It really started last week on Wednesday night when my little guy with asthma coughed a terrible cough that keeps a mom up all night long. I took him with me to work on Thursday (advantage or disadvantage to being a school nurse depending on how you look at it). Friday and Saturday nights were repeats of Wednesday night plus fever. So Sunday after church, when the fever was still there, I carted him to the urgent care.
This poor guy can't catch a normal cold and be done with it. In the past 4 years he's had 3 bouts with pneumonia. This time it was *just* acute bronchitis which sent his otherwise well controlled asthma into a tail spin. Sunday he started on antibiotics, prednisone and a night time cough syrup so he could actually get a night's sleep (Doesn't help the mom though. She still can't sleep knowing breathing is compromised with her little one). My counter looks like the cough/cold isle in CVS.
I'm sick of sick. Before Ryland got sick, I caught the respiratory crud. I've been quarantined to the couch for a couple weeks because of my hacking through the night cough. I did all the good nursing stuff you should do for a virus: fluids, fluids, fluids and more fluids. About 10 days ago I'd had enough and broke down and went to the urgent care for a very painful lymph node, got started on some antibiotics for that lymph node infection and have been slowly getting rid of more mucous than... yeah, that's gross. Not very lady like at all.
Monday was strictly a sabbath for me and the kids. No work. No chores. Just lots of clear liquids, prescription medications and rest. Ryland was in tears on Sunday cause he had his heart set on going rockhounding at Saddle Mountain over spring break (He heard you can find fire agate there). I told him if there was no fever the rest of Sunday and thru Monday and his asthma symptoms were better I'd take him Tuesday.
And so it was that today was our real first day of spring break: fire agate rockhounding. It was a blast despite the fact that the crud I'm about rid of, and Ryland is fighting, seemed to begin it's torture with Connor. He hacked and walked around while we found literally pounds of fire agate right under our feet. Within 20 minutes he was asking me if he could go lay down in the car. Ugh! I'm sick of sick!!! So Ryland and I gathered up as much as we could find in 10 more minutes, packed up our stuff and headed back for the 40 minute drive home.
It's past ten and I'm worn but despite all the sickness and fatigue from coughing, today was a really cool day. I'd drive 40 minutes into the desert to hunt for rocks with my boys any day over T.V. and video games.
Being out in nature invites all sorts of opportunity for talking about God and His Grand Plan. I love it! We talked about how God is a Rock, and how reading the Bible is sometimes like looking for gems in the desert.
"But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?... It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold... God understands the way to it, and he knows its place... And he said to man, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." - Job 28
Quieted,
Sheila
