Choices

This week has been a bit of a doozy. Last Tuesday Joy came down with the tummy-ache-sore-throat-fever-basically-miserable bug that has been going around. It lasted for 5 days. She was better on Saturday. Saturday night David & Grace came down with the same thing. I figured my life was shot until Thursday.

Last night before bed I went to Wendi's Blog and read this quote from Elizabeth Elliot

"This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God's way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness."

I closed up my laptop, and went to bed. 

1:45 a.m. Joy walked in my bedroom door and said, "Hope is puking." (It seems that in every marriage there is a person who can stomach cleaning up puke. In our marriage that person is me.) I got up, got Hope into the shower and started cleaning the bed. I went to put every thing in the washer... we were out of our normal laundry soap, but thankfully I still had some of the homemade laundry soap in the cupboard. (I had to quit using it cuz it was causing issues with the dryer.) I went to the basement and got the extra toddler mattress, and set it up in our room, got Hope situated. Then I climbed back into bed. 

Thoughts were swirling in my head and among with them the Elizabeth Elliot quote.  The next thing I heard was rapid feet moving toward the bathroom and unpleasant sounds therein. I walked in to find David hunched over the toilet. I don't think he puked, but he defiantly coughed up phlegm  I helped him get cleaned up and got him back into bed. 

I got back into bed again. Now I was completely thinking about the quote. What was I gonna do? I could pout and have a terrible night or I could dwell on the positive. What positive was there to be found?

Hope's bed is on the bottom bunk. It would have been much worse if Joy had puked. She is on the top bunk. I hate making the top bunk. 

David made it to the bathroom. 

Chad had said thank you, and was appreciative of my getting up to take care of the kids. 

I could get upset about my interrupted night or I could take joy in serving God by my serving my kids. 

About this time I heard Hope making some strange noises in the toddler bed. She threw up again. I could sense this was gonna be a long night so I moved her bed again, so that I could reach her from my bed. Hope continued to throw up 5 times more in the next 5 hours. 

She is now in quarantine in my room, while the other two sickies are in the living room. I do not want everyone to get the puking flu. Hope has not thrown up since 6:30, and has kept down 3 sips of Pepsi down for the last 20 minutes. 

Prayers would be appreciated as I choose joy and a servant's heart today.