Here it is, Thursday afternoon, and this week has been a long one. I had always thought that if God chose to give us a child with serious health concerns, we could handle it. This week has been an example of how well God knows our limits and our hearts--Kylee has been battling an infection since last Tuesday and it has worn us out!
She started with a low-grade fever, which eventually progressed into a significant fever, which progressed to a high fever with an enlarged cervical lymph node. Suffice it to say that when I sat in the Children's Mercy Urgent Care center with her on Saturday afternoon (after hearing that she had 104.6 temperature), it was not one of my proudest moments. I should have taken her in earlier, but, being a nurse, I thought if we waited one more day, things would clear up...I dread visits to the Doctor's office where they look at you like you're crazy and then tell you that your child has a simple upper-respiratory infection (this is a rather large pride issue for me having been trained as a Nurse Practitioner). However, one more time, I learned that pride is dangerous--especially when it comes to the health of our children. We are now officially 6 days into our 10 day course of antibiotics. No more fever and a little bit better coutnenance on all of our parts is making life much easier. I have an AMAZING amount of respect for parents who deal with ill children as part of their every day lives. What a blessing happy, healthy children are! Thank goodness God knows better than I do what I am capable of handling.
We did have an exciting first in our family last weekend--Brandon took Connor to his first ever live K-State football game (thanks to Aunt Marsha and Uncle Jim generously offering two tickets to attend the game along with them!). I will not write in-depth about it, because I know Brandon is anxious to share the experience with all of you. It was a special occasion to be sure.
We pulled out our Halloween decorations early this week, and Connor caught a fever of a different sort--holiday fever. He is excited to go trick-or-treating and has already worn out the Toys R Us catalog showing us what all he'd like for Christmas. We're going to work hard teaching him about the true meaning of Christmas. Last year, we attempted to do this by having nightly Advent devotionals with the kids, which usually ended with Connor playing off somewhere else, Kylee fussing because it was bedtime, and me laughing because Brandon diligently kept on reading the devotional as if everyone was paying full attention. Maybe this year it will go better. :)
Watching Connor's childlike excitement about life in general is quite refreshing for me. He jumped up and down last night because we purchased Batman winter gloves for him at Target. I love it that children are so uninhibited with their emotions and that the littlest things make them jump for joy. Maybe I wouldn't be so stressed out if I took time to jump up and down every once in awhile...
Trying to be wife, mommy, nursing instructor, church member, sister, daughter, grand-daughter, friend...it gets pretty overwhelming sometimes, especially for a perfectionist like me. Watching our kids makes me realize that what the world tells us is important just really isn't. What does matter is that our kids know that Jesus loves them, and that they have parents that support them and that desire the VERY best for them in all circumstances. I need to do better about remembering that my most important role is that of God's child, and that by fulfilling that role faithfully, everything else will fall into place. Our children trust that their needs will be met regardless of how hectic life gets and they let nothing stand in the way of being joyful. Why should things be any different for grown-ups?
Therefore, I should be celebrating fever-free days and Batman winter gloves--crisp fall days, first football games, and Halloween decorations. Maybe I'll follow our son's example and do just that (I'll have to work up to the actual jumping up and down part).
Thanks to all of you who love me just the way that I am. :)
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