Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV
It was Tuesday the 23rd of December, which is to say it was literally the busiest day of the year in the salon where I was working. I was staying late to give grandma her Christmas perm, and grandpa his Christmas haircut.
My usually timely grandparents had gotten caught in some traffic so grandpa dropped grandma off at the door in order that I could get started on her hair while he parked the car. I smiled and waved from the shampoo sink when I saw grandpa come in. I smiled as I saw him head right for the coffee bar and pour himself a cup. I thought it was odd that he hadn’t removed his coat—it was warm in the salon with all the people and all the hair dryers going. What was even more odd was his hand was shaking badly as he carried the coffee over to where he was going to sit. After settling grandma into my chair, I went to check on him. Grandpa insisted he was fine so I proceeded with grandma’s perm.
While grandma’s permanent solution was on, I started to cut grandpa’s hair. I asked him how their lunch outing was that grandma said they had enjoyed earlier that day. He couldn’t remember. Not only that, but he couldn’t remember much about his day. This was not at all like him and alarm bells started going off in my head. Worried, I told him I thought maybe we should go to an urgent care because he wasn’t acting quite right. He refused (normal) so I suggested perhaps he should let me drive them home. He said okay and more alarm bells went off. I knew if he was giving in to me driving him home something was really wrong.
I finished grandma’s perm and grandpa said he had to use the restroom. He was in there a while so I sent grandma to check on him. Grandpa had felt himself starting to collapse and had slid onto the floor in the bathroom. He couldn’t get up. I didn’t know if he was having a stroke or what. Fortunately, one of the other clients was a nurse and came over to assess him. He was getting less responsive so we called an ambulance.
Grandma and I followed the ambulance to the emergency room. I remember walking up to the emergency room door holding grandma’s hand and feeling grateful. It took me off guard, the amount of gratitude I felt in the moment despite how worried I was for my grandfather. I felt gratitude that grandpa had been blessed with so many healthy years on this earth. I was grateful that this had happened at a time and place when I was with grandma, and where there was a nurse to help give aid to grandpa until the ambulance arrived. Gratitude can truly change our perspective of any situation. Even when it has an outcome we don’t like.
Grandpa ended up just having a common infection that had gotten out of hand. He was treated and released that night. He was able to celebrate Christmas with us two days later. We had lots of reasons to be grateful that year. But even if grandpa hadn’t been okay, we still would have had lots of reason to be grateful. Being grateful in only the good seasons isn’t enough.
When bad things happen and we start to doubt God’s goodness, we should pray and ask Him to remind us of his many past blessings and of the ways He has cared for us through other troubled times. Remembering His goodness will restore our gratitude.
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