The Little Boy Who Changed Me

Today I had my first grad school melt-down of the semester.  I was feeling stressed, angry, lost, and exhausted all at the same time.  I don't feel like I can keep up with everything on my plate and I feel totally incompetent to fix these little kids who are having trouble talking.  It was just all together not good.  However, the whole time my mind kept going back to a little boy I met in the hospital today.

This little boy, only 8 years old, was in the burn unit of the hospital and his whole body was wrapped in bandages except for his face.  He laid there completely out of it holding onto his mom who was staying here from St. George where her other 5 children were.  His dad was here with him as well.  This little boy is hurt, in pain, and his life has been forever changed....and I am complaining?

Sometimes it is so difficult to take a step back and think about the bigger picture of life when you are feeling sorry for yourself, no matter what the reason, but we really always should.  When I met that little boy I cried for the first time since I have been going to the hospital on Sundays.  This sweet innocent little boy is being faced with something I can not even imagine going through and without even saying a word he changed my outlook on life.

While I was standing in his room I was overcome with a feeling of love and peace and I realized that my little issues are nothing compared to his.  I realized I need to be grateful for what I have instead of whining over what I feel like I can't do.  I realized the love our Heavenly Father has for each and every one of us, no matter how big or small our trials are.  And I realized that there is beauty all around us in this life if we would just stop and look around every now and then instead of being so caught up in everything we have to get done right now.