Not just a coincidence

So Monday night I was restless and still messed up by the time change, I guess. I was wide awake and decided to catch up reading some friends' blogs. At about 11:30pm I read my friend, Monica's blog. Hers is linked on my page and is entitled "Name Them One by One". She wrote about having sick kids and how blessed she is that she is a stay at home mom and can take care of them - even her "big" kids. She may have to rearrange a few things on her schedule, but she is able to devote that time to them and not have the worries of what meeting she is missing, what presentation still has to be given, etc. I read that and thought - "What a fabulous attitude!". If you know Monica at all, you would know what a blessing she is and such a servant of God.
I wrapped up my reading and decided to go to bed. I brushed my teeth, got on pajamas, went through the nightly routine. Greg was actually already asleep in the five minutes that it took me to do those things. He has the television on in our room and I found myself drifting off to the sounds of Jay Leno and the Tonight Show.
MAYBE ten minutes later, I hear Noah scream. I hear his bedroom door fling open and jumped up out of bed to see what was wrong. As I made it into the boys' bathroom, I soon discovered he was throwing up. LOVE HIS HEART! It was awful. Needless to say, he was a mess. I spent the next several hours up and down with him. He was sick off and on until about 9:30 the next morning. All day Tuesday he slept off and on, dozing in and out of pain and he was so puny. It makes me miserable when they are like that and there is really not much I can do to fix it.
After I laid back down the first time, those words from Monica's blog kept going through my head. I had spent over an hour earlier that night planning my day for Tuesday. I was taking Noah to get his allergy shots and then we were going to run several errands. I had lined up coupons with sales at a few stores. Obviously that was not going to happen! But I was struck by the knowledge that I COULD rearrange my day. It might be inconvenient, but everything would keep! I could stay home and take care of him, comfort him, cover him with a blanket and get him a cool washcloth for his forehead. I realized that instead of grumbling over my own loss of sleep and the interruption to my "schedule", I should be thankful for the little boy who needed me most in that moment!
Of course, i wasn't perfect. I was tired. Andy was irritable because Noah was getting more of my attention. But then my amazing husband showed up and sent me to take a nap. Noah and Andy were sleeping too and he held down the fort while I slept for an hour or so. What a blessing to me! It was just enough to recharge before a busy night ahead. Fortunately, Noah was on the upswing and was able to get up and drink some water and eat some bland foods. I kept him with me again today, to be safe and let him regain his strength.
Thank you Monica for the reminder I needed at EXACTLY the right time! Thank you Lord that you have blessed me with these three boys to care for and who "mess up" my schedule.