Remembering God’s Kindness

We have all found ourselves in those moments where we don’t know what to do or we don’t know what we’re supposed to do. It’s even harder to find yourself in that moment with 4 kids!

Recently, I had a morning that was like that. The baby had a one month checkup and I had all four boys with me. Going to the doctor’s office with my healthy children is one of my least favorite things. I am not a germ-a-phobe by any means, but when I think of how many sick children have been through those doors that my children are now touching, I cringe at the thought of how long our family will be sick with that bug. To make this trip even better, I find out, after we’ve checked in and been called back, that it was unnecessary for me to have brought Evan in at all. Great!

I tell myself it’s okay and that I will make this trip worth it by taking the boys to the library to replenish their reading supply. While leaving the library and feeling accomplished, the baby reminds me he’s hungry. So I nurse him, in the car before we leave. As we prepare to go, I turn the ignition and “click, click, click”. The car won’t start. All I can think is, UGH! It would have been easy enough to ask someone for a jump but we’ve had issues with the battery before and I wanted to be sure we could start the car. So I called our Roadside Assistance.

First they tell me it will be a 45 minute wait. 30 minutes later they tell me it will be over an hour wait to get help. So here I am, at the library, with my four small children, ready to despair, ready to cry and ready to freak out.

Then, something wonderful happened to remind me that I am never alone or without help. Here we were, sitting in our car waiting and I realized what a blessing it was that the weather was so beautiful (70 degrees and sunny). It could have been worse, cold and freezing. And I thanked God for his kindness through the great weather that day. A little while later, a mom with two small children approaches me and asks if we’re okay. Of course, I fake it and say “yes”, even though I’m clearly not okay at this point. She wishes us the best and leaves. A few minutes later, she returns and says “I know how hard this must be so please take these” and she hands us a bunch of kid friendly snacks to hold everyone over. A sweet, simple act of kindness to remind me that God is good, all of the time!

It reminds me of the account of the disciples in the book of Matthew. And how Jesus continually reminds them of all He’s shown them and done for them. How often I forget that He does provide all our needs and never leaves or forsakes us. I’m so grateful that even through my despair, doubt and sin, He loves us enough to extend kindness (sometime through complete strangers) to us. I have to remember these moments. These sweet times when the Lord reminds me that nothing is in my control and even better, that he is good and in control of all things.