What Cross Are You Carrying?

For the last couple of months the weeks have just flown by. With the holidays and then the baby shower I hosted, my life was out of control. Every week I would think, "next week will be better or easier." That never happened as the stress just kept mounting. This week we had two momma dogs have puppies. The first one breezed through labor and delivery and so far the puppies look amazing. The other dog went in to labor but had complications, so I spent most of Wednesday in the vet's office while they did a C-Section on her. There were seven puppies, four of which were born with various birth defects and died. The other three were born with some issues with breathing, as we think they are a little bit premature. They have been staying with a friend who has experience with these kinds of issues with feeding puppies born too soon. This morning as I went out to feed my flock I was reflective of this week and my life in general. Why is it that sometimes things go as planned and everything works out and other times we have these trials that seem to come out of nowhere? Spencer called the other day and is not going back to the Patriots. He had a two year contract but that doesn't mean anything in the NFL. So now they need to make some important decisions. Hopefully this will get them back to the West where it would be easier to go visit them. He is smart and I know he and Annie will get an opportunity to move on, no matter what that may be. I never have liked the Patriots anyway, so I'm happy as can be. As I think of all the problems in the world and even within my own family, I wonder "why" do we have these challenges? I found this little book while unstacking my sitting room. It is called "The Power of Adversity." As I read I came upon a section called, "There is Power in Laboring under Your Cross." "What kind of cross do you bear? What is its shape, weight, size, or dimension? We all have them. Some are very visible, while others are not always evident. Sometimes the heaviest personal cross could be to carry no cross at all. Some of the crosses we bear are these: the cross of loneliness; the cross of physical limitations--the loss of a leg, an arm, hearing, seeing, mobility--obvious crosses. Maybe the cross of poor health; the cross of transgression; the cross of success; the cross of temptation; the cross of beauty, fame, or wealth; the cross of financial burndens' the cross of criticism; the cross of peer rejection. Anyway at the end he says, "Carry your crosses with strength, with purpose, and while you do, count the blessings of God's strength." Marvin J. Ashton. So we are all here to suffer under some kind of cross, now being of good cheer is a little bit harder for me to do, but I'm trying really hard.