My daughter Sara loved “sea animals” when she was a little girl. Naturally, we would take her to Sea World when we visited family in Florida. Both the whale and dolphin shows each had “Soak Zones.” In there areas, you were guaranteed to get soaked in cold water. In fact, there were many people who sat in the zones with large pieces of plastic to keep them dry. Recently, my house had its own zone.
It started on a Tuesday, which is my day to keep my grandson, Maverick. For supper, I had cooked one of his and PopPop’s favorite meals: meatloaf and mashed potatoes. They both ate very well. After Sara picked up Maverick, my stomach began to feel somewhat queasy. I took some over the counter meds and went to bed. I was okay for a couple of hours.
As I laid there, I realized the dreaded time was soon approaching. When it finally arrived, I jumped out of bed to run the bathroom. Well, it didn’t quit work. So, just how far did I make it? As soon as my feet hit the floor. I’m not going to go into any detail, but I will compare my experience to when a whale breeches the ocean and spews out water like we had seen at Sea World.
Now, next to the bed I keep a power cord. My cell phone, I pad, and electric blanket stay plugged into it. Let’s just say it was fortunate enough to end up in my spewing zone. After I was through with said spewing, I checked to make sure that my cell phone was still charging. Are you thinking:” Brooke, are you really that into your phone?” Actually, I was concerned that my phone alarm would still go off so Tim could get up for work or call in on time if he needed to stay with me. Bless his heart, he brought me a wet hand towel and wiped off my face. He had gotten a couple a couple of bath towels to help clean up the mess. Unfortunately for him, he also became sick a couple of hours later.
While we were both through spewing by Wednesday morning, we were so exhausted that we slept most of the day. I only got up to feed and walk the dog. Those of you who know me, are probably surprised by that. You see, I’m an early bird. When I wake up, I’m usually ready to get up right then and have a hot cup of coffee. So, if I don’t do that, then you know it’s bad.
As I dozed off and on, I did a couple of things. Of course, I prayed to not only feel better, but to also thank Him for it not being worse. Also, I thought back to my childhood. If you have ready any of my articles, then you know I suffered from stomach virus quite frequently. During those times, my momma took excellent care of me. She is a natural care taker. I have often told her that she missed her calling. There was this one particular soup she would always fix me as my first recovery meal. That meant so much to me. That same love and comfort I have tried to pass on to others.
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (KJV)
Instead of keeping Jesus’ love and comfort to ourselves, we need to pass them around to others. I think we often underestimate just how much that means to people and the difference we can make.
I almost chose the title: “Spitting fire.” Seriously. It’s a wonder sparks didn’t fly from the power cord when the spew landed on it. Can you imagine Tim’s call to 911: “Help! My wife is spitting fire!”
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.