Whatever I do . . .

So it came to me at 5:49am, “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”  Matthew 25:40 - King James Bible translation.

As I was pulling sheets off of my bed, struggling to stay vertical after a night of Ava sleeping only 20 minutes of every hour, thinking about how incredibly tired I was, the verse struck me.  I cannot complain.  I am doing my best to do His work.  It was never my intention to use this as a preaching platform and it is still not, but this is who I am and what I believe and so I will share it with you.  I needed a reminder that I have to treat my kids like the amazing gifts that they are.  Given into my care by He whom I believe is creator of all things.  These perfect little creations that are throwing up all over me and my bed and the floor were made by Him and I need to respect that and treat them as the treasures that they are.

Coming to that realization had me saying a prayer of thanks that the illness will pass.  And then I found myself thinking about how grateful I am that I have children who are relatively healthy.  Which led me to thinking about all of the parents out there who are struggling and dealing with terminal illnesses or special needs children.  They are caring for their children daily in ways that I have only seen from a distance.

My parents fostered a boy who had cerebral palsy.  I watched them carefully carry him, spoon feed him, change his diapers, do physical therapy with him on a daily basis for, if I remember correctly, about a year.  My parents still had three other kids to look after, but they took him in and cared for him and loved him.  He was our brother for that year.   I still think of him as my little brother even though he is in the care of another family now and has been with them for twenty some years.  Having witnessed the extensive amount of care he required I can't even begin to try and equate it to what I do and what my kids require of me.

I would think that a parent of a child who has extra care requirements would go through a reevaluation process of some sort.  Taking care of basic needs and changing any, maybe all, expectations that they may have had for that child.  Family friends had a daughter with cystic fibrosis.  Every day they would pound on her chest and back and mix her enzymes.  In the backs of their minds thinking that the lifespan for CF kids was 24 years old. She is in her thirties now.

I know that the illness afflicting my children right now will pass, and so I express my gratitude to the Lord for their health.

And hope someday to hear the words “well done, good and faithful servant.”