Finding the Light... Even When the Groundhog Is Winning
I have always believed God speaks through ordinary moments. Lately, He has been speaking through cardiologists, insurance claims, shop vacs, aging parents, and one particularly determined groundhog.
If you had told me a year ago that I would spend part of my summer researching basement waterproofing while also researching atrial fibrillation, I would have laughed. If you had added that I would become emotionally invested in the daily habits of a chubby little creature determined to tunnel beneath our house, I would have assumed you had the wrong person… yet here we are.
Life has a way of piling things on all at once. Aging parents remind you that time keeps moving. A new diagnosis changes the rhythm of everyday life, even when every doctor kindly reminds my husband, “A-fib won’t kill you.” They aren’t wrong, but they also aren’t the ones lying awake at two in the morning listening to him breathe and wondering what tomorrow will bring. Add in the floods, the repairs, the unexpected expenses, and the groundhog who apparently believes our foundation is the perfect place to build his forever home, and you have my summer in a nutshell.
Some days it feels like we’re living our own sequel to Caddyshack. Unfortunately, Bill Murray hasn’t shown up to help.
As I was thinking about life the other day, I realized something. Joy has never required perfect circumstances; in fact, if I waited for everything to settle down before choosing joy, I might be waiting a very long time. Joy isn’t found on the other side of life’s interruptions. It grows right in the middle of them.
No, I’m not your modern-day Pollyanna… I don’t enjoy these circumstances. I wouldn’t have chosen any of them, but I still get to choose what I’ll pay attention to while I’m walking through the mess.
I’ve found light in the laughter Jeff and I share as we move from discussing cardiology appointments to brainstorming our latest groundhog defense strategy. I’ve found it in the friends who text to check on us, the neighbors who offer advice, and the family members who quietly step in to help. Most of all, I’ve found it in remembering that every difficult season we’ve walked through has carried unmistakable evidence of God’s faithfulness.
The older I get, the more I believe gratitude isn’t pretending everything is wonderful. Gratitude is training my eyes to recognize that God’s goodness hasn’t disappeared just because life has become complicated. His presence doesn’t wait for the storm to pass. He meets us right in the middle of it.
Maybe that’s what it means to become someone whose life bears witness. It isn’t that we avoid hardship or always know the right answers. It’s that, in the middle of flooded basements, doctor’s appointments, and groundhogs with questionable real estate decisions, we keep looking for the ways God is caring for us today. We keep trusting that His light shines just as brightly on cloudy days as it does on sunny ones.
I’m still hoping we win the battle with the groundhog. I have no doubt God is winning the battle for my perspective.
Be Happy 🧡