A Month of Thankfulness Day 14

Do you ever have situations or circumstances happen in your life that bring back a vivid childhood memory?

This very thing happened to me yesterday.

Andrew had a mild case of poison ivy on his face, and it was spreading awfully close to his right eye.  It was obvious when he woke up yesterday morning that a doctor's visit was in order.

When I was in the 4th grade (a really difficult year for me might I add), my brother and I both had a nasty encounter with poison ivy.  It would be an understatement to say that we are both highly allergic.  I had huge, nasty blisters between a lot of my fingers.  It was miserable!  Michael, my brother, had it on his face incredibly close to (if not in) his eyes.  My wonderful parents had to make an agonizing decision.  They could only afford to take one of us to see the doctor, and even then it was a financial stretch.

Side note:
A business decision left them in an overwhelming amount of debt.  In fact, they were encouraged by many to file bankruptcy.  They prayerfully decided to take the hard, usually untraveled road of climbing out of debt one hard earned dollar at a time.  Needless to say, money was extremely tight for several years.  I am happy to report that they have now been debt free for many, many years.

Even as a young child, I understood their decision to take Michael.  This is my earliest memory of sacrificing for the betterment of someone else.

As I look back, I am so very thankful for this opportunity.  It is one example of how God used an uncomfortable stiuation in my life to mold me into the person that I am today. 

I am thankful for my parents who faithfully took responsibility for their choices and debt.  They taught me the value of a dollar, the value of hard work, the value of personal sacrifice, and the burden of debt.

I am thankful that we had the money to take Andrew to the doctor.  If we hadn't, my parents (without a doubt) would have made it happen.