Redemptive suffering & my husband, my hero

As for the first, this illness has really kicked my butt. I am no good at suffering. I can "offer it up" for about 2 minutes, as I try with all my might to stop focusing on how completely miserable I feel and pray for the grace to suffer well and pray for those in need of prayer. I have about as long as that thought takes until I'm right back to self-pitying misery. "Offering it up" only seems feasible AFTER the meds have kicked in. I may not feel like myself, in fact I may feel like a drugged, dizzy, exhausted, water-logged version of someone similar to me, but at least I'm not in pain. So now I can "offer it up." Really impressive, I know.

On Friday I was on the upswing and I was looking forward to Saturday when I was sure I would feel even a bit better. Much to my chagrin, Saturday found me downhill, again. This time it was fever/aches/chills, sinus pain/pressure and ear pain that went from bad to worse through the day. I went to urgent care in the morning and was told I had a sinus infection (no surprise there as my kleenexes all looked like they'd been used to wipe up a hot-dog condiment station,) and fluid in my right ear, but no infection. So, finally, I was put on antibiotics. I was told that if I still feel like this in 10 days, I'm to refill the perscription, and in 20 days if I still feel awful, to go see my doctor. Great. Well, lets hope for the best and not a 20-day marathon of "offering it up" practice!

As for the fever and pain, extra-strength Tylenol and Sudafed have done the trick. (Sometimes I wonder how I made it through nursing school. I'd been avoiding Sudafed, like an idiot, b/c I'm nursing Lydia and didn't want to affect my milk supply, and couldn't think straight enough to realize that it would decrease the pressure as well as dry up the congestion). Mark was rightfully shocked to discover that I hadn't tried it yet. Well, needless to say, it worked. So, I still have all my symptoms, but very little actual pain, Praise the Lord! I am sooo thankful for modern medicine!

God must be dumping Niagara Falls amounts of grace on Mark because he's been A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. He's taken care of the kids, cleaned, cooked, worked really hard on a 30+ page strategic plan for work, run errands for me, and that's just in the last 24 hours! I am very humbled by this man I am so blessed to call my husband!

One last humorous story to wrap up this post. If you know me, you know that I'm a big dork. If you had any doubts (in which case, you must not know me), I'll give you an example. Yesterday, as I was feeling miserable and listening to Lydia wake up from her nap, it suddenly dawned on me that it was Saturday. That meant that the Menards flier would be sitting in our mailbox, waiting for me. Yes folks, I love Saturdays and the Menards flier that it always brings me. Did I mention....dork!? :) Well, I opened the door to get the mail, and a package fell at my feet. It was a care package from my mom! That's much more exciting than a Menards flier! It was mostly full of things for the kiddos; bath toys, clothes (including a pair of blue crocs for Iain that match his Daddy's! and, incidentally, the very dress I saw at the store and wanted to get for Lydia, but couldn't justify spending anything then...thanks, mom!!!!) and chocolates for the grown-ups; yum!!!...well, yum in a few days. Right now they would taste about as good as glue. Mark's been enjoying them for both of us. Thanks, Mom! :) Oh, and the Menards flier wasn't all that interesting this week...or maybe it was just outdone.