“I don’t know if I could do what you do, handle the situation like you do, and have the attitude like you do.” These are all things that I have heard over and over from people the last nine months since the injury. At first I didn’t know how to respond to these statements because I felt like I was just being me. I have just been trying to handle the situation the best that I can, remain as positive as I can, and leave the rest up to God. The more I hear these statements the more I’ve thought about it, and have come up with a couple reasons as to why I choose to remain positive about the whole situation.
I don’t know how many of you have been around any clover but on wet years we get a ton of clover in our area. It over flows our pastures and gets thick. It looks like alfalfa, starts small and then as it grows it bushes out and gets thick. It gets really green and makes the area look outstanding. Animals love it and it’s a bonus feed for the spring. From a distance you can’t even tell that it’s clover it just looks tremendously green all over the rolling hills as far as you can see.
From Shelby and I’s house when you look across the river about a mile, on my in-laws place is where we calve our cows. For about a month as that clover popped up it turned the whole pasture a brilliant green. As green with as much clover as I’ve ever seen around here. Each afternoon I would load up my four wheeler and go with whoever was going to tag calves, usually either Sage my brother in-law, or Liane my mother in-law. I would get on my four wheeler with my rigged up handle to shift and take off. I would go around one side of the pasture looking for new babies. When I would find one I would take my sheep cane in one hand, get up beside the calf, get it hooked around the neck and pull it in towards my four wheeler. Once I got the calf pulled in and stopped, I then could could lean off the side and stick a tag in its ear. Sometimes this worked really slick, sometimes I’m sure it was quite the site to see as I chased the calf around trying to get it snagged. Regardless though I did my best to carry my weight and help out through calving season.
As the month went on the thicker the clover got in that pasture. As it started to heat up it would start to bloom and get a yellow head on it. The hotter it got the more it turned. From our house, a mile away, you couldn’t tell it was turning yellow at all. You could only see it turning as you were driving or riding through it. All of May from out our front door it still just looked green, but each day when we would go tag calves a little more would bloom. Then about the first week of June, we had a week of sunny and eighty degree weather and it turned the whole pasture a bright dandelion yellow. As far as you can see, its just rolling hills of yellow sweet clover all over.
This is kind of how I try to handle each hardship I come to. When I come to a storm and it seems like an overwhelming sense of green clover thickening all over my pastures I hold on to the sun and the heat, which represents the Lord and his word. Spending time in prayer, reading his word, and focusing on the hope that he promises us if we trust in him, will make that clover start to bloom. No matter how bad your situation is, remember it can always be worse. Therefore, if you make a habit out of finding the little things to be thankful for it will be like the clover starting to bloom. Little by little you keep finding the positives in every situation, hold on to the promises found in his word, then pretty soon it will be like when the whole pasture blooms and turns yellow. No matter how bad you think you have it when you focus on the little things to be thankful for you it will take your eyes off the mountain and put your gaze on the mountain mover!
So, to those who say “I don’t think I could handle the situation like you do” I say sure you can. We all have a choice when we wake up. We may not be able to control our circumstances, but we all can control our attitudes. Just because you’re dealt a duce instead of an ace this hand, doesn’t mean it has to affect your frame of mind on life. Just because life got a little hard for a minute doesn’t mean it has to affect your quality of life. Each morning we are all blessed with a breath of fresh air. Each morning we are blessed with a God who loves us enough that he sent his son to die on the cross for our sins. No matter what you are facing and how bad it seems God has a plan for you and there is always something to be thankful for. Remember when you are complaining that somebody out there would love to have what you are complaining about, so find the positives, trust in the Lord, and keep stepping forward.
“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
