Its been a long 4 weeks in our house. Every single member of our family has come down with something to compromise their health. We thought we were doing sooo good having everyone healthy going into Christmas and New Years - - we were pretty pumped about it, actually. But still humble. Then............ mid January hit. First my husband, then me, followed by our daughters, now our son. Thankfully, mine has somewhat subsided with only some minor issues but my poor husband on the otherhand seems to be on the down-ended spiral. With our son winding up with an ear infection last night with a pretty high fever I found myself looking at my husband asking him, "are we ever going to see the light at the end of the tunnel?" Its the very question many of us Minnesotans are asking ourselves and each other about the frigidly cold arctic freeze we've been handed once again this year. It just doesn't seem to let up!
I have to admit - I'm a little bit of a worry wort. Ok, a lot. Not sure where I got that from or where it stemmed from.. but I tend to 'borrow trouble' and often times its my husband who has to give me a firm kick in the bum, so to speak, to knock it off. So, when my son has a little bit of a high fever, I'm not at all relaxed when I'm hanging out with my husband after a crazy day. I'm sitting there on the couch rather tense and feeling anxious (I have a short history of anxiety, which I am faithfully working on). I husband then gently asks, "have you been getting on your knees and praying for your family's health?" What I wanted to say was "Yessss I have been praying!". But the cold hard truth was that when I'm saying prayers with the kids at bedtime, we're thanking Jesus for our health and asking Him to heal each and every symptom we're all challenged with.... but I have not taken the time to personally commune with Him on this issue. Duh. Silly me.
So instead of sleeping in my bed (where my ill husband and son are soundly sleeping), I find a spot in the hallway between my daughters' rooms where I can hear if one of them is coughing a lot and the other to catch if she tries to sneek into our bed to sleep I can catch her so she does not.
I found myself talking to the Lord about our family and our current health situation. In what feels like desperation, I am in tears praying about this and knowing full well that most things just take time to resolve it all just feels like an eternity. Even so, as I'm drifing off to sleep in my prayer mode, He's reassuring me that He hears me by reminding of His word. He hears the cries of his people and he answers. He answers them in their time of need. Thats all I needed. To know that He hears me. Isnt that all we need to know sometimes? That He hears us and that our redemption is near? He is so good.
