Weakness

My grace is sufficient for you 

for my power 

is made perfect in weakness. 

2 Corinthians 12:9

I had this verse in my blog header for a long time & it is really one of the theme verses for my blog...I'm not perfect, life isn't perfect...there is only One who is...
But, boy, I learned a lot about weakness this past week. I'm thankful though that we are never brought to a place of weakness when God doesn't already have a plan in place to pour out His grace...
We have had a full week of sickness at our house. Not just any sickness, the dreaded flu. And it is still hanging on...child #4, our eldest, who held out for so long that I thought we were going to be okay...but Saturday afternoon all of a sudden he was not feeling so good & by that night was running a temp of 102.6...and now he has missed 2 days of school already (though we are hoping he's back tomorrow!) but I think that brings the total to, like, 9 of the last 11 school days I have had someone home sick!
But back to weakness for a minute...Sophie was the first hit last Saturday evening when we returned home from that delightful baby shower...started with a complaint of a sore throat, no energy, headache, then fever, chills, tummy ache (but thankfully we have been vomit-free!!), cough, aches. She slept all day Sunday, barely moving from my bed at all. Monday was much the same, so we called the doctor first thing in the morning...the earliest appointment available was at 3:00pm! Jeff took her to the doctor because I didn't want to expose all the other kids to all the germs...soon enough they were back with the diagnosis, flu (though they didn't do the actual test for it) and they only Rx...rest & fluids. And all the rest of us could do was wait...to see who would be next...and it was actually me :-( and Darcy, and then Drew, and still me...the kids were seeming to bounce back fairly quickly with rest & fluids, but I was laid-out! And, unfortunately, when Mommy gets sick, the world doesn't stop...there is still homework, and lunches to make; laundry & dinners to cook (or pour out of the cereal box!) I started running a fever on Monday night & while it fluctuated, it did not finally break until the wee hours of Saturday morning. (Prior to this week, I don't think I have had a fever in at least the last 10 years.) I was achy, I was sore, I was weak, I was exhausted, I was grumpy...I had plans & lists & projects, I cried. But God was gracious to me! So while I cared for sick kids at home, I was able to stay in bed a lot because my wonderful husband put on the hats for chauffeur, cook, shopper, cleaner, lunch-maker, paper-signer...on top of all of the other hats he wears daily. God is good!
Via electronic means, a slew of friends encouraged, prayed & offered help (which I was reluctant to accept at first, why is that)...a friend brought dinner (and flowers!) on Friday, much needed nourishment for all of us! Friends brought kids home from school, so that Jeff didn't have to keep leaving work.
I prayed for myself & the baby, I prayed for Jeff, I prayed for our family, I prayed for others the Lord brought to mind, I prayed for families I do not know who this week faced devastating losses of daddies & mommies & children (boy, hearing those stories sure put my comparably minor illness into perspective.) I cried.
I thought about what I would write on my blog & had it worded much more eloquently several days ago in my mind (perhaps I write better in a feverish state?)
I would like to say that my kids rallied around & brought me tissues & juice & while playing quietly, but they are kids...and they need things, too. They wanted a snack, or TV, or to play a game or a snack, or did I mention something to eat? One morning after breakfast, I did set out the play-doh...Drew was in his high-chair & Sophie & Darcy were home & they did play for at least an hour or more! When Drew wasn't feeling well, he napped a lot which was a tremendous blessing. But then there was the time that I was trying to rest & one of the girls was playing with Drew...he had not been up long from his nap when he came into my room saying, "Uh-oh Mommy, hands! Uh-oh Mommy, FEET!" At first I thought he had blue marker on his hands...as he came closer to the bed, I could see & smell that it wasn't marker...it was blue sparkly toothpaste! Thankfully I don't think he ate any...he just squeezed a full tube (trial size, whew!) out onto the carpet in the girls room...and then walked through it & through half of the house! So I had to spring out of bed...try to imagine a beached whale "springing"...to wash Drew's hands & feet, change his clothes & I will admit I did not clean up the toothpaste all over the carpet...I just closed that door until Jeff got home! (LOVE him!) I think that was the same day that the dog pooped on the carpet, but I could be wrong...some of the days have blurred together.
By Friday afternoon, I was exhausted, cranky, could not breathe at all through my nose, my head felt like a cement filled balloon, the kids were bickering & not wanting to help one another or me in any way....and I was at the end of my rope...(One big take-away from the week is that we seriously need to work on putting others first more diligently...we have a serious case of the "I WANTS" going on over here!) I cried more, really, I sobbed. (This actually caught the attention of my girls, who came running into the room asking, "Are you crying?" so they proceeded to sit by me & rubbing my back for a few minutes wondering what was wrong with mommy.)
But that was the night we had dinner ready to go, thanks to a dear friend...and Jeff came home (I guess I shouldn't leave out the part where I texted him & said my temp was rising by the hour & to please come home!) he gathered the kids, closed the door to our room, fixed the dinner, got the kids to bed, did the laundry, cleaned the kitchen & basically just rocked! He brought me dinner in bed & went to the store for Tylenol. And while he was there went ahead & picked up the necessary snacks to take for our Sunday School class treats on Sunday!
Then on Saturday he got all of the kids out of the house before 10 am and I (finally) had a day of pure, blissful, quiet rest! All day! (And a huge shout-out to Celia who also showed much grace by keeping 3 of the 4 kids all day while Jeff & her husband, Jason, worked on pine-box derby race cars for this week's Awana Grand Prix race.) What grace! I rested all day. I didn't read magazines, I didn't blog...I did clean the kitchen, eat some lunch & do a little work, but then I went back to bed.
And it was wonderful, and needed, and truly, truly helped me turn the corner.
And so when they all came home on Saturday evening, and Jack was starting to feel ill, I knew we would make it through...I still felt pretty bad, but God's strength was indeed proved, over & over again, perfect in my weakness & I knew that He would continue to carry us through...through another Sunday morning at home instead of at church, and a busy Sunday afternoon catching up on all of the Valentines that we were supposed to be making throughout the week, through a busy week of Valentine parties and kids still home from school sick, and Awana races & doctor's appointments, and room painting & rearranging, and nesting & organizing,...and even if it doesn't all get done before Lucy arrives, He will still be sufficient!
Can I get an Amen?!?
(Sorry for the post with no pictures...I didn't take any for over a week, but fear not...I have been busy snapping the last few days & have more fun posts to show you soon! Thanks for bearing with me!)