Through the Eyes of Hope - 7 Days of HopeSample

God in the Small Things

"I began to look for God in the small things, because that seems to be where He shows up in the biggest ways."

Four of my six weeks of maternity leave were spent in the NICU, which left me feeling cheated from my bonding time with Christian. We had only two weeks left before I went back to work and someone else would come care for him.

I saw God's love through my boss during this time. She is an amazing woman and offered to let Christian come to the daycare with me. It was an incredibly generous offer, but Christian needed constant care, so I wouldn't be able to fulfill my duties if he was there.

The coming home experience was exciting, but reality hit quickly and hard. A positive outcome of Christian being in the NICU was that he was readily available to the doctors. They came to him. Now the situation was reversed, and our long list of appointments and therapies filled the pages of my calendar. Trying to build family time, church, school, study time, chores, work, and relationships around those chunks of time was harder than I'd ever imagined.

None of our friends or family had gone through this before, which made me feel even more alone. I couldn't really vent to anyone. Chris had withdrawn, feeling helpless because he didn't know what to do, so I felt isolated. Honestly I felt like I was drowning in the to-do lists and appointments, so I treaded water, trying to keep my head up. My friendships took a back burner, but the beautiful thing about true friends is that they're always there when you need them, no matter how long you're apart.

I began to look for God in the small things, because that seems to be where He shows up in the biggest ways. A woman from my church brought her daughter over to the house to visit us and hold Christian. They stayed for only a few minutes, but they thoroughly doted on him while they were there. They sat on the couch, taking turns holding him. Cuddling him. They told me how precious and cute he was, and they truly meant it. This image is permanently etched in my mind because I remember feeling for the first time, "This is how it's supposed to be." Hearing someone ooh and ahh over my son meant the world because we'd experienced so much of the opposite.

This was definitely a God-moment: the three of us adoring the little baby in the Superman onesie.

How can you look for God in the small things?

Questions for Reflection:

• Have you seen God in the small things lately? Write them down so you can come back to them later. When we write down things, it often sticks longer in our memories. Recalling what God has done for you in the small things will help you see Him work in the big things.
• Sometimes providing encouragement and hope to someone else can be just the therapy we need. Who can you reach out to this week to remind them of hope?
• Who in your life has God used to show you hope?