singforever.ca 3.0

What do you do when you’re sick?

I find that with a decreased amount of energy and having headaches, I don’t desire to do much.  I gravitate towards mindless activity such as watching some online tv episodes, watching movies, etc.  I don’t usually desire to read.  Or cook anything particularly labour intensive.  What easily results is vegetable soup or cereal and milk.

Some things I crave while being sick: ginger ale (we’ve got lots), my pillow.  I also kind of crave congee but I have no clue how to make it. Maybe I should pay a visit to the Chinese restaurant with the stairs to get some familiar food. Or T&T to get some grass jelly and chrysanthemum juice.

On the upside I’ve been bored enough to do some much-needed paperwork.  Reimbursements, health care forms, etc.  Hooray for money back!

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.  I had the chance to study it at IBS last summer and really steeped myself in the mindset of the two sons.  Tim Keller’s book Prodigal God also gives great perspective to the parable as well.

These few days I’ve been putting myself more into the shoes of the father.  I have thought about just how big the heart break he must have felt when his younger son came to him asking for the inheritance.  How broken he must have been and yet he honoured the rebellious wishes and let go.

I know some families, some parents who’ve experienced tremendous heart break due to a child leaving and going their own way never to return.  They are still waiting. I wonder how I would deal with that circumstance.  I wonder if I was faced with the necessity to move (physically) whether I would actually move, not knowing if my child would ever be able to find me when he decides to return and discovers that I’ve move(d on).

How long would I stay in that house, hoping that one day my child would return through the very gates he departed so many foolish years ago.  Would I be the last one to hold onto a whisper of a hope after everyone else has gone back to normal life and work and routine. Would I sit there, on the porch, waiting each day looking more like the foolish one with each passing sunset.

Oh the sweet sweet love of our Father, who is waiting so patiently.

I enjoy:

• playing music really loud when I’m in the car alone and trying to sing harmonies to electro-pop music
• taking my road bike out for the first time of the season
• the feeling after you’ve just really cleared your throat.. when you’re sick
• watching Wallace and Gromit short films and noticing all the quirky, ironic and detailed humour inside (claymation figures doing pottery!?)
• getting invited to lunch
• wearing rubber boots

Still trying:

• to heal from getting sick
• to get a contact lens into either eye
• to determine how I will drive to BC this summer and where I will stop
• to dream a little bigger
• to find a little more courage
• to rely on God rather than myself

Just today I started feeling sick.  David was sick earlier in the week so it’s not that much of a surprise.  As the day went on, it got gradually worse with sneezing and headaches.

And for some reason I decided that it was a good idea to pick up my new glasses — new frames and lenses.  Bad decision… now I definitely have a headache more due to the change in prescription.  Apparently my prescription has lowered since 5 years ago.  Result is that everything looks a lot more vibrant and sharp at mid to close distance, the contrast is really high, and I feel like I’m always cross-eyed.

I wanted to switch back to my old pair … such a temptation but it’s not a good idea to keep switching back and forth.

Also, I was typing on Peter’s laptop in QWERTY and it was sooo hard.  I had to look at almost every key as I typed.  I’m not amazing at Dvorak quite yet, but I’ve started to forget QWERTY (unless it’s with my thumbs on my BlackBerry).  What a strange feeling to have started to forget something I’ve spent the last decade or more perfecting (cue spiritual analogy of your choice).

And none of this is even real pain.

Things I enjoy:

- biking in a blizzard

- driving the Limoment (my car, the Honda Element) in a blizzard

- pulling my windshield wipers up so they don’t freeze on overnight

- having clean laundry

- eating maple walnut ice cream

- reading Relevant magazine

Not so like:

- getting really wet while biking through slush

- initiating the doing laundry process

I desire to:

- make someone smile more than they’ve ever smiled in their life

- sleep really late but still get a full night’s sleep before 8am arrives

- drive across Canada but not have to pay for so much gas