Miracles and Gratitude

My toddler son and wife were playing baseball, and my son hit a ball that subsequently hit my 6 year old daughter in the eye. The ball was soft and plastic, but it hurt my daughter and she immediately began crying. My daughter went to my wife to be comforted and when she did she passed out. 

I was getting ready for work and heard my wife screaming for me. When I made it to the living room my daughter was crying in my wife’s arms. My wife explained to me what had happened and then told me she felt like my daughter had a seizure. My daughter was scared and crying but didn’t seem critical. 

I made some phone calls to some medical resources and my wife made my daughter an appointment with our pediatrician that morning. While we did all of this my daughter seemed ok, so reluctantly, I went on to work.

I was incredibly worried and anxious at work. I alternated between praying, worrying, and making feeble attempts to get anything done at work. I was tracking my wife’s cell phone location to confirm when she made it to the doctor’s office. In retrospect, there was no reason for me to be at work, I was crippled with fear. 

My wife immediately called me after the appointment. She told me the doctor said our daughter most likely did not have a seizure, but fainted due to the pain and emotion. Basically, everything was ok. I was massively relieved.

The strange thing was, the feeling of relief was shortly followed by a “back to business” mindset. In a way, I felt like my worry and prayers were unnecessary and  wasted on such a trivial matter…it never crossed my mind that God may have explicitly answered my prayer. 

What sort of sign would I need to be grateful to God? How “extreme” does the event need to be before I recognize it as a true blessing and thank God?

This event was the tip of the iceberg that made me realize I severely lacked gratitude and that gratitude and miracles walk hand-in-hand. Without gratitude, nothing is miraculous and, to be quite honest, nothing in life palatable. 

I've heard the virtue of gratitude preached, but, more importantly, I have seen the lack of gratitude manifest in people. It is a sad state. While gratitude may not be the key to life, the lack of gratitude is the key to misery. If we recognize every day as a gift, and nothing less than a miraculous gift, the contents of the day are equally miraculous and give reason for humans to be extremely grateful for all things. 

I plan to rejoice in the simple things, recognize the "common" miracle, and strive to be filled with gratitude in every situation. 

"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."-1 Thessalonians 5:18