Thankfulness in the storms

Since school got out about six weeks ago, there have been many "storms".

• A dear friend's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.
• A close friend has had another recurrence of the same - the 3rd or 4th time in 8 years
• A friend shared with me that her husband of a good number of years has left her.
• A friend's fiancee (a guy I know) was arrested on serious drug charges - he'll probably be behind bars a very long time, maybe even life.
  
• Another mom I know was sentenced to jail for 20+ years for murder.
• A friend shared deeply and emotionally of a marriage that is empty and lifeless with little hope for change.
• Yet another couple may be on the verge of divorce - certainly there is conflict that is very deep and seemingly irreconciliable.
• A friend's father is dying of cancer.
• A friend's mother is at death's door.
  
• A friend is dying of cancer - but it seems he's got some time as the latest drug is staving it off for the moment.... but it's only a matter of time.
  

And there are the "little things" like flooded basements, failed crops, fighting the cucumber beetles (we seem to have won for the moment but...), losing the fight to the squash bugs, diabetes, managing the diabetes, weight issues, arguing kids, pre-teen attitudes and difficulty knowing how to parent....

I read a blog just now going thru several months of emails (deleting most of them) entitled What to Sing in Your Storms. I loved it. What perspective. What grace God gives us. I was moved and convicted by her words, "That which I refuse to thank Christ for, I refuse to believe Christ can redeem." Ouch. Thank him for these storms? These trials? The conflicts at home? The arguing kids? The broken dishes and the burnt dinners and the lost toys and the silent treatments and the rolling eyes? The hurting friends? For those who've committed crimes? The husband who left? The wife who doesn't believe? The illnesses? The cancer itself? Even death? How, Lord? How?

By your grace alone. I can't do it - only you can.

May I learn to see your grace in it all Father. Please help me to see. I am so very very blind. Please forgive me and give me a heart to thank you in everything. Eph 5:20.