This weekend I heard a speaker say several times, "There's nothing better than. . ." It struck me as ironic that so many things could have that statement applied to themselves. I only say this because we use phrases like that so much of the time.
For example, I want to start this post by saying that there is nothing more pathetic than a sick child. There probably, in fact, is something more pathetic, but it has not seemed this way for the past week as Matthew has been sick for the first time. Poor little guy. On the bright side, he is a lot more snuggly with Karina and I when he is sick, and you can't beat that (I just did it again; another one of those phrases).
I know he is just a little guy (15 months old), but I have found myself praying that God would teach him something about perseverance through his time of sickness. James 1 talks about God's intention to grow us in perseverance through trials, and I don't see why God couldn't teach Matthew something about this, even at his age. It has also struck me that I am not a man marked by perseverance. I desire to be, and it has helped me to begin to view even the smallest of trials and inconveniences as God's way of growing me up and helping me endure.
It is good to remember that God has our best in mind, and that his intentions toward us are good. It gives a whole new paradigm for trials, temptations, and all of life.