Seeing good in a challenging experience

If you look closely at this photo, you will see that my husband's ear is bandaged. He has skin cancer and had to have part of his ear removed. When he came home from his surgery, I reacted to the medication they put on his incision and ended up living the next week in our garage and trailer. 

Though this was a challenging situation for us, it was also a good time. One of the special moments you see in this photo of my husband and little granddaughter as we spent a morning together. We were also able to enjoy having meals together out on our patio. It was so pleasant to sit together enjoying a soft warm evening as I listened to my husband read a fun story, instead of being inside like we usually are in the evenings. Now that I had to maintain a "social distance" from my husband, I came to appreciate far more how little things like a hug added to my life. 

In these quieter times, we felt grateful that my husband, at 73 years, still had amazing stamina, and healed quickly. He also experienced almost no pain even though he had part of his ear removed and needed a skin graft. He rested well and was only a little tired. My husband also had a commercial inspection report to write and our front door to paint which kept him busy and his wound clean. 

We appreciated that our desert searing summer heat had just ended enabling us to spend some time together outside. I felt so glad that our garage, previously used for a preschool, was an attractive room with baby blue walls, lights, and epoxied floor. Since we use it for a family room, it was even furnished. Also, the day before, I had felt impressed to clean our trailer after having it open all summer. I was so grateful that it was clean and ready when I need it. I wouldn't have had the energy to do it all in one day.

Between this family room and our trailer, I had a pretty comfortable place to stay. I even had plenty to do. I could use my laptop computer to do research, write, keep in touch, and even watch movies. Taking a closer look at our garage/family room storage, I decided to reorganize our storage which is a real improvement. 

Yes, I am grateful to be back in the house with my husband whose ear is healing very well. Once again, I'm also grateful to see all those little "tender mercies" where the Lord has made a challenging situation easier for us to handle while not removing the opportunity these experiences give us for growth. My confidence has grown stronger as I've felt the Lord's help and strengthening. I know that no matter what happens, I have nothing to fear for God will always be there to help me.