Someone once said that, “when we are thankful, our focus moves off selfish desires and off the pain of current circumstances.” We all go through bad times. Every one of us has had times of trouble. The point here is to be thankful in the midst of hard circumstances. There was a time in my life when I focused on the chaos and the hardship. Thankfulness was not in my vocabulary. I had found myself six months pregnant with my fifth child, the father wanted nothing to do with us, and I was homeless with four other children along for the ride. It was the worst time of my life. Yet, it was the best time of my life. I was surrounded by so much good. In that hurt, I came back to the Lord and I realized what strength comes when you let go and let God. I learned to trust. From trust, thankfulness grows; thankfulness breeds gratitude, and gratitude brings peace.
In this time, Eris came into my life. This precious angel was the beginning of the end of the chaos for me.
7 Days of Gratitude: Day 5: Eris
The name Eris represents the Greek Goddess of chaos. She was named that because God blessed me with her beautiful light in an otherwise chaotic time. Eris is a strong willed, courageous, smart, funny, creative and loving creature. Full of love and happiness, she brought me back to myself in so many ways. All of my kids did but, the presence of Eris helped wake me from some of the sadness, some of the failure.
Eris in the world
My pregnancy with Eris was like any of the others, except that it was very high risk because I had a blood clot in my calf. I had to give myself horrible shots of blood thinning medication into my stomach for most of the pregnancy. There was so much fear in me: never watching my kids grow up, missing weddings and birthdays and their significant others, losing life. I hurt and I felt very alone. Her birth was amazing. Sparing the details of all the gore, I will tell you that holding her made me feel love, just like with her brothers and sisters. All life is such a blessing.
Conclusion
The moral of the story here is to learn to trust. From trust, thankfulness grows; thankfulness breeds gratitude, and gratitude brings peace. And look up because the Lord can bring you so much peace. Blessings my friends.