The Common Cold

The weekend after my birthday, my daughter was sick with a cold. For a 10-year-old with a stuffy nose, she thought it was worse than anything that could have happened to her. Here are a few of her questions/comments: "I can't breathe, how am I supposed to sleep?"; "Why do bad things always happen to me?"; "It's not fair! You never get sick!"; "How long will this last?"; "When will this end?"

I attempted to answer her questions, but nothing would satisfy her. Two days after her cold had run its course, I started with sniffles. Uh oh. My first thought was that I would not complain as much as my child. I worked through the first full day of my sickness by taking sinus meds and keeping away from everyone. I would have stayed out of work, but it was the day of our once per term staff meeting. I sat there with a box of tissues and drank lots of water. I think there was a lot of praying from my officemates that day with all of the 'Bless You's and them silently pleading - don't let me catch that! :)

By that evening, I was a sneezing mess. I had to cancel my Saturday plans to see my son in the state AF JROTC drill meet. (They placed fifth in three different competitions.) Instead, I stayed in bed with my tissues and read a book. As lunchtime approached, I began feeling better. 

Psalm 41:3 The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.

By taking the time to rest, my strength returned and my symptoms subsided. I'm thankful it was only a common cold.