Mayo 2026: Gratitude in difficult times

Dear friends,

Sometimes our yoke is not easy, and the burden is not light. This has been my reality in recent weeks. On April 5 it was my turn to care for my parents and everything had been fine. Easter Sunday had passed very quietly. However, in a few seconds all that changed, when my mom fell and ended up with a double hip fracture.

Twelve days later my mom came home, after surgery on her left hip. I left the hospital with my mother and a list of medical recommendations to follow, adjustments to make at home, new distributions of assistance and accompaniment for my siblings. It has been a time to learn to mobilize, to bathe, to care, to make decisions that are not always easy. Suddenly, yes, the dynamics of the whole family have changed.

In the midst of all this rollercoaster of emotions and actions, I have learned and remembered some things that are important to me: that it only takes a second for the world to turn upside down; that one is never prepared for the unexpected. That, although the Bible says that I have a shield of faith, I don’t always know how I should use it because faith is not a matter of just speaking and everything is solved; for that faith to be set in motion I must do my part. That to advance one step further every day, teamwork is essential. That, in times of crisis, in order to make the yoke easier and lighten the burden, we must all deny ourselves a little and think more about the needs of others.

Still, God’s presence is constant, and I can see it in the small details. When I see a rested look on my mom’s face at dawn because she’s had a good night’s sleep; when she advances a little more in an exercise that is difficult for her; when the clinic assistant helps us by providing an ambulance to take us to a hospital appointment; when at nightfall we can thank God for one more day of strength and work done. I thank God too for the excellent care provided by all the staff at the hospital. It is a great blessing to know that in Costa Rica we have a high-quality universal health care system. Those are the small miracles of life where God is present to “hug” us and tell us that, although the yoke is not easy and the burden is not light, we are doing well.

This is not a story of the unforeseen things in life, but rather a small look at our everyday lives.  When it suddenly seems to us that life is getting out of hand, we learn to see the small miracles that motivate us to go one step further every day. I thank God for the opportunity to express to you some of my feelings and thoughts in times when things are not so easy.

With gratitude for your prayers,

Ruth Vindas