Last week our house was hit with the stomach flu. 4 outta 5 of us got hit, some worse than others. If you’ve never been a parent with vomiting little kids, believe me when I tell you I don’t wish this sort of thing on others.
I wonder sometimes if we could more effectively punish criminals simply by subjecting them to 5-7 days of stomach flu with a pack of crying kids. I don’t know. Seems like this sort of punishment might prevent theft or murder. Just a guess.
The worst part about stomach flu is that there is nothing to do but wait. The body will be done with it when it’s done. If you eat too soon, you’re back where you started.
Our 8-year-old became ravenous. After 14 hours, he was starving and swore he could keep down food.
Wrong.
His belly was not ready and the violent expulsion that followed seemed as aggressive as the first one he’d experienced the previous day.
“This demon has his hold on ‘ye!” I shouted like a quirky pirate. LM1 did not like the joking display of silliness.
We made it through the weekend and finally, the last kiddo was able to consume toast. I just kept cleaning, spraying something, praying that if I smelled enough disinfectant, it was actually disinfecting something.
We made it.
Victory.
When everyone felt better again, we made it outside. We walked in the creek without shoes and let the cool water rush over our bare toes. I felt so thankful.
I think peace exists because we’ve endured something less than perfect. Sometimes the calm after the storm is the peace we’ve been seeking.
We celebrated in nature and felt like no one had ever been sick. Nature always returns us to our norm. When we return to it, it feels as if we’ve returned to ourselves.
What brought you peace this week? Share the peace!
4 the Love of Peace 