(photo credit: inkwellinspirations.com)
Today I'm sick. I have lost my voice and have struggled all day to communicate to my children using large gestures, finger snaps, and whistles. But worse than me being sick is seeing my littlest fight the same bug. His fever is high and his little head is miserable in all ways: stuffy nose, watery eyes, sore throat, and headache.
He spent much of the day snuggling on my lap today. Every so often I'd try to coax some liquid into his mouth despite his protests. But for the most part we sat in silence. Me due to laryngitis and he due to pure exhaustion.
At one point this afternoon, just about the time that his meds were wearing off, I heard his whines change to a familiar sound. My little one year old began singing "Hallelujah". He closed his eyes, raised his arm, and offered praise to his Maker. After a few times through, he looked at me and clearly expected that I would sing along. Normally, this is our routine, but today I had little voice to be able to join in. His insistence won out though, and I quietly croaked out hallelujahs with him.
Moments before, I had been the picture of patient motherhood. But inside I had been a complaining, whiny mess. While my baby whined outwardly, I whined in my mind. "Why now? I have so much to do!", "Are we ever going to finally be healthy again?", "How am I to speak at a baby shower, attend a prayer service, and bring a meal to another family tomorrow when THIS is what my day will be like?", "Lord, I thought you called me to these things, and now you've left me here to wallow in runny noses and complaining children!"
And then ... "Hallelujah!"
There was my little one reminding me, forcing me to praise the Lord.
We are sick. This is not the norm for us. Hallelujah!
I may have to miss events tomorrow. There are many ready to jump in and pinch hit for me. Hallelujah!
Germs abide in our house. Clorox wipes do too. Hallelujah!
We missed a day of homeschooling. We watched several shows connected to our studies on India that I've been having trouble fitting into the schedule. Hallelujah!
I am cooking for someone else tomorrow. Because of their dietary needs, I had planned a very simple soup that's a cinch to make. And, it's not us needing the meals. Hallelujah!
I fuss about sitting on the couch cradling a feverish baby. The videos we watched depicted families sitting on dirt floors cradling dying children. My situation is not so bad. Hallelujah!
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! - Psalm 8:2-9
Hallelujah!
