Gratefulness

It's amazing what a person becomes thankful for in the midst of hard times. This past week was a doozie! Seth had to work out of town from Sunday until Thursday. So I had to "single mother" it again. This would not have been a bad thing except that a nasty flu bug decided to rear its disgusting little head starting on Tuesday. It hit poor Eli first. He had a fever that reached almost 104 degrees along with a cough, congestion, thrown in with a few vomits. On Friday, Josiah started showing signs that he might have caught the same bug. His poor little body had to fight off a fever that spiked up to 103 degrees. This leaves a very miserable baby. Which then leaves very miserable parents. But lest you think that I am complaining yet once again, I just have to share some of the good things that happened this past week.

-Eli is an exceptional "vomiter". He really tries to be as neat and clean as possible. Every time he did it this week, he made it in some acceptable receptacle. I can't tell you how grateful I am about this. I, who had only one great fear about having children..."What am I going to do when they throw up? I am going to end up doing it right along with them!!!"...have a son who actually cares about it as much as I do.

-At my lowest point on Wednesday evening, when Eli ran into the bathroom for the 2nd time and Josiah's evening wailing had commenced, all of this causing me to wail even louder than the boys, I literally CRIED out to the Lord. And He fed me just a spoonful of grace. Just enough to get me through the rest of the evening. It was so subtle yet so very tangible. He is just awesome!!

-My best friend came home from his work trip on Thursday afternoon and ordered me into the bed for a much-needed nap. He helped me take care of the boys for the rest of the weekend, even sitting for hours on Saturday with a feverish baby on his chest.

-And, last but not least, because of the craziness of this past week an idea began forming between Seth and me. He wants and I am not about to deny this desire, to send me away for one night all by myself to stay in a hotel and do whatever my heart desires whether it be shopping, reading, sleeping, or watching movies. For some reason, this has never crossed either of our minds. I am sure there are many "with it" mothers who probably do this every year. Well, I am ready to jump on that train! I just can't begin to tell you how wonderful that sounds to me and how grateful I am that I have such a kind husband who would facilitate it!

Ending on this note, I just have to say thank you to all of you that have been praying for me concerning my stomach. I had the endoscopy test on Friday and it did not show an ulcer. There are a few things that they are still testing but the huge praise report is this- I have not had pain after eating for over a week now! And that, my friends, is something that I am most grateful for...