The week that never ends

“As the abiding illness of the children are the parents continual affliction, it is a cross they are to take up daily; so the abiding compassions of Christ toward them ought to be their continual consolation, and a cordial they may have recourse to daily.” Matthew Henry, Christ’s Favour to Little Children

This week has been hard; very, very hard. I’m trying to pinpoint what has made this week any worse than all the other times our child/ren have been unwell, and I can’t say, except that Scott and I are both so tired. BigMan hasn’t been well since the last week of January. That’s a very, very long time for a toddler to be not 100%! 

At times like this we feel every single one of those 1400km between us and our extended families. At times like this I also wonder how on earth my parents managed! Four kids, on their own in towns and subsequently an overseas country, so far removed from their families. And I know that I was very sick as a young girl… good thing my mummy’s a doctor! Saved all that time dragging us kidlets to the GP! But that aside, I know that as a little person in ‘foreign lands’, it was our Church family that really supported my parents, and Scott and I are finding the same to be true for us. We have been blessed by people bringing us meals, looking after LittleLady so that I can have an unencumbered visit with BigMan to the GP, support, encouragement and (not to be underestimated in its ‘healing’ capacity) people who we can sigh to and say, ‘He’s just not himself’ and they agree!

So that one day I can look back on this and laugh… In the past month and a bit we’ve had:

• BigMan and LittleLady both with respiratory infections.
• Cyclone Yasi. Although we were only left with a small clean up (branches etc), it left us physically and emotionally drained.
• BigMan with possible pneumonia. 3 Dr visits and a chest x-ray in one day.
• 2 rounds of BigMan on Prednisone, Little Lady once.
•  BigMan with 2 severe middle ear infections. Yesterday was an 18 hour day. I woke at 4:30 to feed LittleLady and neither child slept longer than 10 minutes until after 2pm when BigMan’s medications started to work. I then could not wake him up until 4:30pm. LittleLady was awake that whole time. BigMan then did not go to sleep until 10:30pm, and Daddy was at Bible Study so I had the two of them for a very looooong time!
• A teething 4 month old (who still gives beautiful smiles!)
• We now have majorly disrupted sleeping patterns
• Tantrums that are really proving we’ve hit the ‘Terrible Twos’. Today it was a lie-down-and-scream-in-the-middle-of-Target-because-Mummy-won’t-open-a-$130-Chuggington-Playset-Tantrum. Could everyone hear? Yep. Were they gawking? Of course! 

So… I’m tired. We are tired. But we keep going. And I keep turning back to Matthew Henry’s words of encouragement and pray for the strength every day to keep picking up my cross…

“This may comfort and encourage the tender careful mothers in nursing them [infants], that they are carrying those in their arms whom Christ has taken up in his… You are careful for them with all this care; they require a constant attendance, and many a time, it may be, break your sleep; but if you do it as unto the Lord, if you have an eye to Christ in it: this I do for a child that is adopted into his family, as well as born into mine; you may depend upon him to pay your wages though it be your own child. Your care about your little ones keeps you from church, it may be, many a time; and keeps you, that you cannot spend so much time in your closets [in devotion] as you used to do; but if thus it be sanctified by an eye to the Lord Jesus, and by your prayers to God for them as his, more than as your own, you are therein truly serving the Lord Christ yourselves, and not only so, but are breeding up servants for him, that you hope will be vessels of grace and glory.” Matthew Henry, Christ’s Favour to Little Children