A Fresh Perspective

So, here's my story. We have had pink eye in our house...for a month. Yes, for a month. Actually, just over a month. We haven't seemed to be able to get rid of it, and it keeps getting passed from one person to another over and over again. Just when we think we are clear, someone wakes up with yet another pink eye. If anyone has experienced the highly contagious pink eye, you know how stressful this can be. I have had a month of trying to keep kids away from one another, putting drops in little eyes (not fun), being cooped up in the house because we can't go to some of our regularly scheduled events (school, dance, church, etc.). And the laundry. Let's talk about the laundry. I've had to wash anything that touches their faces...daily. Towels, pillow cases, blankies, clothes, and the list goes on. I've invested in Lysol spray and disinfectant wipes, which I try to use as much as I can without seeming like an over-crazed cleaning lady. And still, here we are. A month with pink eye. We have seen a doctor who says we just must have a "stubborn" strain.

Everyone in the house has gotten it at least once (and some more than once), with the exception of myself. I have been praying that the Lord would spare me from getting it. Then, I woke up this morning, looked in the mirror, and spotted some pink in my left eye. God, no. I could feel myself starting to get upset. Trying to remain calm, I came downstairs to start packing Judah's lunch for school. As I was moving on with my morning, I heard Eden screaming for me and crying. I ran to the stairs to find that she had thrown up. After getting her to the bathroom, it was all I could do to not throw my hands up in the air and start screaming. Really? Now, we are throwing up? So, now I'm spending my morning trying to get pinkish throw-up (which looked like the salami that she ate the night before...you're welcome), out of my white carpet while trying to get kids out the door and into the car to drop Judah off at school.

On the way to school, the kids are unusually silent. I'm trying to fight back tears, because I have just had enough. And I'm mad. Yes, mad. I've been asking God to take this sickness from our home, and now we're throwing up? How is this an answer to prayer? Why isn't He helping me? Doesn't God want to show us that He answers prayer and He cares? As I'm having my silent temper tantrum, I hear a line to one of the kids songs playing in the car-"He is good, He is good, and there's nothing good in me..." The words interrupted my thought process. Wait, what? God is good. I believe that, right? I'm supposed to. But I didn't-not in that moment. God is good. God is good. I kept saying it over and over again in my head. God IS good. I started to have a shift in my focus. Is my family being threatened and in imminent danger? No. Overall, are my kids healthy and fine? Yes. It didn't stop there. I began to say thank you. Thank you, God, that I can stay home and take care of my kids when they don't feel well. Thank you, God, for all of the times you have protected my family from sickness or danger. Thank you, God, that we don't have anything worse than this. Thank you, God, for reminding me that I need to trust you. The list of thank you's kept coming. Thankfulness led to a right perspective, and a right perspective led to peace. I wasn't upset anymore.

I came back home with a smile on my face and a fresh perspective-thankfulness. And it's a good thing, because Asher started throwing up about an hour later. Thank you, God, that I can hold him while he isn't feeling well. I'm fairly certain that there will be times I will forget to be thankful (again). But today, I'm thankful for a good God who is who He says He is. God, I trust you...pink eye or not.