Thursday, January 17, 2013

To be blessed in the midst of it

Two of my boys were sick last week on Wednesday and Thursday.  That's pretty typical of sickness in our house.  If we get something, and occasionally we do, it  doesn't hit too hard and it goes away fairly quickly. So, no big deal.


On Friday, I took my hubby to have the meniscus in his knee repaired.  A pretty easy surgery to recover from, if you spend the first four days on the couch with ice on it 24/4.  Again, no big deal.  I loaded up the fridge and had plans to stay in all weekend to care for my man and do a thorough cleaning on the house!  I was looking forward to being home and getting much accomplished.  

However, other plans were being made for me!  

While at the surgery center I could feel the start of a cold in my lungs.  I am all about food as medicine and anything homeopathic and natural that I can use to fight invading cells, but I had nothing with me! Which is unfortunate b/c the sooner you attack, the more likely you are to succeed.  So I just sat and let it fester!! Ugh!

I take pride (right there is the problem already!! PRIDE!! Ugly, foul, nasty thing!!) in the fact that we aren't sick much and attribute it to our lifestyle.  We exercise and do our best to feed our machines with the best fuel for the buck!  While certainly not perfect, we do pretty good! (See 100 days of real food and you'll get the idea.)   Anyway, such an arrogant little fool I have been to think I would be completely immune to such attacks!!

I got nailed! Hit by a freight train on it's way out of town, and drug all the way out to the woods, through a cold, dark, dank tunnel full of sleeplessness, coughing spasms, headache and nausea. And then left for dead!  


Don't I look it!?  That's the view my family had of me all week.  

And this...


...is the view I had of them.

Sadly, this is the same weekend, remember, that I was going to impress my man with just how attentive and caring I could be, while at the same time accomplishing the greatest feat of the American woman with multiple kids at home - a clean HOUSE - not just one floor or one room - I'm talking the WHOLE house!!!!!

This did not happen.... 

Instead, in the midst of my miserable discomfort, cloudy vision, and aching head, I was very humbled and blessed by the love and care of others!!  

I could barely stand, let alone help my hubby with anything! So the kids did! 

Guess who learned how to make soup!



I kept saying "no" to offers from friends who wanted to bring over dinner, until one friend insisted and said she'd be here at 5.  And Wow! Did she bring dinner!!

Imagine this....

...loaded chock-a-block full of food - fruit plate, veggie plate, dessert, jello, roasted chicken, little gift baggies for each boy containing juice box, hot chocolate mix, and a packet of popcorn. Plus, b/c there wasn't enough room in the box, a hot dish of homemade mac n cheese!!!  This woman knows how to love on a family! The kids ate ALL the veggies and fruit and powered through all they could eat like they had never tasted such exquisite food! There was so much food we had a main dish for two nights!! AND... to top it off, a card blessing me and my family with such thoughtful and kind words! 

Tears.  I was overwhelmed by the abundantly generous gift!

That night I get a text from my brother who lives a half hour away...  "breakfast, lunch and dinner on the front porch" - or something like that.  And sure enough... two Whole Foods bags full of soup and salad, a blackberry crumble coffee cake, OJ, and paper bag lunches full of foods my kids love!  

Again... overwhelmed!

Then my sister dropped off her favorite soup in a little bowl just for me!!

Will others' thoughtfulness never cease!!

I kept thinking, "it's just a cold!  I'll be able to make dinner tonight, or  breakfast tomorrow...",  And really, I probably could have, if their lives depended on it - very poorly, I might add. But then, friends wouldn't get to bless, and kids wouldn't learn to cook and care, and a family wouldn't get to experience the pure overwhelming gratitude and humble acceptance of such rich gifts!  

More friends kept praying and many offers kept coming for food or groceries,  to which I continued to say "no thank you", until I really did want more OJ.  So I accepted an offer from a dear friend who dropped my request at the door with her own little, cheerful touch!


A little bright, in my dark! A little color in my monochrome!

And today, I think I am headed to the light, out of the woods, and back to myself.



I cannot thank my friends and family enough for their prayers and kindnesses! They opened my eyes to the gratitude and relief others might feel when they receive dinner from me!  They shamed me to think of the times I knew a friend was sick and I didn't do a whole lot about it! They humbled me, inspired me and blessed me! 



The kindness we experienced did far more than feed my family.... it fed our souls!