Have you ever been in a situation that you didn’t like and then someone comes along and makes you look at it from a different point of view?
I’m not talking about those people who love to remind you that “things could be worse”. Those reminders are rarely helpful. No, I’m talking about people who look at life with so much excitement that they can turn challenges into adventures.
This recently happened to me, and it came from “the mouths of babes”.
I have diabetes. I don’t like diabetes. I don’t want to have diabetes. All the monitoring and medications and shots drive me crazy. If you know me, you know that I am not a regimented person. I like to fly by the seat of my pants and that just doesn’t work with diabetes. I resent it every time I have to test my blood and give myself another shot.
I went to visit my “littles” (the youngest of my grandkids). They are two and four, and to them diabetes-care is the coolest activity in the world. The little one, in her baby voice says, “Check you blood?” and then she adds, “Pwease?!” and looks at me with big blue eyes. If I agree that it is time, she and her brother run to get my box of supplies while yelling, “I’ll do it!” at the same time.
They look with pure joy upon all the structure that I dislike so much.
They gather my supplies and lay them out neatly. They carefully choose a finger to poke and they fight over who gets to poke it (sometimes, Nana is poked repeatedly just so no feelings are hurt). Once decided, one pokes while the other one pats my leg and says, “It’s okay, it won’t hurt.”
Putting the strip in the meter and scooping up the blood sample is fought over next and both kids write (or scribble) the numbers on my log sheet
The big excitement is who gets to give me a shot. The four-year-old is now an old pro, but I was shocked when the little one wanted to do it too. I braced myself for a slow, painful shot, but she jabbed it into me with the swiftness of a doctor and shot the medicine in.
If I let them, they would check my blood and give me insulin twenty times a day.
Seeing the joy and excitement on their faces has forced me to look at diabetes care in a different way. Sure, I may still moan and complain occasionally, but now I picture their sweet faces when it’s time to poke and shoot once again. They have turned drudgery into happy memories.
The second half of Ecclesiastes 5:19 says – “To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life – this is indeed a gift from God.”
I’m trying, Lord, and with the help of some cute little people, I just may get there.
Read more of Ann’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
