You often hear the phrase “In Like A Lion, Out Like A Lamb”, or vice versa, when it comes to March. March definitely entered our life like a lion.
Ever since returning from our Disney trip in the middle of February, I felt like there was at least one child home sick from school every few days. It just never seemed to end. Then March reared it’s ugly head and we were done for. It was a non-stop struggle to stay healthy and feel normal.
I honestly think it all started with me! There was a point where I was so sick I could hardly function. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been that sick. I honestly just thought it was a nasty cold, but the length and recovery time was taking forever. Then more of the family started to get sick. By the time it got through half of us, we knew it was more than a cold. And sure enough, the last few of us were diagnosed with Influenza A. It caused my husband and oldest son to miss a week of work and school before spring break. It also caused my husband to stay home from an out of country trip he’d been planning with students and staff at his school for most the year, as well as make my mom change her plans to come visit while he was gone. It was rough!
There were points during the month where I was pure exhausted. I was still recovering from what I’m sure now was the same diagnosis, while also trying to keep the house hold running and caring for sick ones. I was not at my best during this time, I’ll admit. There were tears and there was yelling. I was doing the best I could to hang on to my sanity most days.
Earlier in the month, before everything imploded, we started talking about the Beatitudes at church. I wrote down two of the verses that stood out to me that morning and wrote them down at home on our chalkboard that afternoon, thinking they might be handy at some point.
“You are blessed when you are at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more God and His rule.” Matthew 5:3
“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are – no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves owners of everything that can’t be bought.” Matthew 5:5
I can’t tell you how many times I read those verses over and over. I needed to take them to heart each time I felt defeated. I was not getting done the things I deemed important. I was behind on many things, but I had to remind myself that this was going to pass soon. All those other things could, and would, wait. If the laundry didn’t get done no one would care. If I couldn’t get my social media or blog posts up because the baby needed me to hold her, so what! I needed to put my focus and energy into getting us through this momentary blip on life’s screen. I had to be CONTENT with the hand we were dealt.
I’m happy to say that by the end of the month, we were all on the upswing. We were able to enjoy the kids spring break and spend some really great quality family time together. The weather was great most of the week and we are now feeling back to normal. I’m confident we’ve exited March like a lamb and I’m thankful for the peace we now have in our home.
