We're So Blessed: A Fun 5-Day Family Devotional From CAINSample

Sneaking in Joy

STORY: Taylor’s Secret Visitor (Madison)

In 2015, when Taylor was 26 years old, she went on a mission trip to Honduras. Taylor loved this experience; she played with the local children, sang songs, and helped work on some building projects in the community. However, after she returned home, Taylor found herself very sick. After several days of sickness and no relief in sight, we took her to the hospital. What the doctors discovered was much worse than Taylor and our family had hoped. Her kidneys were in such critical shape that she might have to take powerful medicine for the rest of her life, and she might experience changes that would really break her heart, such as losing her ability to sing.

Taylor had to stay in the hospital for several days, and to help keep her company, our whole family stayed with her. There in her tiny hospital room, we crammed air mattresses and blankets and tried our best to not trip over one another. It was crowded and uncomfortable, and each day brought more frightening news about Taylor’s sickness. However, we all made it a point that no matter the discomfort we experienced lying on the floor or the fear we felt in our hearts for Taylor, we would choose to stay positive and believe that God would heal Taylor’s kidneys. We did everything we could do to “let the peace of God rule in our hearts,” as the scripture above says. We did this by playing games, watching funny movies, telling jokes, and singing songs. We all prayed together and sang praise and worship songs to God throughout the day. When we felt scared, we chose to focus on Jesus and not on all the bad news around us.

Then when the bad news seemed to be at its worst, Logan and I came up with a big idea to help encourage Taylor. We wanted to bring her a special visitor to cheer her up . . . our family dog, Pepe. However, dogs weren’t allowed in the hospital, so we had to be very careful. We went home, gathered up Pepe, the largest suitcase we owned (it helped that Pepe was on the smaller side), and all the dog treats we could carry, and headed back to the hospital. Then we carefully placed Pepe into the suitcase along with several of his favorite treats, and Pepe began to happily chow down as we carried him secretly to Taylor’s hospital room.

We walked into the hospital room, placed the suitcase on Taylor’s bed, unzipped it—and out popped Pepe! Taylor was so happy to pet her dog and have a sense of “home” even at the hospital. In that moment, Taylor wasn’t thinking about being sick, she was thinking about how thankful she was for Jesus and her family. She smiled and hugged Pepe all night long.

Finally, after many scary days, Taylor got the report that she had been longing for: she was healed and could go home! Her sickness miraculously improved and she was able to make a full recovery. Taylor and our family praised God and celebrated the mighty work He had done. All along the way we tried to “be thankful,” “sing hymns with thankfulness in our hearts,” and “let the peace of God rule,” and it helped bring us closer together even in a trying time. Most importantly, when we were most afraid, we “put on love” by encouraging and caring for one another. Sometimes putting on love means playing games together, sometimes it means praying together when times are tough, and sometimes it means sneaking joy (in the form of a dog) into a hospital!

Reflection Questions

• How can you “sneak joy” into your family?

• What is something nice someone in your family has done to encourage you?

• What is your favorite way to give thanks to God?

Activity

It’s praising time! Find your family’s favorite praise and worship song and crank it up! Sing together and thank God for all the good things He has done for your family. Bonus points if you even add in some dance moves!