Out of the Ordinary

I consider myself a nice person. I try to be happy most of the time, it doesn’t take much to make me happy, and I don’t get all worked up that easily. I pride myself on being the one who doesn’t fly off the handle, who is understanding and patient when someone needs to talk, who--

Oops! Houston…..we have a problem….

I pride myself…..those three little words there. Yikes.

“Let him who thinks he stands, take heed, lest he fall.” --I Cor. 10:12



The Bud and I feeling just fine!

 Last week, my husband began dealing with another bout of a recurring illness. At first we thought it was a side effect from a medication he is on for something else. We went to the doctors, got switched to a different medication, came home, but the symptoms got worse through the day and became exactly like those of his recurring illness. We are currently dealing with the problem from this angle now and things are (hopefully!) starting to move in a positive direction and we expect him to be feeling back to normal in a few days.

HOWEVER, the reason I bring this up is because of my own bout with a recurring “illness”: a lack of compassion. I don’t know what it is, but whenever my husband is dealing with an illness, you could take those first couple sentences up there at the beginning of this blog and change them around with negatives for positives, and THAT would be the real picture of me:

I am NOT a nice person. I am NOT happy most of the time, it takes A LOT to make me happy, and I get worked up VERY easily.

Ugh and grrr…..I hate that about myself. WHY oh why do I act like that each time? I keep telling myself, “you can do this --you can be a good caretaker”, and then I find myself bristling each time he lays on the couch asking for something or just showing the general malaise that comes with a recurring illness. I catch myself saying all the same things in my head each time:

“Men! They’re such babies when they’re sick!”
“Are you kidding me? Try having cramps each month!”
“Hello? Childbirth --me--three times”
“Ginger Ale? Sure….let me stop folding these clothes, cleaning the kitchen, etc.”

I think my response is because of both nature and nurture. “Nurture” because when I was growing up, my poor mom’s way of dealing with us when we were sick (she mustn’t have had a very good nursing example herself!) was to tell us to stay in our beds and not to come out all day. At some point throughout the day, she would come into our room and practically toss a Tupperware cereal bowl of soft-boiled eggs (yes, Virginia, I said soft-boiled!) at us and tell us to eat them --oh joy!

No, you didn’t really want to stay home from school --mission accomplished :)  But this never really taught me compassion for the sick either.
 

One of the most compassionate people I know


And “nature” because I just am not a naturally “nursing-type” of a person. I see other people like this --my own Lovely #1 is a person like this --and I think, “Wow! There really are people who have a gift for taking care of others“ --so compassionate and caring, it’s a thing of beauty to see in action. God working through them so effortlessly; His hand reaching out and giving whatever a person needs to feel better --simply amazing!

“His strength is made perfect in my weakness” --II Cor. 12:9

Thanks be to God --I know that because the Lord’s mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:23), I KNOW that I can get up today and make a fresh start. I know that I can try to be that nurse that my husband needs me to be at the moment, despite my inabilities.

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" --Phil 4:13

Even nurse The Bud through an illness when my flesh is lazy? YES! Because I am not my own, I am bought with a price, the Holy Spirit lives in me to work out HIS good and perfect will, both in me and through me to others. So, He can give me His thoughts of compassion, His ideas on how to make my mate more comfortable in his recovery, and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

THAT’S definitely out of the ordinary!

I’d better go put my nurse’s cap on --I hear another request for Ginger Ale :)