[CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]Do you know what I long for? What I’m craving right now?
Humdrum.
Same-old, same-old.
Ordinary.
It’s Tuesday; that must mean tacos for dinner.
Because two weeks ago our family’s fabulous formula of regularity was shattered by the blow … of a nose.
A sneeze laid us low.
Well, more like a rasping, hacking cough.
Two weeks ago the creeping crud crept up on us, and since then five out of the six of us have fallen: all four kids plus myself. When the sickle of sickness swings through our house it cuts a wide swath; the house is small, we’re bunched close together, so several are sure to tumble with each sinus-y sweep.
So it was.
From the single sneeze we started succumbing one after another in quick succession, leading to four separate trips to the doctor in seven days, plus four trips to the pharmacy to procure elixirs of health. During those days we also had two blizzards when Minnesota broke a snow record (yeah!), and freezing temperatures that set a new record for cold in Minnesota (double yeah!) (where we live wind chills were 30 below). There were school cancellations, and days of snow and blowing wind when we’d keep a careful eye on the toilet paper supply as we checked the forecasts and tried to figure when we could make a run to the grocery store. Not to mention Valentine’s Day and a birthday. It’s been a lot to pack into two weeks.
It was rough all around, and it’s meant that we haven’t had anything like an ordinary day since our last sighting of the sun glimpsed as a milky orb through the snowy haze.
I’ve been trying to figure out what the Lord wanted to teach me by all this unexpected randomness invading my well-ordered days.
Maybe to be more careful about washing hands and sanitizing doorknobs.
Or maybe to be more appreciative of how good our ordinary is, to become aware of the tremendous gift of our everyday.
If so, I’ve learned! Please, bring back our everyday!
Hopefully it’s on the way. Yesterday was our first day with all four kids back in school, so maybe we’re starting back. Little by little, day by day, we’re all getting better. With any luck we’re about to embark on a long and uninterrupted string of Taco Tuesdays. And I’ll be thankful for each and every one of them!
Copyright 2019 Jake Frost
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