Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

After the week I just had I feel like this needs to be my go to verse for awhile. This past week has definitely been a struggle for me and too often I found myself frustrated instead of looking to God, being thankful, and rejoicing in my circumstances. 

The week started off with a super unhelpful doctor's visit. Roman's 6 week check up. Many of you know from reading previous blogs that we have had quite the ride so far with Roman. Many sleepless nights with a very unsettled baby. I found myself asking the doctor and health visitor several questions, but not getting any answers. 

Then my computer crashed. The hard drive on my 7 month old MAC crashed.

Then we had a wedding on Saturday which Roman decided to scream through so I missed most of it.

That night continued down this path with Roman screaming from 2:30-5:30 in the morning and mom and dad getting about 2 hours of sleep from 6-8am.*Side note Roman has been waking up at 2:30 in the morning most nights screaming in pain. So for our friends in the states if you think about it at 8:30pm your time say a prayer for Roman and for Ben and I to have patience and strength to comfort him.

To top it all off Monday night we got on the wrong train and spent an hour both ways traveling to Kilwinning. Of course we would get on the train that's first stop is 30 minutes away.

Tuesday night I was finally going to be able to go to small group again, but Roman had is vaccinations and was frantic up until the point I had to leave.

So this blog may sound like just a lot of complaining, but what I wanted to highlight was that after this week of unfortunate events, God never once turned his back on me. Yea the week was hard, emotionally difficult more than anything, BUT God did not leave us. After this week we have had an outpouring of support from our Harvest Glasgow family from offers to watch Roman, to meals, and gift certificates for date nights. With all this said-God hears us when we cry out to him and has compassion on us according to his steadfast love. Through all the struggle we can have joy and give thanks because God is refining us to be more like his son. 

 God redeemed each of these situations.Not that he had to to be worthy of my praise, but he did because that's what kind of God he is. A compassionate God who deeply cares for his children even in regards to the small things. 

My computer is still under warranty so is being fixed for free. We had a great reminder that marriage is not about us, but about reflecting Christ's love, got to see my boys all dressed up in kilts, and got some great family pictures. A friend offered to take Roman all day Sunday so Ben and I could spend some time together and catch up on some sleep. We had an extra hour and a half of relaxation on the train while Roman was quiet and content-he loves the movement of the train. And instead of going to small group Roman slept and I got to spend some quality time with a friend reading the Word and encouraging one another. So these situations may not have gone exactly as I had planned, but God blessed me through each of them and I am thankful for these hidden roses amongst the thorns.