It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Mr. Rogers once said that when he was a boy, and he would see scary things on the news, his father would always point out the positive, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
Life is scary sometimes. Life is painful sometimes, and if we get caught up in focusing on the pain and the fear, it can be really overwhelming.
This summer, I’ve told you in some of my Monday Messages, that I have not been in a great place, emotionally. A lot of little things have gone wrong, and piled onto other things, and allowed even older things to resurface in my head space. I have really been feeling beat up.
And it is easy to dwell on those things. It is easy to over-analyze, overthink, and play on repeat, all the things that have gone wrong. They are frustrating, sometimes infuriating, and happen with little to no reasoning behind them. But that is life.
How often do we stop and think about all of the needs that have been met? My word, if during all of my mess, I had stopped in that moment to recognize how God was caring for me through it, my stress levels would have been very different!
Just as He proved Himself to be there with the sweet singing voice of my toddler last week, He showed up throughout every stress and every curve ball. I just wasn’t paying attention!
Last Monday was my birthday, and instead of celebrating, I was dealing with a broken toilet, and a sick child. Instead of eating my favorite things. I was nauseated after holding a garbage bag in front of my child to vomit in, because of the strep test at the doctors. If you don’t know me, any symptoms related to the stomach bug are my greatest fears!
Also, instead of noticing God’s presence, I was angry with Him. Instead of focusing on the good, I became distracted with the bad. But…
- God made Himself known in the friends who saw me or sensed that I was struggling, and called or texted to check in on me; pray for me.
- God made Himself known when a dear friend risked our germs to watch my other three children while I took my sick child to the doctor. I can’t even imagine how much worse that appointment would have gone with four children in that tiny space, while one was throwing up!
- God made Himself known yet again, that same day, when a friend offered to bring us a meal the following night for dinner. Due to sicknesses and my husband’s back troubles, finding time to grocery shop had been difficult. God met this need, and bought me one more day to get to a store.
What if, instead of Look at all these horrible things happening to me, our attitude reflected one of gratefulness with, Look at all the ways God helped me. It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood.