Day 10 - Mack Truck Day

Day 10 – It was a Mack Truck kind of a day. Those are the days where you feel like you have been run over by a Mack truck and you swear they decided to not only run over you but back up and do it again.
My day started at 1:30 AM when my middle daughter, Hope (almost 13), came into my room and said she wasn't feeling very well. I was half awake but talked her through it and told her to come wake me if she ended up throwing up. About a half hour or so went by and I had a knock on the door. Hope had gotten sick. I talked her through it and helped her compose herself and told her to come wake me if she got sick again. This went on and on all night almost every hour on the hour. The poor thing was so sick and there was nothing I could really do for her. By the time 10 AM rolled around, I knew that she was beyond dehydrated and I waffled back and forth about taking her into the doctor knowing full well it was probably a virus. However, this is my child who is rarely sick and she was so dehydrated that I knew I needed to probably do something.

We got to urgent care and the waiting room was standing room only. There were so many people and Hope was in massive pain. Each minute ticked by in endless fashion. We saw person after person get called back and she was just trying to hold it together long enough not to get sick in the waiting room. I don't know about you, but those waits seem infinite. Furthermore, as a parent, I felt helpless as I wanted help for my daughter immediately. I kept telling her to pray through it as I was sitting there trying to do the same. Thankfully, a friend of mine came and entertained Hope and helped to take Hope's mind off what seemed to be taking forever.

We did finally go back to the illustrious back area of the hospital where Hope promptly tossed her cookies one last time. Finally, we were seen by the doctor. Hope desperately needed an IV along with anti-nausea medicine. She went through two bags and still had not expelled anything. They let us go home after our 4 hour adventure. However, the moment I got home I had to turn around and go to my own appointment at the doctors where I promptly had to sit and wait my turn. Again, minutes seemed like hours especially since I was tired. Truth is, they were very quick today. I had some blood work done and get to….you guessed it….wait some more for the results.

I can't think of too many lines or waits that are enjoyable. Maybe the amusement park like I mentioned before but even those lines can have endless components to them. We can't even wait for food at a restaurant – why do you think fast food is so popular?! We want what we want when we want it including answers to anything. That's why we are obsessed with the internet and being connected. Answers are at our fingertips 24/7. I bet if most of us could e-mail or text God – we probably would.
That's not what God asked us to do. There are moments when we need to wait for His timing and for His perfect will. Oh man, that is so difficult to do sometimes. Today was definitely a day of waiting and a clear reminder that we need to wait on the Lord and not preempt Him. He knows what He is doing and does not need us stepping in to fix everything or give answers where he hasn't answered. I will be honest – waiting is probably one of the hardest things for me personally. But the reminder today was about how special the prize is when we do wait. We truly may miss out on a blessing if we step in before God wants us to have a real answer. He will work all things for good but we may miss something special along the way when we do not wait.

These few verses popped out today as I was doing my mile and I wanted to share them with you. Maybe we can wait together…
Lamentations 3: 23-24

²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
       to the one who seeks him;

 ²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
       for the salvation of the LORD

Psalm 27:14

¹⁴ Wait for the LORD;
       be strong and take heart
       and wait for the LORD.