With suffering comes prayer and gratitude

One of the deacons at our parish recently lost his mother-in-law. It was a long, heartbreaking process.  In the end, he said that when you or someone you love suffers, it's God's way of reminding us that we need Him and that we need to pray.

This week has been exactly that for the Two Buerglers.

As many of us do, we coast on auto-pilot day in and day out. Nothing really wrong.  Nothing really spectacular.  We're lukewarm.  And that's exactly where God doesn't want us to be.  It even says so in Scripture (somewhere).

I often catch myself in these ho-hum situations and kind of look over my should and think, "Uh, oh.  Something big is coming.  God is going to move in my life in a big way".  And then I wait.  And BOOM. Something happens.

And often, when it rains, its pours.  God is dramatic like that.  At least in my life. And most definitely this week.

• All summer Eric's company has going through a lot of legal/political drama that I cannot discuss. He's been very patient and strong through this whole process.  It's meant late nights, early mornings, off-site meetings, private emails, etc.  The end result is that several guys lost their jobs - guys in the same boat as us, with a family or just starting families - and  yet some how Eric's job was spared.  We have no idea how or why, but we are overwhelmed with gratitude and thanksgiving.  The unfortunate suffering of all his staff, especially those now jobless, has called us to prayer.  Prayers of hope for them...and prayers of gratitude for us.

• One of the deacons's wife lost her battle with cancer this week.  The amount of grief that our staff is going through is challenging.  She was an incredible lady.  I can only being to imagine the heartache of losing a spouse, especially at a relatively young age.  His suffering, our parish's suffering, has called me to prayers of thanksgiving for my health, my family's health, and for the life of my amazing spouse.  

• My co-worker and very close friend went in for emergency surgery this morning.  She had a miscarriage that was bleeding out internally causing all sorts of complications.  The surgeons were able to save all her reproductive organs and gave her a good prognosis.  However, this is the second major complication she's had in their four years of trying to conceive.  Her suffering this week has called us to prayers of thanksgiving for our own baby girl growing in my womb.

Jobs, Spouses, Health, Children.

Things that I all too often take for granted.  While the timing sucks that all these happened in a week and yes we've lost a lot of sleep and tears over them,  I am so so so thankful that the Lord has called us to be grateful and to remember the abundant blessings we have in our lives.  

I know that someday our turn will come and the sufferings will be our own.  When that day comes, I hope I can see just as clearly that suffering calls us to prayer and gratitude.  I hope that our sufferings would be witness and a call to prayer for others as these have been for us.  God uses us in oh-so-mysterious ways.  And I love that about Him.