“Every marriage has it’s good years and bad years.
We ended on a great year.”
–Robert Duvall, as Spurgeon Tanner in Deep Impact
This quote really struck me when I first saw the movie Deep Impact in 1998, mostly because I didn’t really get it. I could only assume that he meant they got along better some years than others—that some years were fraught with discord, while others were like a honeymoon. In the early years of our marriage, I pondered this quote often…until the year 2003. Sometime late in that year of disappointed hopes, when life seemed determined to batter us with bad news on every possible front, I came to understand that quote in a new way.
We’ve had two “bad years” in our almost-twelve years of marriage. The second was 2007, which began on an emotional sucker punch with the diagnosis of Down syndrome and continued through a year of hospitalizations, overwhelming familial adjustments and grieving.
As I get farther out, though, it’s easier to see the big picture. There were many times during that year when I felt I couldn’t even draw breath between one wave of bad news and the next. Embroiled and embattled, I wanted nothing more than to wipe the entire experience off the map of my life. But 2007, despite its heartaches, contained a deluge of blessings, too—moments of heart-catching beauty, moments of such tenderness and pure joy that in retrospect, it would be ungrateful to want to wipe it off the map. And besides, how much did I learn during those months?
There are two basic ways to look at pain, suffering and hardship. One is to lose faith, to curse Heaven or fate or karma, and to get angry and bitter. The other is to cling to the Rock as a lifeline while the storm lashes your face, and in between the swells, search for what is beautiful and holy and worthy of thanks. Because there’s always a lot to be thankful for—more than there is to be depressed about. In near-death hospitalizations I discovered the blessing of medical staff who care and the power of a delicious salad to buoy the spirits through a long morning of spent listening to the sound of the hospital. I learned to appreciate the chance to enjoy fresh air on a gorgeous spring day, even in the noisiest, most traffic-congested part of town. I learned the value of Christian community and what a true blessing it is simply to have our children at home. And I learned so much more about patience and faith.
In the midst of trial and pain, it’s not easy to focus on the beautiful and holy and gratitude-worthy. But I have learned that while striving to do so may not change my heart from bitterness and resentment this instant, the efforts will bear tremendous fruit down the line. There is no fertilizer for the soul like suffering. And as long as we can cling to faith, we’ll discover that in the long run, there are no bad years. Only good years waiting to come to fruition.
Today I am grateful for ordinary life:
- Rain
- Julianna’s lovely giggle
- Spiritual insights
- InSpiration
- Two boys who adore each other
- A 1 a.m. snuggle with Julianna when the wind and rain woke her
- Cricut work waiting to be enjoyed with Alex
- A good day for toilet training
- Poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and English muffins
- A 2-year-old who is so eager to help that he goes and gets out the canisters of sugar and flour without being asked, and brings them over saying, “Beah, beah” (bread).
What are you grateful for today?
Kathleen M. Basi 
This is a great perspective. I’ve often wondered why I never had the experience of losing faith or wondering where God was in the midst of my suffering and I suppose it could very well be that I was clinging so hard to it, that I didn’t have to wonder those things.
I’m grateful for many things in my ordinary life…namely my children and every ordinary experience that seems extra-ordinary in their presence and my husband who is solid as a rock.
Once again, you hit the nail right on the head with that post. We have often talked about our hardships we have had this year and as difficult as these times were, we would never trade them.
I was thinking of you this morning as I wrote…not directing it toward you, but thinking of you.
Dear Kathleen,
“There is no fertilizer for the soul like suffering.” I know that to be true. Fertilizer is stinky, but without it you do not get the very good “fruit”. This sentence alone gives me much to ponder. I have just been fertilized this past week. I’m expecting a good crop!
Thanks for the focus and clarity. I came here from Ann’s and your profile pic bid me “come”. I’m so glad I did.
Blessings,
Dawn
Oh, how grateful I am for my ordinary life, as well. It has been hard for us the past year and a half because of job losses and still struggling to find a way to earn a living but every day I feel so overwhelmed by His goodness, and how He provides and how much He cares…and how gently He reminds us again and again, whatever our ordinary life may consist of, through the simple things, to just trust Him. The ordinary-ness of some days is comforting when so many other things feel completely turned upside down. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
“There is no fertilizer for the soul like suffering. And as long as we can cling to faith, we’ll discover that in the long run, there are no bad years. Only good years waiting to come to fruition.” Wise, true words. Thank you for that and for your comment on my blog this morning. I’m grateful to have stopped by here!
Let it make you better, not bitter!!
Right now I am thankful for electricity and shelter from the storm, in so many ways. Just for today.