Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.  I’m clean again.  I just took my first shower in three— count them— three days.  It might even be three nights and FOUR days, but I’m trying to make it sound better for public consumption.

I’m not sure how it happened, really, how life got the best of me this week.  Or am I?

My husband and I had just returned from a week away, so I was relaxed and rested.  But re-entry comes with a price.  And that price was a sick nine-year old waiting in the wings.

I thought I would look back on my Mexico trip remembering the sun, the ocean, the beautiful restaurants and the wonderful friends.  But for the last few days, I’ve been remembering it more as a week when I could bathe at will.

It wasn’t just that normal “I have a cough” kind of sick.  I knew it from looking at Sam’s flushed face and his droopy little eyes.   He was a third-grader-down.   It was all too reminiscent of the toddler days, being up all night with a sleepless child, spending an hour in a steamy bathroom, checking and rechecking for fever, celebrating any brief time of peaceful sleep. 

During the days, we were counting the hours between medicines, eating crumbling saltines and 7-UP and propping the hot water bottle against his infected ear (an added bonus.) 

At night, I would listen for the first cough, knowing that if I heard one, it would lead to one million.

Last night, there were none.  Amen.  Hallelujah.  I am so grateful for his peaceful chest.

I once texted my dear friend Beth when I had to cancel plans because a child was sick.  I had texted something to the effect of, “Oh, how day can turn.”  Her reply has stayed with me. “And oh, how we are blessed with the flexibility to turn with it!!”  

The things we take for granted.  Sleep, showers, and the blessing that it is to care for a child.  

Dear Lord, I am grateful for a bed to lie in, even for short moments.  For hot water and for healthy children.  For those who are ill, hold them in your healing arms.  For those who need rest and comfort far more than I, may they seek it in you.   For Mexico sunshine, and for rain over Cleveland, and for good friends with wise advice, I am truly thankful.