The worst stomach flu ever

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.   ^{(John 19:25 NLT)}

When Madolyn was maybe two months old, she got a stomach bug.  I went back to work after six weeks off and she went to the daycare/babysitter just two houses down from us...with lots of other kiddos and she got sick. It was awful to see her so sick.  We didn't end up in the hospital with her or anything, thankfully, but she was a sick little gal.  It was exhausting for sure, but the hardest part was watching such a tiny little thing suffering, and being brand new parents, Jay & I weren't really sure what to do and were frightened with the whole thing.  My mom came down and helped us out a lot during that sickness. I can picture my mom sitting in the living room of our house in the rocking chair with Madolyn, feeding her sips of Pedialite every 20 minutes.  She recovered from the flu bug thankfully and apparently passed it on to Jay and I. 

That weekend after she had been sick, Jay and I came down with the worst stomach flu ever.  It was terrible.  It was violent.  It was painful. It was exhausting. It was debilitating.  Seriously, we could not function.  Jay's parents came and got Madolyn and took her back to Martinsville because there was NO way either one of us could care for her.  We literally slept for 24 hours straight that weekend.  Obviously, we got over it, but the one thing I will never forget is that as bad as I felt thinking that my baby girl had to endure it as well was heartbreaking.  We were adults and are supposed to be able to handle that kind of thing, but she was defenseless, and honestly, I must admit, I felt pretty helpless.  I'm telling you, it was the worst stomach flu ever.

I think back to watching Madolyn sick and defenseless with something as simple as a stomach flu and then I'll recall the story of a child who has a very serious disease, or a child who has died in an accident or something tragic.  I cannot imagine how a parent recovers from that sort of thing.  I cannot imagine the strength they have to muster up to endure it.  I think of Jesus and the torture and pain he endured for me, for all of us.  I think of what Mary must have felt like standing there next to the cross watching him die a horrific death.  It is unfathomable for me.  I don't want to imagine what it was like.  I want to push it far away from my mind.  But it is real.  His death was the price of our salvation.  We shouldn't forget.