my kids are uncomfortable...and that's okay

Romans 5:3-4
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope

My kids have the chicken pox.  They are uncomfortable. A few would say they are miserable. Most definitely they are bored. Itchy. All suffering from cabin fever.
Something I've been thinking about since going through this with my children, is:
As a society, we are removing everything that makes our kids uncomfortable.

The flu, a toy they want at that exact moment, car rides without a DVD playing or iPad in hand, having to sit and patiently wait their turn, church service, all things that are often uncomfortable for kids. Often boring. And sadly, very few kids are experiencing these things.

We are removing the very things that help teach our children perseverance, endurance, and patience. Most definitely, having our children happy makes us happy. I get that. But, by catering to every whim, and preventing all forms of discomfort, what are we teaching them?
What they are learning through those experiences of discomfort are things like: patience, endurance through pain, gaining strength in enduring a trial, using their imagination, and how to hold their bodies still. 
In trying to make them comfortable at all times, we are raising self-absorbed, narcissistic future generation who crumble at the first hint struggle or discomfort. It's true.

My fellow mommies, how does our witness carry in all of this? If we cannot teach, guide, and train our children through these small discomforts, how will we ever teach them to endure hardships for the faith? How does it show them the grace and strength you now possess because of past refining, as you hold your child one more time as their head aches, rub their back for the hundredth stroke while they throw up, or answer one more question when all you want is silence?
Not only is it refining for them, it's another stage of refining for you. To pray with them as their body aches, talk to them about why they can't have that new toy just because they want it, praise them as they work through something humbly and with endurance, and most of all, pray with them.

As I watch my children work through the chicken pox, I see them persevering through pain, learning how to endure and have patience as the virus makes its way through and out of their bodies. I've been given the opportunity to pray with them when their attitudes were anything but right, and let them watch me pray, when my attitude was anything but right.
These opportunities of discomfort, although oftentimes completely inconvenient in our mind's eye, are anything but.

Next time these inconvenient blessed opportunities happen (as Martha Peace calls them, 'providently hindered', link for the book at the bottom of the page)  take the time to teach them to praise the Lord that their bodies are capable of healing, for medicine that helps them feel better, to thank the Lord  continually for friends that drop off popcicles. The teaching opportunities, both for you and for them, or endless.


http://www.amazon.com/Faithful-Parent-Biblical-Raising-Family/dp/1596382015/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1432516078&sr=8-8&keywords=martha+peace