On the Other Side

We are on the other side of this sickness. We are praising God!

Thursday began the wash-everything day, which included: favorite stuffed animals, blankets, sheets, pillow cases, clothes, and anything and everything related to sick children.

Friday was back-to-school and back-to-fun day. And, of course, more laundry—blankets, robes, clothing….

It’s so wonderful (!!!) to see the children well and playing again.

In the midst of the very hard time we’ve just passed through, there were moments/hours of amazing blessedness. Here are some examples:

1. The night Andrew could not breathe when lying down and propping his head up on two pillows didn’t work could have been a truly horrible night. (This was Andrew’s second night sick, and Cherish was still well—so I was able to give him my complete attention.) That night I spent the night sitting up on the couch holding Andrew in a vertical position. He really enjoyed being with me. He hugged and hugged and hugged me! He loved to tuck his head into the spot between by shoulder and my neck. He hung on to me. The hours passed by with a glow of preciousness about them. It’s hard to explain, but I wouldn’t trade that night for anything! Such closeness! Such love! And, it was mutual. What a blessed memory!

2. When Andrew was so immensely sick, Cherish kept kissing him and cradling him—without a care that she would probably get sick. All she cared about was comforting him.

3. When Cherish and Andrew were both sick, they each wanted to spend long amounts of time simply cuddling with me. The bonding was immensely precious!

4. When Cherish was crying from pain, Andrew would go to her, sit with her, and “pretend cry” along with her—his way of showing her he cared.

5. They both gave each other the gift of laughter. When one was crying and couldn’t stop crying from the pain, the other would begin to “fake laugh” until they both ended up in true laughter. It helped momma’s stress level quite a bit!

The sickness and lack of sleep were very hard, but the precious bonding that came out of the time was priceless. Thank You, Lord, for the gift of two dear children!