THE MIRACLE OF THE MUNDANE

By Christine Jayakaran

For far too long I have looked for big signs and wonders to deepen my faith and trust in God. This tryst with a complicated illness has left me, more than ever, in awe of my Creator and humbled by his care of me. I will never again take waking up every day for granted nor will I take doing mountains of laundry or tidying up after my children a big deal. Why, you ask? The doctors were grateful that my aneurysm hadn't ruptured as I slept or worked which in their words would have been devastating. Also when your head is pounding and you're lacking balance it's hard to do regular, simple chores at home. I couldn't clean up the kids rooms without being afraid of losing stability and crashing to the floor. I will never again take my children's feelings for granted because I watched how each of my three babies processed the news that their mummy was sick. One cried, one feigned ignorance and the other was plain rebellious. It was obvious it all stemmed from fear and anxiety. One could verbalize his feelings and worries but the other two couldn't adequately process everything so they were just quiet yet extra demonstrative with me (during their non-moody moments). I will never again take time for granted because being holed up in an intensive care unit for 15 hours does something to your mind. You lose track of night and day until you just want to be freed of all the tubes and ultra-sterility. (My heart goes out those who are chronically sick and have been in an ICU for much longer. You brave, resilient individuals have my respect.)

I will never forget the feeling of having a rice tube in my throat and a ventilation tube in my trachea all prepared for the eventuality of me suffering a stroke during the procedure. I will never take for granted the gift of my smile and mobility of my limbs which confirmed to my doctor that I was truly well with no side effects from the surgery. I will never again pity myself or my problems for there are people suffering with worse ailments and their struggle is unimaginable.

I'm a deep lover of all things family and that love only deepened during this struggle. The miracle of friendship is beyond what I ever imagined as neighbours and friends rallied around us and kept us afloat.

These are the miracles in our mundane which we could easily forget about or take for granted. I choose though to remember and to take time and cherish these sweet moments.

I hope you start to see the miracles in your mundane. Stop what your doing and just marvel at yourself and all that you have and are about. I can promise you, it will leave you surprisingly warm and fuzzy. Mostly though, it should leave you intensely grateful.