Love DOES
Yall, on Friday Mr. Groundhog “said” there is going to be six more weeks of winter. SIX. Please say it ain’t so! I’m with the folks saying #notmygroundhog
We need Spring. Two weeks ago we found ourselves in the ER with Sprout. It was our first trip and we hit it out of the park. He started with a cough on Saturday, fever Sunday, and by early Monday morning had a rapid heart rate and seemed to be having trouble breathing. Off to the ER we went and a few hours later he was admitted with pneumonia. PNEUMONIA yall. Not even the walking kind. The on oxygen & breathing treatment kind. Poor buddy. It was heartbreaking to see him in that hospital bed. My heart broke for all the other parents in that hospital who were also sitting with their sick little ones and it was not lost on me that more than likely our stay would be short and others’ stays would be different. While serious, I knew he would most likely be okay. I was also very thankful for the wonderful children’s hospital that is Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and that we have access to it. So we were admitted to the hospital and there Sprout stayed for three days until he could sleep through the night without his oxygen levels dropping.
And besides always listening to your mama/daddy instinct, there is something else I learned through this experience. LOVE DOES. I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about our village before, family and friends who are always with us and for us. Find your village, love on them, and let them love on you. My Mama dropped everything, called in a sub (she’s a teacher), and showed up within a few hours (2.5 of those were driving) to take care of Chickadee and Poppy so III and I both could be at the hospital with Sprout. LOVE DOES. A dear friend and neighbor picked up Chickadee from preschool while my mom was on the way and took her to lunch so I could have a second to breathe and feed Poppy before heading back to the hospital. LOVE DOES. Friends brought meals…and they didn’t say would you like me to bring dinner, they said I’m bringing dinner tomorrow. LOVE DOES. A friend sent her sister (an art therapist at the hospital) to come bring an activity to help us pass the long days of being quarantined. LOVE DOES. So many were “on call” should we need help with the girls, meals at the hospital, a hot shower near by…LOVE DOES. And the prayers, how we coveted those, they came from all over and gave us confidence that our little man would be just fine. LOVE DOES.
Love Does is a book by Bob Goff. In the Amazon description it says Bob is the kind of guy that knows love doesn’t stop at thoughts and feelings. Love takes action. LOVE DOES. We have a role to play in the lives of those around us. And that role is active. I was reminded of that over our hospital stay. Show up. Act without worrying if you are imposing or if someone is going to say no. Because love is an action. LOVE DOES.
Thankfully our little man is back to himself. But I am still crossing my fingers that the groundhog got it wrong. Poppy has bronchiolitis, however is trending in the right directions. Chickadee is taking on an ear infection like a champ. And I’ve been coughing since Thanksgiving. Come on Spring.
