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Benadryl is My Friend

Alternately entitled: “Can I Get a Sick Day All Up in Here?”

My kiddos are sick.

And their {poor, exhausted, mucous-streaked} momma is sick too.

It ain’t pretty.

The past 2 days have consisted of more snot than you could ever imagine wiping from 4 rosy little nostrils, less sleep than any human being should be required to function on, and more whining than you could ever bear to listen to without the consequential smashing of china.

And then there was vomit.

Out of sheer desperation, in my {tearful} attempt to get some much needed shut-eye after both kids boycotted naptime yesterday {what?  I thought you needed more sleep when you’re sick?!?}, I barricaded the 3 of us in my daughters room and, covering the floor with pillows and blankets, proceeded to fall asleep in the middle of the madness. 

Between getting stepped on, drooled on and whacked in the head repeatedly, I’m sure I got a refreshing 5.8 minutes of sleep.  Broken up into 4 second intervals.  It was smashing.

I was then violated by a spider.  Yup…just when I thought “my day can’t possibly feel any less enjoyable”…a furry little beast drops from the ceiling, onto my shoulder, and wastes no time seeking refuge between “the girls”. 

Holy mother of pearl.  As if “losing” said girls to 4 wonderful years of pregnancy-and-nursing-fluctuation {and eventual deflation} isn’t traumatic enough, having an arachnid disappear between them could just send me over the edge.

But wait…there is a glimmer of hope.  She comes in the form of a large hot mug of caffeinated goodness. 

And right there, amidst the whirlwind of partially-used tissues, nasal aspirators and mismatched sippy cups {and after a glorious 1.5 hour nap}…I have a second wind. 

I decide to go big and expend it doing a handstand against our van {during the 45 minutes I spent outside with the kids today in my valiant effort to say, “yes, yes, of course we’ve left the house in the past 2 days”}.

Apparently my brain malfunctions when I’m not well.

I threw my back out against the front hood of our sexy minivan.  It wasn’t sexy.  The kids weren’t even impressed with my gymnastic prowess.  I did get a sympathy back-rub and lots of kisses out of my sweet girl, though.

What a {painful} waste of my 2 minute energy burst.

{So very thankful we don’t have neighbors near enough to have experienced the mortifying, and deeply disturbing, scene that went down in our driveway this afternoon}

We’ve bonded extensively with our television today.  I have hated the idea of TV, monthly Satellite dish payments and DVR considerably less these past two days.  In fact, I think I owe my last shred of sanity to it’s existence in our home.  Thank you “Word World”.  I love you.

And now it’s that time again. 

That beautiful period of time when my bed beckons me to lay my weary head upon it’s flannel fluffiness, and yet…my snot-encrusted self knows that for the third night in a row, the sweetness of sleep will not be experienced fully.  If at all.

And then it hits me.  We have Benadryl in the cupboard.

Merciful God.  We will live to see another day.

The end.

 

Ps.  {Because everyone needs to smile on a sick day} for your viewing pleasure, I present: Bug.  In all his glory.  How ‘bout dem apples?

Naked Apple Eater

Related posts:

  1. Snot. Tissues. Benadryl. Repeat.
  2. Through Thick and Thin, in Sickness and in Health…
  3. Listen, I Tell You A Mystery…
  4. Dear Unpleasant Children
«
»

Keepin' it Real, The Kiddos

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Simply Bloom exists to empower women to embrace their stories, live out their passion with purpose, and leave a legacy of love.
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Hello there! I'm Joy. Speaker, designer, author & coach, and creator of the #weROARproject. Welcome to Simply Bloom Co., where passion & purpose collide.

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May you remember that God is not only the God of d May you remember that God is not only
the God of destinations, but of detours.

When life takes you somewhere you never intended to go,
may you recognize that you have not been forgotten.

May you have eyes to see the people in front of you,
hands willing to gather the sticks,
courage to shake off the snakes,
a heart willing to welcome and be welcomed,
and faith to believe that even here,
especially here, God is at work.
What if the place you keep calling a detour is act What if the place you keep calling a detour is actually part of the story?

Paul was headed to Rome. Instead, he ended up shipwrecked on Malta.
It wasn't the destination. But it mattered.

A reminder for all of us: don't waste the waiting,
the detour, or the place you didn't choose.

🎙️ 042 | Make Malta Matter | Finding Purpose in Divine Detours
  The latest Oh, Good Grief Podcast episode is out now.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #MakeMaltaMatter #SimplyBloomCo
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weren't wasted at all?

In Part 2 of my conversation with Leah Harvey,
we go deeper into what it means to trust
God when the outcome is still unknown.

Leah has spent years carrying the ache of infertility,
and she doesn't offer a tidy answer or a spiritual shortcut.

Instead, she talks about restoration.
About eternity.
About choosing Jesus over her preference.
About looking for treasure in the middle of the story.

And about the surprising realization that there
may not have been wasted years after all,
because God was present in every one of them.

He is.
Even here.
Even now.

🎧 Part Two with Leah Harvey is live now.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #StruggleWell #StayRooted #SojournTogether
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What if trusting that God is good doesn't mean bel What if trusting that God is good doesn't mean
believing He will give us everything we ask for?

That's one of the questions my friend Leah Harvey
and I wrestle with in this week's episode.

Leah and her hubby, Jake, have walked through years
of infertility and the kind of unanswered prayer that
doesn't just hurt once—it asks you to keep
trusting God over and over again.

We talk about grief, surrender, the questions we sometimes feel afraid to ask, and what happens when we stop trying to put tidy answers over messy pain.

This is a tender conversation about choosing Jesus over our preferences, embracing the mystery of God, and learning to believe that His goodness doesn't depend on whether He gives us the thing we're asking for.

Part One of my conversation with Leah Harvey is live now
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#OhGoodGriefPodcast #StruggleWell #StayRooted #SojournTogether
Before the world told you who you needed to become Before the world told you who you needed to become...
Before fear taught you how to survive...
Before shame convinced you to hide...
God looked at you and called you His own.

Not because you had healed.
Not because you had figured yourself out.
Not because you had become your best self.
Simply because you were His.

You are still becoming.
And you are already loved.

Keep coming home.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #SimplyBloomCo
What if the goal isn't to become a different type, What if the goal isn't to become a different type,
but to become more fully yourself?

We've spent the last several weeks exploring the Enneagram:
our gifts, wounds, coping strategies, and the stories we
learned to believe in order to survive.

Now it's time to come home.

Episode 039 closes this Summer Series by asking
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The Enneagram can help us understand our patterns.
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You are not your coping strategy.

You are a beloved child of God.

🎧 Oh, Good Grief — Episode 039 is available now.
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It’s no small honor to be given the opportunity to preach at our church from time to time. Had you told the broken, shoplifting, lying, giving-her-body-away-for-free teenage girl I once was that one day she’d stand in a pulpit and talk to people about God’s goodness and grace, I would have laughed at you.

But maybe that’s exactly why God delights in using the messy, the unlikely, the misfits. Because these are the stories that make His redemption impossible to miss.

One of my favorite lines from The Chosen, spoken by Mary Magdalene, sums it up perfectly: “I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.”

That’s my story, too.
And if I were to hazard a guess, it's yours as well.

It’s one of my greatest joys to dig into God’s Word, share what He’s laid on my heart, offer some encouragement and conviction, confess the uncomfortable things, and ultimately point people back to Jesus.

Because there’s no denying the extraordinary power of redemption when you’ve lived it yourself.
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