Karizma's been sick for a while now with a cough she can't seem to shake. Last night she was coughing so hard it caused her to throw up. Now in our home, we have an open staircase from the main living area up to where the kids' bedrooms are. Often when the kids are upstairs and need us, they simply come to the top of the stairs look over the railing and call for us.
Last night I was getting ready for bed and walking out into the living room to turn off the lights when I heard a splat on the hardwood all around me and felt something tap me on the shoulder. (you see where this story is heading) I went into a small state of shock, but turned up to see Karizma...at the top of the stairs looking quite pale. I immediately realized what had happened: as I was walking out...Karizma was coming to the top of the stairs to tell me she was feeling sick to her stomach.
God, it seems, is not without a sense of humor and with the kind of timing that synchronized swimmers would kill for I walked right into Karizma's second story "upheaval."
My immediate concern was to prevent any "aftershocks" and so I said to Karizma, "If you're going to get sick (I didn't say, AGAIN) go into the bathroom." But there she stood, like a frozen volcano ready to erupt again but too in shock to do anything about it. I repeated myself, "If you're going to throw up, go into the bathroom." No reaction. The combination of her sickness, fatigue, and the sight of her dad covered in her own puke had paralyzed her. I say it one more time, "Karizma, Get into the BATHROOM!"
This time she snaps out of it and turns into her bathroom where she, indeed, did erupt once or twice more. Having responded to the immediate crisis and mitigated any further "incident" we now moved to the clean-up phase. It turns out Karizma had 2 "incidents" in her room before my lucky moment as well. So I pulled my sweater off, rinsed my hair out in the sink, and headed upstairs with a sponge and hot water to begin the clean up.
I can't help but think that there's a picture of God's grace in there somewhere. We've already soiled ourselves with our sin...we've made a mess of our lives...we've "puked" all over God's love for us. And yet there he stands...offended and wronged by our sin...still seeking for our good. Showing us where to go...leading us to the place where we can get clean...sponging away the ruin we have made of our lives...setting us in a clean bed...kissing us on the head...telling us it will be okay...singing over us as we go back to sleep.
It's times like these when I know why we call Him our 'abba' (Romans 8:15).
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