Serving the sickies

Life has swallowed me whole lately.  And I've been so busy I've forgotten entirely about blogging. 

That's probably as it should be since much of my efforts in the past weeks has been taking care of sickly children.  And a sickly husband too.

The stomach flu finally hit our family and it proceeded to move through each of us (EXCEPT ME!) systematically.  I'm convinced I stayed healthy due to lots of Emergen-C vitamin supplement packets and the fervent prayers of my friends.

Everyone was pretty sad as they struggled through the flu but Clive was the very worst.  Poor little peanut was so whiny and lifeless!  At first, I answered the call to serve my sickies with fervor and adrenaline.  Didn't even mind the first few times I became a living vomit absorber.  In those moments my entire being was focused on helping whoever was ailing.  I had no chance or desire to think of my personal space or cleanliness in those needy moments. 

After a few days of this, I found myself tired.  Tired of serving others and cleaning up puke.  And I allowed thoughts of self-pity and entitlement to enter my weary brain. 

And then, just waiting for me in my google reader pane was this blog post by Ann Voskamp.  The title alone is enough to remind me of the deep lesson God taught me through this tiny ordeal of sickness.  Ann's post, "When the Grind of it all makes it hard to keep going" is not a pity party.  Not at ALL.  She's empathetic to be sure but more about embracing self-sacrifice with JOY.  I won't attempt to sum up her truth-based poetic thoughts but I'll share a few sentences that hit me hard:

While the Deceiver jockeys to dupe us into thinking otherwise, we who are made in the image of God, being formed into Christ’s likeness, our happiness comes, too, not in the having but in the handing over.  Give your life away in exchange for many lives, give away your blessings to multiply blessings, give away so that many might increase, and do it all for the love of God.

Reminds me of a favorite and relevant prayer by Martin Luther:

“O God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labour, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight.”

Additionally, while my crew was in the throes of the stomach flu we learned of a 5 year old boy from our church who is going through intense physical difficulty.  He's been in the PICU for more than a month now as surgeons work on his twisted and failing intestines.  The little guy is almost done with surgeries now and is on the long road to recovery.  We've been praying for this little boy and since my own little girl is of the same age, this ordeal has been incredibly poignant for me. 

Vomited on?  Yup.  Whiny and demanding children?  For certain.  No appetites for a week?  Uh-huh.  But I count all those things as JOY when I consider the huge challenges and illnesses other children and families are trudging through. 

And I thank God that our troubles, big or small, are in His hands.  That regardless of the size of the difficulty, HE can be trusted, loved and praised.  And that He promises a proportionate amount of grace for the trouble at hand. 

How has your sickie season gone so far?