ME,
with a 4 year old,
a 21 month old,
and 9 months pregnant with my third child.
And when I say 9 months, I mean 9 months and a week.
Huge and miserable doesn't even come close.
Now, imagine if you will, a mere 3 weeks prior,
my discovering a SIGNIFICANT head lice infestation
in the heads of my 4 year old, my almost 2 year old, AND myself.
I cried.
and cried
and cried.
Brad brought home enough RID kits to abolish all lice in the Midwest.
He scrubbed and picked and picked and scrubbed.
I scrubbed and picked, picked and scrubbed for DAYS.
I changed sheets every day.
I vacuumed every sofa, chair, mattress, and square inch of carpet twice a day for weeks.
I'm NOT kidding or exaggerating.
I was beside myself.
Did I mention, I lived 24 hours away from everyone I had ever known,
With a husband who was in the middle of his orthopedic residency
who routinely worked 80+ hours a week?
You get the picture.
It was not the rosiest of times.
My precious Mom had flown out to help me the week leading up to
and a couple weeks after my delivery.
She, the two kids, and my pregnant self were in the Chipotle parking lot.
She twisted, turned around, and leaned towards the back seat to feed a McDonald's fry to my 21 month old.
"Oh." she winced.
"That hurt my back"
Long story short, no later than a day or so afterwards, she could not move.
When I say, "could not move", I mean, she could. not. move.
She was white as a sheet with pain.
The pain meds Brad got for her made her vomit.
She was ridden with pain and frustration over her inability to do the thing she had come to do
which was to HELP me…..her "great with child" daughter.
Daddy, who was scheduled to come out, I believe ON my due date, called the night before he was to leave.
He said the simplest thing to my sweet, devastated, tough as nails, down in her back Mom.
"Hold on. Reinforcements are coming."
Simple as it may be,
it moves me to tears all these years later.
If you knew his jovial nature
his "no quit" attitude
his Marine Corp qualities
his devotion to his family
and his humor,
you would understand the weight that simple statement carried with all of us.
Things were h.a.r.d. but there was enough grit and determination
that we would get through it.
Daddy wouldn't' quit on us.
While we had to hold the line til he got there, he was coming to see us through.
Maybe it's all a bit dramatic, but for me, it is a picture of the best kind of love, leadership, and devotion.
It's the attitude I want to have in this life.
No matter what is going on around me, God promises to supply my every need.
Maybe it will be by miraculous, Divine intervention
maybe it's through a friend
a stranger
or a family member.
Any way He chooses, He will supply my needs.
My friend and pastor recently talked about
"no matter the storm around you, there's peace to be had within in you."
Isn't that an awesome truth?
Being miserable is a choice.
and one I don't want to make.
Things may not always be happy
But you can find peace in the midst of the storm.
I'm grateful for family
For a God who loves me more than my own earthly father,
For friends I can call on a moment's notice,
And for "peace that passes ALL understanding" (Philippians 4)
My Dad recently reminded a struggling someone that their banner should be this:
"God sent His son
They called Him Jesus
He came to love
Heal and forgive
He lived and died
To buy my pardon
An empty grave
Is there to prove
My Savior lives
Because He lives
I can face tomorrow
Because He lives
All fear is gone
Because I know
He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because He lives"
If you know Him, HE holds your future.
Trust Him with it.
~stacey
