Happy New Year, OBM readers!

I hope your year has started off well.

Our year began with a rough patch.

Three of my baby nephews were hospitalized with a respiratory illness. Two of them being less than two months old. It was very scary, and it seemed that only bad news was coming our way. Just as things were starting to look up with the nephews, our two youngest daughters contracted the same virus, and we were soon consumed with their care.

Trevor and I were up around the clock trying to keep the girls hydrated and breathing as easily as possible. About four days into our daughters’ illness, our four-year-old seemed to turn a corner while our six-year-old went even farther downhill.

That morning, she started acting strange, so I decided to check her oxygen level with our pulse oximeter, and I was shocked to find her levels in the high 70s-low 80s. When we arrived at the ER, her oxygen was at 75, and she was starting to look a little blue. They rushed her back and got her on oxygen and an IV. We ended up spending the next 33 hours in the hospital and the next week and a half on oxygen.

Praise God

Praise God she is back to her normal, energetic, smiley, happy, beautiful self.

As any parent knows, watching your child go through something hard or life-threatening is one of the hardest parts of parenting.

Thankfulness in the chaos

Having all the worry for our children on top of complete chaos was completely overwhelming. Trying to deal with oxygen tanks and hoses with stuff everywhere felt like an insurmountable challenge.

I felt like everything was out of control and over the top.

With all those emotions swirling around, the one thought I kept having was be thankful.
I felt as if the Lord whispered this message to me.

“Be thankful your daughter is alive. Be thankful you have access to good medical care. Be thankful you have insurance. Be thankful you have a house to be messy. Be thankful you have a God who walked by your side through all the scary stuff. Be thankful you are counted worthy to suffer. Be thankful, daughter, because I love you, and I am more than enough.”

“Consider it pure joy……when you face trials.” James 1:2

Fully believe that thankfulness is the key to a happy life. When you’re constantly looking for things to be thankful for, you will find them! The reverse is also true. If you’re always looking for the negative or the insult or the injustice- you will ALWAYS find it.

Proverbs 12:16 “The vexation of the fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.”

I have often struggled with feeling insulted and slighted by comments that may or may not be intended as offensive. If I am honest, I would have to say that the vast majority of what I have chosen (yes, I said chosen) to be offended by has not been intended to be hurtful by the other person.

Why? Why would I want to be hurt? Why would anyone? Well, it usually boils down to pride. We want everyone to respect us, delight in us, agree with us, and think we are the best thing since sliced bread.

Ultimately, we want to be like God. We aren’t content and thankful for what we have and what God is doing in and with our lives. Much like the first woman, Eve, we are always looking for more, more, more! More respect. More praise. More stuff.

Well, I have said,” ENOUGH!” I have enough, and my God is MORE than enough!

I am so thankful and excited to share that my family’s 2024 New Year’s focus will be thankfulness in all things. Good things. Bad things. Fun things. Hard things. ALL things.

I invite you to join me on my thankfulness journey this year. Check out the FREE printables below for a 7-day and a 30-day thankfulness challenge template to help get you started!

I Thess. 5:18 “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Meet Mollie

Mollie is a lover of Jesus above all. She loves her husband and family and enjoys gardening, teaching, piano, riding, and farming. She lives in SW Colorado with her husband and five kids.