The Sweetest Rest I've Ever Known

My husband told me to get a flu shot this year. Stubbornly I ignored him.

He got one.

The kids got the FluMist.

I stood firm and resisted the shot, confident in my Teflon coating that resists all germs.

We went to Disney World. I shielded myself with frequent hand washing, cans of Lysol and bathing in hand sanitizer. I.AM.GERM.RESISTANT. Bring it on.

We returned from Disney. I unpacked clothes, souvenirs and my friend Mr. Chest Cough made himself at home.

I'm not 100% sure that I had the flu, because I didn't go to the doctor when I was experiencing symptoms. That's probably what I had, though. Stupid Teflon coating.

The flu-that-I'm-not-sure-was-flu lasted through Thanksgiving. Then it turned into full blown Bronchitis. I finally dragged myself to the doctor and was given antibiotics and sleep-inducing cough medicine. I thought I'd feel better within a week.

Saturday night I developed a sharp pain in my right side. I thought I pulled something coughing. When I woke up on Sunday I was in bad shape. I actually cried from the pain. I tried to go to the Doc in a Box on Sunday, but the wait was too long. Monday I was at my GP's office at 10:30 am.

I got a chest x-ray and was diagnosed with a torn intercostal muscle (the muscles between the ribs). It was nice to have a diagnosis, but it didn't make the pain go away. (I did get pain medication, non-drowsy cough meds and a Z-pac to finish off whatever was still making me cough).

Today I feel almost normal. I didn't sleep well last night, so I was headed back to bed after the kids left this morning. Surprise! No school today because the school has no power. Wah.

Instead I sat here at my desk and finished up a few tasks. As I worked I listened to Chris Rice on iTunes. I heard his song "Prone to Wander" and thought about how many times I have questioned God's faithfulness to me while I've been sick. I normally wouldn't do that, but I just couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel. One illness led to another and I thought for sure I would never feel healthy again. My maladies are minor when you consider everything out there that people suffer from healthwise, but to me it was a big deal to be so immobilized by illness. This song just put all my feelings into words.

On the surface not a ripple

Undercurrent wages war
Quiet in the sanctuary
Sin is crouching at my door

How can I be so prone to wander
So prone to leave You
So prone to die
And how can You be so full of mercy
You race to meet me and bring be back to life

I wake to find my soul in fragments
Given to a thousand loves
But only One will have no rival
Hangs to heal me, spills His blood

How can I be so prone to wander
So prone to leave You
So prone to die
And how can You be so full of mercy
You race to meet me and bring be back to life

Curse-reversing Day of Jesus
When You finally seize my soul
Freedom from myself will be
The sweetest rest I've ever known

And how can you be so full of mercy?

You race to meet me and bring me back to life.

Freedom from myself will be

The sweetest rest I've ever known.