Sunday, January 6, 2013

Choosing Thankfulness

Today is Day 6 of the flu. The Tamiflu is responsible for dramatically reducing the severity of the symptoms. The body aches are gone, as is the sore throat. However, I have a lingering headache and a relentless fever that wipes away every speck of energy that I have. I also fight waves of nausea several times throughout the day. All I can do is sit. Even walking to the bathroom increases my heart rate and makes me feel winded.

My first tendency is to complain.We are leaving to for adoption court in 9 days, which requires flying all seven of us to another state. In order to do that, I have to have a whole lot of ducks in a row. There's paperwork to be done. Laundry to be done. My family generates 10-12 loads of laundry each week. Housework to be done. I have to pack. I also need to shop for a few clothes items for the trip because a few members of the family are growing faster than I can keep up with. Seven people in 1800 square feet warrants daily cleaning tasks to keep the house manageable. Piper's birthday and Matt's birthday are both a few days after we get back from the trip, so there are preparations that must be done before we go. I need to go grocery shopping. All the Christmas stuff needs to come down. It wouldn't take much for me to burst into frustrated, overwhelmed tears.

But I refuse to wallow. I want to wallow, but that won't do any good. Let's see...what do I have to be thankful for in this flu bug?

I guess my body needed to rest. I've been on a never-ending merry-go-round since the girls came home in July. I am thankful for the opportunity to just sit without feeling {too} guilty.

I have had the fun of working on a 1000-piece puzzle. I think I'll finish it tonight! It has definitely been fun, and when do I ever have the time to do puzzles?

This sick week has been a great reminder to me about what a wonderful man I married. He has loved me and served me well. I don't know what in the world I would do without him.

I am thankful for good health, and that it won't be too long before my body returns to that good health. I don't have a chronic or life-threatening illness.

I am thankful that this bug hit me now and not when we are out of state for the adoption.

I hate having the flu, but when I look at how really blessed I am, the magnitude of my trouble shrinks. Dramatically.

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