So, you may have noticed that I didn't post on Tuesday. I actually don't remember much of that day. For the two hours I was awake, I recall my loving wife and kids coaxing me to the van so that I could be seen at Urgent Care. It was oddly satisfying watching all the nurses and doctors put on masks and gloves. Maybe I was really sick. They sure were responding like I was.
And on a side note, it sure did explain the peculiar dream I had when my fever peaked. Oh, don't you worry, I am planning on creating a short children's novel completely illustrated depicting the "tale of the flu." I might even make it rhyme.
OK, let's be honest, sickness brings a lot of emotions to the surface. Sometimes it's fear, fear that our spouse or children will be next. Fear of the cost of an overnight trip to the ER, fear of children suffering through high fevers, aches and pains. Fear that it could get worse.
John 14:1 Reminds us that our belief in God is greater than our fear. "Let not your hearts be troubled..."
For some, it brings an awareness that we simply are not in control. Our health is not promised to us, nor is there anything we can do to secure it. Sickness can lead us to our knees, and remind us of our complete dependence upon a sovereign God who gives and takes away. Job 1:21 reminds us that He is to be praised in the giving and taking away. Isn't it so true that when you are on your back, there is no place to look, but up? Self-sufficiency, out the window.
Well, that's where I am at. I had a lot of plans for this week. Things I was going to do, places I would be, lots to do, busy busy busy. Proverbs 16:9 jumps right off the page and declares to me, His plan is different, and in that I can find great joy and comfort! Wherever He takes me, I will gladly go. It's Him that I am seeking after, it's just sometimes I need reminded.
So how is this a Family Ministry post? Eh, ya'll get sick too, don't you? The photo above is a small note one of my kids left for me on my Bible sometime on Monday... not knowing the sickness that was in route. It was strategically placed in one of my T-shirt drawers in the room I would be quarantined in the next several days (also where I am currently writing this from). I desperately needed that little note and a reminder of where my hope comes from. Another note they had hidden in my slippers read, "we're here for you Dad." Even in the middle of our darkest days, I pray that we will encourage and remind one another of His faithfulness. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 reminds us of this, and I am grateful for the encouragement from my family at church and home.
