vomit in the dark

What a night!


My Love called in the late afternoon yesterday while we were out running an errand and said he was on his way home with a flu bug.  Later the kids and I pulled up to the house and Bundle Boy spewed on the garage floor as he was getting out of the car.  Luckily he was wearing his new "solider boy" rain boots.  I stripped him down to his skivvies on the front lawn as I got Babydoll from her car seat and delayed taking the groceries out of the trunk.  Sigh.


Of course Bundle Brother was acting completely fine after we got back in the house.  I insisted he go to bed early but he was not eager to turn in.  My Love was already in bed with the chills when we got home from the commissary at 5pm.


KB got home, I got Babydoll down for bed (who was happy and healthy), and then we stayed up talking for a couple hours.  At around 9pm, we heard Brother crying upstairs.  And so it began.  A series of vomit clean ups, sheet changes, towel replacements, tub wash-offs and laundry loads running.  Sigh.  I think he had thrown up four times before KB and I called it a night.  With a sick man in my bed and every other room taken, I opted to pull up a pillow and blanket next to Bundle Boy's bed on the floor.


It was a long night.  I think I got one hour of sleep.  By the wee hours of the morning, he had learned how to make it into the bowl.  What a gift!  I gave him children's Tylenol.  30 seconds later he threw it up.  He kept asking for water in the night.  After taking a long drink, he couldn't keep that down either.  Poor boy was miserable.  The color had completely left his face and was replaced with a greenish, grayish hue.


But I noticed something while I lied down on the carpet in my son's bedroom bracing for the next blow.  When KB and I were down stairs, the first thing we heard was crying.  After I cleaned him up the first time, I told to call out for Mommy if he felt sick and I would take him to the bathroom.  Not long later and I heard "Mommy" from upstairs.  His cries were loud and seeking.  A tone that questioned "Where are you?  I need you!" in a word.  Once we had turned in for the night, I told Brother that I was going to sleep on the floor in his room.  I plugged in the night light and got "comfy".  When he started feeling sick again, he spoke to me.  He talked in a voice that KNEW I was right by his side.  He was comforted in the fact that he could trust me to help him and that he was not alone.


When he first threw up, he was afraid.  He knew I was somewhere in the house but was more upset about his circumstances than his peace in knowing I would help him.  After I cleaned him up a few times and reassured him that it would be okay, his cries became more focused toward finding me.  And when he knew I was right there next to him (even though he couldn't see me) his words became even more personal and peaceful.

Why?  Why when big surprising circumstances sneak up on us after a pleasant day spent with friends do we cry out into the night afraid of whatever we are experiencing?  We act like we are alone "in the house" and don't aim our calls toward any one in particular.  Just a woe-is-me tone of voice.  What if we KNEW that we KNEW that whenever ANY THING happened, we could personally and peacefully whisper into the dark for comfort from the One who is always right there "at the edge of the bed"?

With each gag, I cleaned up my Bundle Boy and laid him back down to say prayers over him.  We thanked God for making a way for yuck to be removed from out bodies (personal note: thanks JH for that sweet insight), for opportunity to know how to pray more specifically for others who become sick in the future, and for peace in knowing Jehovah-rapha, "The Lord who heals".

What a God we serve!  One who is sovereign over every moment and who is there in the "dark of night" waiting to meet all of our needs if we would only trust and know Him.