Better Get Your “C”

“You sound like you’re getting sick. Make sure to get plenty of vitamin C.”

Everybody has heard that before. Most of us have no idea why vitamin C would help us to stay healthy, but we have quietly adopted it into our belief system. Supplements, orange juice, or
fresh fruit – it doesn’t matter how you get your C – just get it.

Nobody wants to get sick. If there is a simple way to avoid the fever, coughing, nausea, aches, and pains, then bring it on. Take no chances.

When a virus invades your body it initiates a series of responses.  They can come fast and furious. The same body that was bouncing along on top of the world can seem like a prison within a few hours. It can become impossible to continue your daily schedule as all attention turns inward in a battle for control.

In ways, my soul feels like it is going through cold and flu season. I am being exposed to things that I know can bring me down. This season’s flu strain for my soul is my mom’s declining health. The emotional pain that can cause is capable of sending me into overload. My crippled soul can mirror my body’s response to sickness.

I need some vitamin C to keep that from happening.

Thankfulness is the preventive measure for my soul. I need to start each day taking 1000mg of gratitude. That joy can keep my spirit from becoming sick.

When my soul is under attack and God seems far away, I need visible reminders that he is with me. When the suffering seems to serve no purpose, evidence of his love can keep me healthy. When attacks threaten to overwhelm my spirit, his love is my protection.

Just like vitamin C is on every supermarket shelf and easy to find, the proof of his love surrounds me. My daily dose is ready when I wake up each morning.

The beauty of a sunrise reflects the hand of an artist. No big bang could yield a perfect magnolia blossom. I know that God is real because I can see his handiwork all around me.

The liquid gold in a cup of hot coffee and the intoxicating smell of bacon weren’t created for his joy.  The explosions of flavor didn’t come from some distant artist.  He created my ability to enjoy these things because my joy is important to him.

The blurry smile on my wife’s face each morning when she comes downstairs to see me and the overload of joy from my dog, Tarzan when he sees me both come from a Father who wants love to fill his children’s lives.

The sound of a few notes prepares my heart for the music that follows. Within seconds, the past and present are woven together as my mind races across time to find a connection so specific that it could only come from a God who was present in all of my life.

The steam of a hot shower on a cold morning envelopes me and releases the tension in my muscles. As the water runs down my back and chest it seems to embrace me in a special way.

There are a thousand more gifts just like these that await me every morning within the first few minutes. All I have to do is receive them and thank the one who gave them to me. That simple action releases a peace that guards my soul.

I still don’t know why people I love have to suffer. I still don’t understand the bad things in this world. But the constant stream of proof of a present God reminds me that I am not alone. The intimacy of each act of a loving Father comforts me and brings me peace in knowing that it is going to be OK.

Maybe more than OK. Today may hold more than an everyday miracle.

I’m going to take my vitamin C and go find out.