another day...I am grateful that Romans 8:28 says he will use ALL THINGS, to his Glory....that means the negative things too...and if God uses them, than how can it be a bad thing.

Needless to say, I am not like you. I choose to see the positive since the negative helps no one.
When I share my negatives with others, its not cause I want you to feel bad, but because I want you to pray for God to continue to give me strength to survive the trials.

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