.

In 1999 we had our 5th child, John Paul. He was a great blessing and his delivery went as planned. We stayed in the hospital the required time and then took him home. All seemed well and things were going very much like that had with the other four children.

Normal lasted for less than 24 hours. About mid day the first day John was home my wife noticed that John had a fever which we were not sure how to handle in such a young child. We immediately took him to the doctor and she immediately sent us to the Children’s hospital in Dallas. When we arrived they took us right in and after doing some test they found that he had meningitis.

They did the normal test and then we had to stay in the hospital to find out what kind of mingiest John had. This was a very stressful time for everyone in the family young and old. Just a few days old and in the hospital, this was a new experience for us. John did as well as could be expected as he took his antibiotics and IV’s. Of course our families and friends rallied around us as usual and thankful to the Lord John’s meningitis was not the more serious kind. Thanks to great doctors and nurses and the grace of God we left the hospital with John on the third day, healthy boy in tow. God was good and I was thankful but I had no idea how thankful I should have been. That is when God stepped in and taught me a lesson on real thanks.

I was exhausted, hospitals are not a place to rest and we not only had a baby in the hospital but four other kids to worry about. I was never so ready to get home as I was that night. Before we could get home we had to stop by the pharmacy and pick up a prescription. Here at Walgreens God took me to school.

I was tired but in a pretty good mood. The clerk and I engaged in a conversation about my weekend and I made the statement we were taking my baby home from Children’s. I was excited as I said it but I also said it as though I was tired and ready to go home. I said it as if my journey was so difficult. I was quickly humbled.

After I talked about how good the hospital was the clerk told me his brother had also been at Children’s. He also acknowledged the good care at this hospital, then he paused a moment and said, ‘We did not get to bring him home. He didn’t make it.’ At that moment I was rendered speechless and greatly humbled. Tears welled up in my eyes as I returned to the car, a different and more thankful man.

Giving thanks is a matter of perspective, what you may see as a great burden others may see as a blessing. When you think the going is tough, someone has always had it tougher. We come to the table of thanks, at times with the thought that we are the only person to ever face difficulty, when in reality we all live in the same world. A world of pain, anxiety and heartache, those things know no barrier.

As I reflect on my life and my experience I believe that when we face the heartaches is when we see the Savior at His best and no doubt when we learn to be most thankful for the things that should always bring us to the table of thanks. Things like life itself, health, family, friends, a place to lay our heads at night, food in our stomachs and most especially for a Savior.

I believe God sent that clerk to me at Walgreens to remind me of how thankful I should be to have a little baby boy in the back seat of my car. It is a lesson I have never forgotten and for that I am truly thankful.

Extra: Write down the things that are most important to you. Take your time; name them one by one thanking God for each one. Especially ask God to reveal to you someone or something you have taken for granted.

Scripture: Psalm 100:3, “Know that the Lord is God, It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Psalm 113:1-3, “Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your greatness and your power. Help us to learn the lessons of thanks and find the proper perspective of life. We thank you that you use events to teach us, to lead us and to draw us closer to you. We praise your name and give you thanks because you alone are worthy of praise. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen