Not On Our Own

Until yesterday I was quite proud of my immune system for blocking out all of the crazy illnesses that are so rampant in the world of a "kid watcher." Then came, quite literally, the wake up call. For the sake of your ability to eat later today I'll spare the details. Just think stomach bug and I'm sure you will understand exactly what has been going on...since late Sunday night/early Monday morning.

My mom was spending the night at my house so I could drive her to the airport early Monday morning and she went into supermom mode at the first sound of, well, you know. Despite the fact that I felt terrible, it was really quite a treat to have my mommy around for the worst part of it. Sometimes in my quest for self-sufficiency I lose sight of how truly wonderful it is to be taken care of.

All through the night my mom would wake up each time I did and she was right there to help with all the dirty details. At 5:45 AM my friend Eric drove her to the airport for me. Later in the day my friend Jane donned a pair of plastic gloves and proceeded to clean the remnants of my sickness that had been left on our front porch.
These people took care of me yesterday, and it was lovely.

It's odd though, because although the actions of these three people touched me deeply, I still spent the majority of the day feeling sorry for myself. A usual response when one is improperly disposing of everything previously eaten I'm sure, but yesterday I was not feeling sorry only about the fact that I was sick. I was feeling sorry about the fact that I was sick and alone. Yesterday I was at my weakest physically, and the one thing I truly wanted was company.

I didn't care anymore about being self-sufficient. I didn't care that someone would see me in a very gross state. I just wanted someone to be there. I felt like a little kid all day long. A little kid who was home alone (please pardon the unintentional movie pun).

My point in telling you this? Sickness led me to weakness, which led me to feel like a child, which led me to desire strength surrounding me, which led me to Christ. There it is. Yesterday I had such a need for something that no one could provide (and those who could didn't want to because, let's face it, who actually wants to comfort someone with a stomach bug at the risk of catching it themselves?). Yesterday I was incredibly weak. And yesterday I realized that my nasty sickness was a tiny display of how disgusting, helpless, and sad we are when left to our own devices.

How grateful I am that we don't have to be left on our own!

Today will provide ample opportunity to think about that, as I am feeling a bit better but made a mutual decision with my employer that we should allow one day for a buffer of the sickness to keep it from entering her home through me. So today I am, once again, alone (but not on my own:-).