Hasn't this happend before?

It is interesting how it seems the same things are happening to me all of the time.

For example, I was really looking forward to going to the stewardship banquet this year. We have been talking about stewardship all this month, in our classes and in the services, and it has gotten me to thinking about the whole concept of stewarship. I also heard that the speaker was supposed to be really good. But probably the most important thing is that I had been looking forward to sending the kids to the nursery for a few hours, and going to this thing with my lovely wife.

But sure enough, about one week ago Josiah gets a cold, which develops into a worse cold, which evenntually turns into something called "croup." No problem, that should only last a few days, and even if he still has it, no croupy cough is going to keep us from going out! Then comes Sunday morning. Samuel, who never feels sick enough to not want to go to church, tells us he is not feeling well. (And if you have been around us long enough, you will know that if our boys are feeling like they are sick to their stomach, it is not going to be pretty.) I end up heading off to church by myself. While in our ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) I start to feel a little weak and shaky. It progresses all of the way home, until I am at home feeling a little weak and shaky. Then about 15 minutes after I get home, I find myself holding a big orange bowl while Sam is puking his guts out. (not pleasant, especially when you are feeling weak and shaky) Now, I am not going to go into detail right now about the great dramas that our sick kids have put us through, but I will tell you that in the midst of that moment, I suddenly had this feeling of "I've been here before."

To make a long story short, we ended up missing the banquet, because of our sick kids. (I know that's happened before!) But all I can say is, "Oh well!"

I will have to admit at times like these doing right doesn't seem like it has a great pay-off. Sometimes it seems that being a family man and doing the right thing, just leads to days like these. And in many ways that is true. And I've had many "days like these." Doing right isn't all cinnabons and rose gardens! Doing right is holding puke bowls. It's changing diapers. It's playing old games. It's rubbing a back or forehead. It's administering medicine. It's working long and sleeping short. It's caring for sick people and pretending you feel fine, even when you don't. It's smiling when you're sad, giving when you need, and being strong when you're weak. Doing right is hard, but there's nothing like it in all the world.

Everyone knows there are some eternal rewards for doing right, but it is easy to forget that there are also some temporal rewards, too. There is no better way to have a good night's rest, one of peace. Because when you aren't doing right, there is no peace! There is also no greater joy, when right has been chosen in your life, and has been followed through. God knew when he made us that in order for us to have any form of happiness, it had to be through the avenue of right!

This was meant to be a blog on how it seems that my kids get sick everytime that there is a big event that I want to go to. Instead it has made me remember even as I was typing it, that the banquet was no great loss in the long run. Instead, I received another chance to love my family. Though not at the stewardship banquet, I still was challenged on the topic of stewardship. I hope that I was a good and faithful steward today.