Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:6-7

NBC’s This is Us has been renewed for two more seasons!  (Yippee!). But there’s a reason why this show has captivated the hearts of many, including my own. Here’s my take on the latest episode “The Big Day,” although I really missed the grown up Big Three, this prequel to the pilot episode gave us a window to peek into the depth of Dr. K’s grief over the death of his beloved while further explaining to us his “when life gives you the sourest lemon” philosophy. 

**Spoiler Alert** Don’t read if you haven’t watched the episode and don’t want to know what happens!**

“I like to think that maybe one day you’ll be an old man like me, talking a younger man’s ear off explaining to him how you took the sourest lemon life has to offer and turned it into something resembling lemonade.  If you do that, you’ll still be taking three babies home from this hospital, maybe not the way you planned.”

–Dr. K to Jack Pearson after losing one of his triplets

When we were first introduced to Dr. K, he seemed he had it all together because of the wisdom he inspires.  Fourteen months seem like plenty of time to mourn a loved one and he’s pretty up there in age so he should know how life works by now…

He’s also overqualified, highly professional, and emotionally stable to do the kind of work he does and he sold himself pretty well to the Pearsons when they found out their doctor wouldn’t be the one delivering their three babies in a high-risk pregnancy case.  His sense of humor and compassion were bonuses which made the Pearsons and America fall in love with his character.

But where there is light, there must have been some darkness preceding.  Wisdom is never uttered in a place of comfort or luxury, but it is merely found in the hearts of those who grieve and experience deep hurts in life.  If you are reading this and you find yourself in a painful situation, take heart that our most uncomfortable experiences are meant to ultimately give us wisdom.  If you don’t believe me, ask Dr.K…

Outside of the hospital, we saw a glimpse of his life.  He’s still holding on to everything his wife ever owned, including her meds, and it is evident he’s not planning to get rid of anything anytime soon.  It’s been 14 months and his family is urging him to move on with his life already.  He visits his wife at the local cemetery and talks to her as if she’s still there with him.  But that’s not the only place he talks to her, he also talks to her while having breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  He doesn’t make any plans with anyone because he’s an on-call doctor who is now married to his work beeper.

He was the last resort guy, not the doctor of choice.  Perhaps some of you see him as a supporting character, but he’s really the foundation of this series and the Pearson family we’re blessed to watch every Tuesday night.  Because of him, Kate and Kevin made it through a difficult birth and he’s the inspiration behind Randall’s adoption.  We root for this family because of Dr. K.  We cry with them because somehow they remind us of… us.

We all want to lead like Jack.

We all want to nurture like Rebecca.

We all want to be good like Randall.

We all want to be courageous like Kevin.

We all want to be accepted like Kate.

We all want to be forgiven like William.

We all want to love like Beth.

We all want to be wise like Dr. K.

But with wisdom comes the time when we must take our own advice.  Oftentimes, we give others advice we choose not to follow ourselves.  Some call this hypocrisy while others recognize it as the irony of life.  Fear is the culprit, not hypocrisy.  We fear we’re not worthy enough to overcome whatever obstacles keep us immobile, but when we give advice to others, we do so because we believe in them.  We believe they can do it, but we can’t do it ourselves because our circumstances are not like theirs.

Currently, my father is Dr. K.

He still talks to my mother, albeit he got rid of her belongings the day after she passed while it took a bit longer for Dr. K to do so.  But, listening to Dr.K brought me a sense of understanding for my father that not even he could explain to me.  Don’t get me wrong, losing my mom was devastating and I’m still processing life without her, but I can’t imagine losing a spouse, one’s partner for life.  Grief comes in many colors and shapes, but we try to match it and fit it in boxes where it doesn’t belong.  The problem lies when we choose to forsake these moments of suffering to show people how strong we are, when in reality, our weakness is in fact our strength.

Thanks to Dr. K, I was reminded of that this week.

I’ve been a Christian since my teens and for the longest time I’ve been told what a Christian must be like.

We must be resilient people.

We must never show any of those negative feelings because anger and sorrow lead us to sin, so I was taught.  But if you’re human like me, you know emotions are unstoppable, but they are still controllable.  I wish we are taught how to deal with our emotions instead of being told to repress them.

I’m still learning the lines between pride and confidence and humility.  It is very easy to forget where our confidence ultimately comes from, but it is extremely difficult to rely on our own for a long period of time because that’s when our insecurities kick in.

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”

-Proverbs 16:9

God gave me a verse a long time ago when he promised me He would give me a son, but I chose to ignore the following verse.  It was the verse when God told Abram to look up the starts and count them because, “so shall your descendants be.”  What I missed was the verse where it says that Abraham “believed the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:5-6)  God’s promises are there, but do we believe Him?  Our faith counts us as righteous in His eyes, therefore, do not lose hope when life hands us a sour lemon.

By taking his own advice, Dr. K had to believe it himself.

By taking his own advice, Dr. K chose the path of humility.

By taking his own advice, Dr. K entered uncharted waters.

He was confident Jack would take his advice and when the nurse informed him of the adoption, Dr. K went home and did what he told Jack to do.  He figured, if a younger man dared to do what he said, then he must do what he said himself.

He took the sourest lemon life offered him and he made it into something resembling lemonade.