Perseverance. This is real life, y'all.

This is me. Persevering. With some coffee.

So, I dropped off the blogosphere for a couple days there because one of our littles got sick. Like, the gross, middle of the night, stand by with a trashcan sick. After hitting negative sleep levels, wardening the well-children with orders to stay back 500 feet and and following the sick child around with a bottle of Clorox in one hand and a bottle of Tylenol in the other all day, I really didn't have the wherewithal to do much more. Alas, we're healthy (right) now; so, here I am! There are three things I did do, though. 1.) Pray. 2.) Stay on my diet (I'll tell you how this is relevant in a second), and 3.) Not freak out.

1. The day our girl woke up sick in the middle of the night was a long one. I'm pretty sure I prayed all night between tosses and turns. I prayed for her healing and for sickness to pass over this house and spare our other children (and us, too, btw, we hate throwing up). Staying close with God during a trial (big or small), is SO important to our spiritual and physical health. It's so easy to brush Him off and get caught up in the "poor me, I had to clean up vomit at midnight, lose sleep and wash my hands 500 times today" routine. You know?? We all do this. It's important to seek Him, still. I'm not just speaking specifically about having a sick kid, but with anything. We should seek Him in all things - big and small. We should seek Him when we don't know what to do and also when we do. I didn't know what was wrong with our kid, but I had to trust in Jesus that she'd be ok! We are strong through Him and He will help us get through! Persevere. 
   
2. I know you're wondering why staying on my diet is relevant to having a sick little. Well, I'll tell you. Much of my previous weight gain came from anxiety (a lot of the anxiety happened during my first three pregnancies, but I assure you...little 6-8lb babies are not why I had 70 some pounds to lose). Let me tell you. If there's one thing I super hate, it's having sick kids (like anyone, of course). It is a little stressful and tempting to slip back into an anxious state - especially when you have four of them and it could turn something fierce real fast! I could have turned to food for comfort at this time. I could have binged out on some tacos, burritos and nachos when we took the sick child to Taco Bell (Her request. I know. Bad idea, btw. #parentingfail #iknowhashtagsdontworkhere) the next day. I could have scarfed the heavily-frosted sugar cookies she got to share with her class. But, through Him, I was able to persevere.  Praise God! He does these things, you know? I know from past experience that it just takes a little anxiety to consume about 8,765 calories too many and fall off that blasted wagon. Persevere. 
3. Thankfully, you guys, I didn't freak out. I did wash my hands a lot (but I think that was okay, given the circumstances), I did come in contact with gross germs (this is serious for an OCD-prone person); I prepared myself for what would happen if all of the rest of the littles got sick, I did not go hide under my bed covers; and, I did my job as mom, the job God gave me. Persevere. 

So, all is well. Our family is healed and just in time for the baby to poop ALL. OVER. MY. PANT-LEG. (and her outfit and up her back) while we were visiting brand new friends for the first time (and had no diapers or change of clothes with us). Life goes on friends, be it something monumental or poop on your pant-leg, seek Him and just persevere.

This post is linked up to Grace Laced Mondays, and Better Mom Mondays Hop on over to to those awesome sites to see who else is sharing.