As my husband Tim laid next to me in bed with a sore throat, fatigue, and body aches, I read Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. A memoir about a Christian family who was arrested for hiding Jews in their home during World War II. Corrie and her sister Betsie ended up at Ravensbruck, a notorious women’s extermination camp.  Their living quarters of Barracks 28 was filled with broken windows, backed up plumbing, and rancid bedding. The worst of all: it was swarming with fleas. Corrie was in despair. How were they going to live there?

Faith-filled Betsie encouraged Corrie with God’s answer, “ ‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’ We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!”  Corrie needed some convincing; Betsie thanked God for being assigned with Corrie - that they could be together and thanked God for being able to keep their Bible due to no inspection. Okay, Corrie could be on board with thanking God for these things. But then…then Betsie prayed “Thank you for the fleas.” She exclaimed, “‘Give thanks in all circumstances’ …not just the pleasant ones. Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.”  I, like Corrie, knew Betsie was wrong on this one. 

  “Babe,” Tim wakes me up, “my test results came back. . . ” I wait with bated breath. “They’re positive.” My heart dropped. We had been so careful. We barely saw friends or family the past 5 months. We social distanced as we were supposed to. We did what the experts said. We even went as far as disinfecting our groceries before putting them away. But…he still got COVID. My thoughts raced. Where’d he get it? What do we do next? Did he give it to anyone? Is he going to be okay? Am I going to be okay? I don’t want to quarantine for two weeks. I can’t quarantine again. I can’t do this.  

The ten Boom sisters were the victims of some of the most evil, cruel, and torturous crimes of all history, and yet they still found reasons to praise God.

  Then I remembered Betsie. Frail, ill, God-fearing Betsie, “Thank God for the fleas.” Thank God for the fleas…So, that became our prayer, “God, thank you for these fleas. Thank you for COVID - that Tim & I get to slow down and spend more time together. Thank you for the blessings that we can’t see right now.” 

   The next night I lay in bed, with my own sore throat, body aches, and fatigue, reading about the two courageous Dutch sisters who held worship services in Barracks 28 and astonishingly, no guard EVER came in to stop them. They didn’t understand why they had so much freedom in that big room. They thanked God they could (miraculously) freely worship and read the Bible out loud. The ten Boom sisters were the victims of some of the most evil, cruel, and torturous crimes of all history, and yet they still found reasons to praise God. 

  But me? I was done. I had hit my breaking point. I had taken care of Tim for 4 days. Making his every meal. Re-filling each of his water glasses. Making copious amounts of tea. And then once we were both sick, I couldn’t handle it. I broke down crying. Yelled at Tim. Stomped my feet. Slammed our doors. And cried some more. (All the really mature stuff, right?) Then after a few hours of sulking, I knew that I had to stop wallowing in my own self-pity. It was toxic for my soul and my body, my heart and my relationship with my husband. What’s the answer to get out of this funk? The same answer God provided Betsie & Corrie. “Give thanks in all circumstances.” So again, I thanked God for our own fleas.

  With my lingering sore throat, I was reaching the end of the faith-filled story of these two Dutch sisters. Betsie finally found out why they had so much freedom in Barracks 28. Earlier that day, there was an issue that some of the prisoners called a supervisor to come and settle. But the supervisor adamantly refused to step through the door into Barracks 28. Betsie couldn’t hide the triumph from her voice: “Because of the fleas!” Wow! Betsie had thanked God for these pesky creatures before she saw the blessings they provided.

  Tim and I were flooded with blessings during our two weeks of quarantine. Our main answer to prayer: We found out it was highly improbable that either of us spread the virus to anyone else. All those we encounter on a daily basis, who decided to get tested, all received negative test results back! We were also blessed by friends and family that sent us DoorDash gift cards, picked up groceries, made us meals, and sent us special gifts to keep our spirits up. In the midst of a trying time, we (by His grace alone) thanked God for our fleas before we saw our blessings that were coming. What fleas can you thank God for in this season? 

xo,

Anna

Cover Image: Scott Yoder Photography