If you are like any other family in the U.S., this particular time of year can be somewhat unpredictable. Flu runs through the schools, possibly even pneumonia, and sometimes the ever-exhausting stomach virus. My kids had the virus this past weekend and in the middle of all the ‘excitement’ and cleaning, I stopped to pay attention to their responses to being sick.

Aaron, my 9 year old, was the first one to fall victim to the virus. He had a horrible case of it, but he never complained. The only way we knew he was sick was because we heard him vomiting in the bathroom. He spent the day relaxing and watching movies, but he never asked for anything except something to drink.

Lydia, my 7 year old, was next – and you would have thought her arms were being ripped off. She whined, moaned, cried….I’m sure she felt horrible too.

Ben, my 11 year old, was next. He didn’t complain, but his response was very interesting. He said, “If I could just ‘throw up’ in a predictable pattern it wouldn’t be so bad. You know, if I knew it was coming every 30 minutes or something.”

Samuel, my 3 year old, decided to stand in the bathroom for long period of time ‘just in case’ he got sick. He never did :-)…but he was prepared.

Phoebe never got sick either and was pretty oblivious to what was going on around her.

I thought about their various responses to being sick and wondered if we as adults have some of the same types of responses to troubles in our lives. Some of us glide through and trust our Heavenly Father to take care of it….(this would not be me). Some complain, moan, cry to God because we don’t like it, we’re uncomfortable, and we want a change. Others of us could handle it so much better if we could control it a bit more… and then there are those of us who are so worried about something bad happening, we dont’ enjoy the present.

There’s something very comforting and beautiful in the Christian faith. Knowing that Someone greater than yourself knows you and holds you in His hands, gives a great deal of relief during times of unpredictability, grief, hardship, or despair. no matter how we handle it, God is still God and His love is strong enough to protect and strengthen us. It’s nice to know we can trust his control when life is out of control…we can give our worries and fears to Him….we can cry into His love for peace.