Strivin' For That Mustard Seed

I'm pretty sure I have the flu.  Ugh.

It hit me like a ton of bricks.  I was sitting at my desk at school yesterday afternoon.  Suddenly, I realized my throat hurt like crazy.  So I got up to get a throat lozenge, and BAM.  The shakes, the headache, the body aches...came on with a vengeance.  My boss walked by right about then and said, "Ummm, you look terrible.  Go home."

I suppose it was inevitable.  We had 25%, or close to it absent at our school the week before last.  Out with the flu.  Both my son and my daughter had it.  Now it's my turn.  Oh joy.

So I got home yesterday.  My husband called and said he was working late.  "Please come home as soon as you can," I begged.  "I'm pretty sure I'm sick."  He promised to wrap a few things up and get home soon.  I then called and PLEADED with our local pizza place to PLEASE come out and deliver to us.  (That's one downfall to living in the country - no one will deliver.)  But this place came through for me, and I tipped BIG.  (Thank you, Frankie's Pizza.  You have a loyal customer for life.)  But the poor delivery guy basically threw the pizza in through the door and ran. I caught a reflection of myself in the mirror later and realized I looked like death warmed over.

So dinner was handled.  And, as soon as my husband got home at 7:00 or so, I went to BED.  Even the sheets hurt my skin.  Body aches SUCK I tell ya.  Later, when I got up for a drink of water and more ibuprofen at what I thought was the wee hours of the morning (but was really 8:30 that same night) I heard my kids in Lexi's room.  They were all in there praying together.

Dear Lord,

Help Mom PLEASE.  She's sick.  She's never gone to bed before us EVER so I'm pretty sure she's very very sick.  Heal her.  And whatever you do, don't let her die.  She's our mom and she needs to stay here and take care of us.  She's the only one that makes our lunches right.  And the only one that knows how we like our pancakes cooked.  And Daddy would be so sad without her.  Heal her QUICK, Lord.

In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Ooooh man.  I welled up when I heard that sweet prayer!  I made a mental note to talk to the kids in the morning to ease their fears.  No one was dying.  I was just sick.

So this morning that's what I did.  I called them in our room, and explained that I just had the flu.  I tried to reassure them by telling them that I seemed a lot sicker than I was.  I was going to be fine.  I just needed to rest for a few days.  Daddy would take over for me during that time, and everything would be fine.

They listened to me politely, and then Gage said, "Uhhh Mom?  You need to stop worrying so much.  We know you're going to be fine.  We prayed together last night and gave the whole thing over to God.  Everything is going to be ok, Mom."  And then all three went outside to ride bikes, climb trees, and lasso pigs. 

Ok then.  Wow.  I realized then, even in my flu-induced haze, that these kids have amazing faith.  I need to take a lesson from them!  I don't always have the faith they do.  In fact, I don't even have a fraction of that kind of faith sometimes.  I need to have faith like a child! 

I know these are taken slightly out of context, but I was reminded of these verses:

Mark 10:15

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Matthew 18:4

"Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

 

So there ya have it.  My deep thought for the day.  And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my kleenex, my hot tea, and my cat and go off to bed again.  Hope you all have a better weekend than I'm having.