These past few days, our household has been riddled with the Plague. Which in my terms, is a very unpleasant mixture of strep throat, flu, and fevers. I had strep first, Ivey had a slight fever for about a day and a half and now my poor husband is currently being pummeled with flu symptoms. I’m still recovering, so the thought of arriving home from work to take care of two babies (let’s face it…men are not the best at dealing with any sort of sickness) is less than appealing. It makes me miss being a little girl and my mom making me lay in bed in front of a good movie and covering me in a million blankets. Because, while I hated being sick, I loved the full and loving attention I received from my mom for that short while. Now that I’ve been placed in that mothering role, I realize now the anxiety that your child’s sickness can cause. When I realized that Ivey had a fever of over 101, I was flooded with panic and of course all the worst case scenarios came to mind. RSV, Croup, Ear Infection, and so on…none of these were something I was prepared to deal with and it was all I could do to not take her to the ER straight away! One dose of Tylenol and a lukewarm bath seemed to do the trick and I am astounded at the intuition my maternal instinct afforded me! That little boost of confidence went a long way in helping me to remain calm and be the mother Ivey needed me to be. Of course, I got no sleep that night as my eyes were glued to her visual monitor and I sneaked into her room every hour or so to make sure the temperature was not to hot or too cold.
As I sit here recalling these miserable hours, I am reminded of my Father and the incredible care He has taken of me during my “sick” and troubled times. I felt His presence in the darkest of times and while I may not have even wanted healing at that point, I knew He was there, watching over me, checking my temperature and administering love and forgiveness when I needed it most. I can be a very stubborn patient. It takes me a long time to get over any ailment because I refuse to follow instruction or to slow down for even a moment. When I had strep, I took extra strength Ibuprofen to dull the pain and refused to take a day off. Finally, when I was unable to drag myself out of bed one morning, I acquiesced and went to the doctor. I was of course chided in a rather demeaning way (I’d like to point out my doctor was YOUNGER THAN ME) about not taking care of myself. Still, I went back to work and sadly only took four days of antibiotics because I simply forgot. Luckily, the sickness is seeming to digress and I am starting to feel like myself more each day. That said, doctors give up on me. I’ve had several haha…none of which have deemed me an “easy” patient. God could have given up on me several times. But for whatever reason, He has stuck around and continues to remind me of His presence through Ivey, through my husband, through the written words of a friend…I know He’s still watching over me, guiding me, and ready to help me fight the sickness always looming over my weak and damaged heart. I am going to hold Ivey a little closer tonight as I rock her to sleep. And when I feel her steady breath on my shoulder, I am going to look to Heaven and thank God for her. She was my healing after two long years of incredible sickness. And she turned out to be exactly what the doctor ordered.
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