Tender Mercies.....

Probably one of my most frequent thoughts is "Remember the Lord's tender mercies." I have been so blessed in my life and try so hard to remember those precious tender mercies.
Because of my crazy schedule and the demands on my time, I usually find myself doing household-type duties late at night (or not at all.) I told Shane the other day that I almost wished I could get sick so I could stay home for a couple of days and get some stuff done. Be careful what you wish for......Well, night before last, as I was sitting at the desk at The Charleston trying to get some resident assessments done, I developed one heck of a headache.....then the sore throat.....then the cough. I mean, this sucker came on me in a matter of about 45 minutes. Anyway, when I finally got home, (not until 8:20pm), I looked at Shane and he gave me the "Ew-w-w, not good!!" look on his face. I ate some warmed-up leftovers, (my favorite...NOT...but at least we had leftovers) and then Shane tucked me into bed. What a miserable night! I hate those "body-achin', snotty-snuffin', choking-coughin', sore-throatin'" nights. I felt like I hadn't slept in a year when I finally woke up. Spent the whole day in bed----stalking other people's blogs and sleeping. Had to drag my butt out to the "Blue and Gold Banquet" for little Jake at 6:00 cuz he was getting several scouting awards, so I sat in a corner and couldn't even hold one of Chad and Michelle Lewis's newborn twins.

Paula Osborne and Jake

During the awards, Jake snuggled up to me at the table and said, "Mommy, I have a GIANT headache." I looked at Shane and said, "He's gettin' sick." I got Jake home and he and I fell into my bed with the chills and taking turns coughing and moaning. When Shane and Joe got home from scouts, Shane tucked Jake into his bed and he was fast asleep almost before Daddy got bedtime songs sung. About 4:20am, I heard Jake start to moan and then he started crying, calling out, "Joe, help me! Joe, help me!" I lifted my head off the pillow and realized I wasn't going very far with the throbbing going on in that head. I started rubbing Shane's back and he got up and went quickly to Jake's side. He was not to be consoled until he saw Joe. Joe had woken up, too, because his little buddy needed him. I dragged my rear out of bed, holding onto my head so it wouldn't fall off in the hallway. I laid down by Jake and Joe laid down at his feet and I asked him to tell Joe and me about his dream....it really was scary. (You know---the whole home invasion type dream.) He was burning up with fever so I got him some Tylenol and had him crawl into bed between daddy and me. Well, the tender mercy here is waking up between these two precious people. Shane---because he is my love and the best decision I ever made. Jake---my baby---has always been the cuddliest, mommy-lovin' kid I've had. I looked at his sweet little face and thanked my Heavenly Father for the blessing of being a mommy to all of my children. This tough little guy loves his blanket, STILL!! His soccer-playin', Wii-playin', basketball-playin' buddies don't know that but it's one of our favorite family secrets. When he woke up, he reached over and held my hand and said to me, "You know what I hate about being sick? When you are laying in bed and a commercial comes on the TV with some food that looks so good but you know you would puke if you ate it. Yeah, I hate that! Well, what I love about being sick is, laying in bed and snuggling with you."

My sick little guy!

So, I guess it's okay to be sick for a few days, even if I don't get anything done but snuggling with a little boy who won't always be this willing to snuggle with his mommy. Tender Mercies. Thank Heaven for them.