Thankful

It's been an interesting 24 hours...

My wonderful parents kept the kids on Friday night so I could get some sleep.  I'm amazed at how tired I am lately.  This single mom thing is hard!  So, I slept.  A lot.  God was preparing me.

On Saturday morning (while out to eat with my parents), Layla got sick.  Very sick.  She threw-up 4 times.  Poor grandparents.  I called our pediatrician and got some Zofran for her.  It worked.  I put the kids to bed at 7pm.  At 8pm, William started screaming in his bed.  Poor little man was sick too.  Over the next 2 hours, he threw up 7 times.  After talking to the pediatrician (again!), I decided it was time to go to the emergency room.  So at 11pm, my parents came over so mom could stay with Layla and dad could go to the ER with me and Will.  It was not a fun night.  He ended up needing an IV, throwing up more than 10 times (I lost count) and we finally came home at 5am.  

I must say though, in all of the sickness and exhaustion, I found myself extremely thankful.  Thankful for the following reasons:

1.  I have insurance.  

2.  I live 20 minutes away from one of the best children's hospitals in the nation.

3.  I have parents that will drop everything to come help.

4.  Layla, although sick, didn't need to go to the hospital.  

5.  The Holy Spirit woke up a dear friend to pray for us - she had no idea what was going on.  She texted me around midnight to tell me she was praying for me.  It brought so much comfort.  

6.  The IV and meds worked quickly.  

7.  William is already feeling so much better.  The little virus he has claims the lives of thousands of children each week in other parts of the world because they don't have medicine and healthcare.  

8.  And most importantly, 3 of us walked into the ER together and 3 of us walked out of the ER together.  Thank you God for your provision and healing.

I can guarantee that I would not have been so thankful in this situation 3 months ago.  I would have been irritated.  I would have whined about being tired.  It's amazing how the most painful thing I've ever experienced has brought me to a place of such gratitude.  Each day is a gift - not always easy, but a sweet, precious gift from the Creator.