There is no crying at Disney World.

Or at least that is what I tried to tell myself as I pushed my stroller though Epcot while tears rolled down my cheeks.  It was our 6th day at the parks and my body was giving in to rampant chills, fever and pure fatigue.

I was the last adult to succumb to the virus.  My mom and Dan had been hit earlier in the week.  Sweet Girl had been nauseated and exhausted our first couple days.  All in all, we had one good day at the parks where everyone felt decent.

Being sick on vacation is very disappointing.  All the planning.  All the dreaming . . . all the money.  How many times we shook our heads in disbelief as someone else spent days at a time in bed.  My Sweet Boy took to the fever last and at least made it home before the vomiting started.  Yes, this was our vacation.

And while I would love a do-over, there were still great moments, fun days and thrilling adventures.  Ok . .. . I do have to look through my photos to remind myself of this and I will be making a photo book very soon so we can cherish those good memories and dismiss the bad.

But even so, I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t disappointed.  Here on the blog, we try to focus on celebrating the moments because days go by quickly and children grow up fast.  We want to enjoy every day, recognizing the blessings of our lives.  Yet even with this perspective, disappointment is a fact of life.  The question is what we do with it.  How do we handle things that have not gone as we hoped, dreamed or planned?

We didn’t get to everything we wanted to do at the Disney World parks.  We were sicker than dogs at times.  We never made it to meet Rapunzel, ride Winnie the Pooh or explore Tom Sawyer’s island and his caves.  I missed dinner at Tony’s and we all skipped our lunch at Be Our Guest.  The growing list of what we didn’t do, the traditional photos we didn’t take, the park hopper tickets we wasted . . . .

Yes, it was disappointing.  But even so, we were still blessed to be there.

This was never more blatant to me than when I stood watching the pre-flight film for Soarin’ that Thursday morning.  As “Puddy” shared where to store your belongings, I noticed a young child in the next queue.  I didn’t have the chance to see if it was a boy or girl.  But what I did see was a little bald head.

Sadness overcame me.  And for the next week and even now, when I think of this child, my eyes still well up with tears.

I began to think of what this family’s life was like.  They, too, were on vacation.  But “sick” was their everyday.  There was no escaping it.  For my family, “sick” was only our time away.  I knew we’d return home and eventually everyone would slowly but surely improve.

Throughout our trip, I kept thinking back to this single verse:

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”  Job 1:21

You may be familiar with the song by Matt Redman, “Blessed Be Your Name.”  Here are the beautiful lyrics.  Click on the link to listen to it.

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s ‘all as it should be’
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Our time of being sick on vacation pales to so many others who are suffering, truly.  But it was a reminder that life here on this planet is marked with disappointment, trials and suffering.  That is why I can look forward with great anticipation Heavenward when there will be no more tears, no pain, no sickness, no loss.

Perspective changes everything.  And being able to praise the Lord no matter what the circumstance unlocks the hold disappointment can have on our hearts.

So here is what I have to say:

Celebrate every day.  Time goes by quickly.

Find joy in the moments.  Let joy defeat your disappointment.

Count your blessings.  It will remind you of how rich you truly are.

Enjoy your blessings.  Don’t be so caught up in what needs to be done or disappointments that you miss out on precious time with your little ones.

Savor the smiles.  You may need to hold on to those pleasant thoughts.

Live life.  Ride the crazy ride.  Try an adventure.  Thrill your kids.

And then at the end of the day, no matter what it has held, may we all say,

“Blessed be the Name of the Lord!”

Stop by tomorrow.  I’ll be sharing some of our favorite photos including the most hilarious shot by Dan with my mother on a roller coaster.  You’ve gotta see it!