How Many Towels?

This is a journal entry from when our son was in pre-kindergarten.

Last night we got to use up almost all of the towels in our house - including the old ones for camping, clean-up and the dog. You guessed it - somebody was throwing up. Regularly and consistently.

I should have paid more attention when an exhausted mom at the Teddy Bear Making Field Trip told me her son wasn't in attendance because he had spent the prior night being sick. Ooops, forgot to make the mental note.

Surprise at our house.

Our son had climbed in bed with us, and we were all fast asleep. Suddenly, he turned in his sleep, sat up and became violently ill. His new teddy bear, many pillows, the bedding and my nightgown all needed to be cleaned. I wondered how many other field trip teddy bears were also already being washed. Would his still be as soft?

Unfortunately, our sweetie wasn't done being sick with that first erruption. His tummy bothered him every half hour until about 5:00 a.m. Just long enough between episodes for Mommie and Daddy to clean him up, flop down a clean towel and begin to dream. No wonder my dreams were odder than ever! Have you ever dreamed you were the cursor on your laptop? I did last night for a couple of minutes.

Each time he would wake up to throw up, he would ask us when God was going to be done "letting my tummy be sick" and we'd tell him, "soon, honey, soon." Our eyes, limbs and fatigue were heavy. We'd clean him up with another towel, pray a short prayer and drop exhausted back into bed. Somehow our night turned into day, but nothing was as planned. Minimal sleep during a night with a cloudy sunrise.

In the midst of this unexpected night was a small boy who trusted God. He didn't whine. He didn't complain. He looked to God for the answer and waited. Time after time, towel after towel. He continued to look to God for the answer to his experience even when it didn't feel good and took awhile.

I wonder. How many times in the midst of my "surprises" in life do I not only hang on to God's planned outcome, but grip him tightly with my trust in the darker and unclear times? Our son did that last night. He clearly didn't like being sick. Who would? But in the midst of it, he knew enough to look to God and wait. He waited with a sick tummy, but he waited without worrying. Sure he wondered when it would stop and was acutely uncomfortable. But he knew to trust the God who was with him no matter what he was experiencing.

Contrast that with my response last night. I trusted God, but had side commentary in my head each time a new towel was necessary because I had plans for the next day. I ended up learning to rest and wait upon God along with our son. In a way, we were both experiencing the same thing - waiting for someone more powerful than us to make it all better. God used me and his Daddy as instruments and taught me something at the same time.

May I always have trust like this five-year-old boy. Even on the days when the old camping towels stay in their box.

A refreshing read for me today some years later and a good reminder never to let go of trusting God's plan.