Change in a Minute or More

Most of the time I remember how fortunate I am.  How blessed I am.  How full my life is.

Sometimes I forget when I get mired in my mess.  My inconsequential issues when judged against the grand scheme of things.  

Recently, I had conversations with a couple of different girlfriends that reminded me how mere moments can make all the difference.  How a simple minute or month could be the determining factor in whether you bat away little annoyances or deal with life-altering challenges.  

The difference of one month:  My triplets were born at 32 weeks 5 days.  My friend's triplets were born at 28 weeks.  A matter of a handful of weeks made a radical difference in my life and my children's.  It changed the amount of my medical bills, my time in the hospital, the disabilities our kids would or would not need to learn to live with, the specialists we would have to see over the course of our lives, and the development issues we would or would not have to come to terms with as they grew.  

The different of one week:  A friend stayed in a challenging work out program longer than I did and was hospitalized because of a fairly dramatic complication in the work out.  I am far less athletic and  coordinated, but I avoided that debilitating work out.  

The difference of one minute:  A driver was life-flighted to a Houston hospital because she was a few cars further back in the 11 car pile up than I was.  I drove away from the accident with nothing but shaken nerves while I don't know what her outcome was after that horrific crash.  

I could have been in a life-ending accident if my kids hadn't smeared peanut butter on my pants and I had to change.  I could have sustained major injuries working out if I hadn't had to leave town for a pesky work trip.  I could have lost children if my body gave out earlier in the pregnancy even though I was miserable and huge in those last weeks.  

I am reminded, daily, that the little annoyances in my life do not warrant complaint.  God reminds me through conversations and encounters that he places the gift of disruption in my life for a reason.  He often stretches out a protective hand to shield me from the dangers ahead.  My response is grumbling.  

I do not now, nor do I believe I will ever, understand why things happen the way they happen and impact the people they do.  I believe each person that endures struggles and hardships is loved in a deep and unfathomable way by our Heavenly Father.  I can not understand why hardships and heartache fall where they do.

I do believe though that I must recognize and thank God for his intervention and protection when He extends it over my life.  I have to remember that those inconveniences and delays may just disguise angels stretching out their wings to shield me and those I love.
Jeremiah 29 - "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Romans 12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Psalm 27 - For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.