The Serving Ones

The one thing that makes me quiver in my boots and want to hide in a hole in some remote mountain is the thought of the stomach bug rampaging our household. During my Facebook days I would see posts from faraway friends and think, "I hope we don't catch whatever they've got!" Well, it's been about two years since we had a round of the stomach bug, and five years since we had a really horrible round, and I guess it was time for us to go through it again.

Patient zero was none other than 7-month-old Jeremiah. We aren't sure how he got it, but when he threw up all over me and the couch on Monday morning I thought, "How nice would it be to spend our week off from school battling the stomach flu?" I'm living to tell that story. :)

So far it's just been the little guy and the girls, myself included. It's been almost 24 hours since it struck us and I'm hopeful that we're on the mend. However, Jeremiah lost his entire dinner before we even got him out of his highchair tonight, so I'm not sure what that could mean for everyone else. I don't really want to think about it...

The last time we had this bug we had to throw out all of our area rugs (thankfully they were cheap ones from Walmart) and I'm not quite sure how we kept up on laundry. This time around we have the luxury of a washer and dryer, which have been running non-stop since about 1:30am. While I was getting our last clean blankets from the car to put on the girls' beds last night, I was thankful that our car is all of 5 steps from our front door - no walking up a steep hill in the dead of night and the cold of winter to retrieve blankets. And when I could feel the sunshine and a gentle breeze coming through the bedroom window this afternoon I was thankful that it's not the middle of winter and we're not cooped up in a one bedroom apartment. Praise the Lord!

These "perks" have encouraged me, but the thing that has made this sickness bearable is the relentless service of one very godly man and one godly man in the making. Claude and Joshua have been serving us girls all night and day, from keeping up with the laundry to cleaning couches and carpets. I am so grateful for a husband who puts aside his own needs and plans to take care of his family. It not only enables our household to keep functioning, but it gives Joshua an excellent example - one that he is following despite his talk of running away from throw up. :)

So, here's a big thank you to the serving ones - the men of our family who are truly living out the servant-leadership demonstrated by Jesus Himself.