So the last few weeks have been chaos and trying in our household. As many others in the area have dealt with, our entire family came down with the stomach flu in every aspect possible and we just can’t seem to shake it. A little over two weeks ago, I woke up in the night just soaked in sweat, feeling like absolute garbage and running to the bathroom. To be honest I was really hoping it was just something I ate and that no one else would get it in the home. About 24 hours went by and I was able to start keeping crackers down, so we were thinking, whoo got lucky there, but we are in the clear. At the same time I was leaving to go on as cruise for my best friend’s bachelor party. I kissed Linds and the boys goodbye and setoff thankful they didnt have it, thinking I would see them in a week or so.
As we reached South Carolina on our drive down I got the phone call that every dad dreads. My wife crying, and hearing both the boys screaming in the background, she said to me, “Eli has it and is throwing up everywhere.” My heart sank… all I could think about was my two year old going through what I had just faced, the stomach pains and feeling like you are being sucker punched in the gut every 5 minutes. Especially at his age not understanding what is going on. All I could do in that moment was offer to get a flight home to help. Linds is a trooper though and said no, that I was where I needed to be and that she would get her dad to come help. From there it spread from Eli to Silas to Bob to my dad to everyone who literally came in contact with our house.
What broke my heart the most though was the idea that he had no idea what was going on and all that could be done was hand him a bucket. Just as in the passage we read below, they were confused and helpless. He would just continue crying, screaming and just dealing with the pain. All I wanted to do was take it from him, to be the one who was going through it. I know it truly affected Lindsey and her heart as she would just start crying for our boys. I hated being away from therm during that first week just listening over the phone, hearing what they were going through. I hated watching them in that time and would do anything to bear it for them. That feeling of “will this ever end?”
Seeing him go through that makes me truly think about God as our Heavenly Father seeing us go though our pain. How he must feel as he sees us go through our struggles with sin, and crying out to him. I can only imagine him saying to us, “my child let me take this for you. Let me bear this burden for you. My child you are not alone.”
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless.” -Matthew 9:36
My boys are finally on the mend and getting their energy back, but it truly gave me a new perspective on how God must see us as we are going through tough moments in life. Him looking down on us with compassion, just as I look down on my boys and it brings a smile to my face.