We can always find something to be thankful for, even on sick days.
I am getting over a bout of bronchitis. I finally gave up and went to the doctor on Friday at my hubby’s gentle nudging. I think he was concerned that I may actually cough up a lung in one of my coughing fits. The doc’s prescription was antibiotics and rest.
The antibiotic part was no big deal. It’s just taking a pill everyday, but rest for me, was a little trickier. I hate to just sit and do nothing. Even when I’m sitting, I’m often making some kind of plan, a grocery list, or a blog post, or plans for a vacation six months from now.
But, Saturday, I was completely wiped out and didn’t get out of my pajamas all day long. I felt like such a loser; but guess what? The world did not grind to a halt because I needed a sick day. The dog was happy to snuggle in my lap all day. My teenagers brought their respective electronics and joined me in the living room. They were perfectly happy to stay in their jammies too.
And as badly as I felt, I found myself giving thanks. First of all, I’m normally a healthy person. I feel good the vast majority of the time, something I’m ashamed to say, that I often take for granted. I thanked God for my health. It truly is a blessing that healthy people often forget.
I thanked God for family to help take care of me. Here again, we so often take for granted the family God has blessed us with. We see them everyday. They get on our nerves. We get on theirs, but family is a blessing.
I thanked God for medication. We live in a country where healing drugs are readily available. Bronchitis could easily kill someone who didn’t have access to antibiotics or even over-the-counter meds to take care of a fever.
I thanked God for my house. Shelter is another thing that we often take for granted. My home also has running water and heat, something people in many places in the world don’t have. I’ll bet yours does too.
I could have taken the day and wallowed around and felt sorry for myself. I could have lamented about the hairballs that needed vacuuming up. I could have pushed myself to get up and power through it somehow, but I didn’t.
I believe that our bodies are a gift. For us to be as effective as possible in using them to spread the love of Jesus, we have to work on keeping them well. When we get sick, I think we actually honor God by submitting to our exhaustion and resting, so that our bodies can heal. Perhaps it’s a show of humility to admit that we need rest. When we do, we are admitting that we aren’t perfect or bullet proof. We are simply humans who sometimes get sick.
When we humble ourselves and pray for healing, it’s also a perfect time to give thanks for all of those blessings that we sometimes forget in our daily rush. If we do that, perhaps we can get spiritual healing along with our physical healing and maybe that was what we were supposed to do all along. What do you think?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂