It started the day before Christmas break.
My oldest son (8) began to complain of headaches and fatigue and, quite frankly, looked a bit run down.
Surely not, I thought to myself. Surely this can’t be happening again. Not three years in a row.
But it was happening again. By the next morning, my son had a full-blown respiratory virus complete with headaches, fevers, congestion, and a cough that would not quit. By Christmas Eve, my younger son had been struck down by the same virus with all the aforementioned symptoms.
It was the third Christmas in a row we would be stuck at home in our self-imposed quarantine with two very sick kiddos.
I didn’t completely lose my yuletide optimism until the vomiting started. That was when my Christmas spirit crumbled.
And yet, the memory of that Christmas day, with just the four of us will stay with me forever. Although all our plans with extended family had to be canceled, there was something unbelievably sweet in our quiet, simple, small celebration for which I will forever be grateful, sniffles and all.
I’ve become quite accustomed to disappointments and canceled plans over the past several years. Having an unpredictable chronic illness will do that.
But I’ve also learned how to actively seek joy and gratitude even when the circumstances seem bleak. It’s not easy, and it takes a lot of hard work and practice (often accompanied by much grumbling and fist-clenching) to find joy in dire circumstances, but God’s grace is always present in our darkest moments. Joy is ours for the taking if we know how to look for it, and who to look to for it.
So whatever kind of Christmas you had, and whatever the new year holds for you and me, I pray that God would continuously open our eyes to see the joy he is holding out to us in any and every circumstance. And I pray that we will be brave enough to take it.
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