Under the Weather

So I've been a little under the weather lately. Been fighting a cold and seasonal allergies off and on for a month or so. By last Friday, it all came to a head. I was so sick by Friday night I knew something more was going on. My biggest fear was that I had contracted swine flu. I had several students out the past two weeks who did have swine flu. I had one come back to school still clearly suffering with cough and congestion. I had worked with this student before school one morning to get him caught up. So when my symptoms worsened this weekend I truly expected the worst.

I did begin to feel a little better Sunday afternoon, but still did not feel healthy enough to go to work on Monday. So, I found a substitute and took Monday off. I decided it would be so important for me to go to the doctor on Monday and rule out the possibility of swine flu. My regular doctor was booked that day and couldn't work any patients in. So I ended up at the Acute Care Clinic. When I arrived, there was a sign on the door indicating that if you had sinus congestion or cough, to please put on a mask. So, as I checked in I dutifully requested my mask. After signing in I found a seat in an end chair of the waiting room. As I sat I noticed that I was the only one in the room with a mask. Immediately I felt like the pink elephant in the room. True, there were others who were sick, but my mask set me apart from everyone else. I was marked among my peers as a "Swine Flu" victim, highly contagious and to be avoided at all costs! The funny thing is that I hadn't even been diagnosed at this point.

After about 20 minutes, I coughed for the first time. Afterwards, the woman sitting one chair over from me slowly got up and moved across the room, settling into a chair the furthest from my location. Now remember, I had on a mask. I had only coughed once and when I did, I covered my masked face with a kleenex as well. Boy did I feel really odd. People were eyeing me out of the corner of their eyes. Now here is the kicker. The woman who moved began coughing and blowing her nose! In addition, she moved next to a couple of children who were obviously struggling to breath and constantly blowing their noses in public. According to the health department, if you are sick you are definitely to blow your nose in private, AWAY from others to minimize contamination. I just sat there, amused by the irony of those who treated me like an alien simply because I wore a mask. They obviously were experiencing the same symptoms but had not put on a mask for the safety of others in the room. I couldn't help but to be thankful for the mask that separated me both socially and physically from those who were contagious. That mask protected me from their germs rather than the other way around.

Now for the irony. I tested negative for swine flu and left the exam room mask free! The two poor children who were waiting tested positive and came out of their exam room wearing masks. I don't know what happened to the woman who move away from me and next to the children. Though I hope they all are feeling better and recouperating, the experience was a testimony to the fickleness of human nature.

Like the woman who moved away from me, who was masked, into an area with sick people who were not masked, we too often make ill informed choices. How often do we choose what we think is safe and right only to put ourselves in further danger? How often do we take matters into our own hands and do what we think is best, only to later suffer from unplanned consequences? We can't see everything and we can't know everything. However, we have a God who can. We can rely on Him, we can Trust Him, and we can listen to His leading. He has our best interest in mind all the time. His best plans for us are far better to what we think is what is best for us. It is when we go against His plans, seeking out our own interests, that we become like the woman who moved away from me thinking it was safer across the room. She moved right into harm's way without knowing it. We do the same when we follow what we think is best without seeking God's Will. Like my mask, following God's Will protects us from those things we can't see or understand. When we go out on our own, we expose ourselves to harm and danger whose consequences can be spiritual, physical, and emotional.

So, I didn't have the Swine Flu. In fact, I ended up having a three for one special - sinus infection, bronchitis, and walking pneumonia. I was thankful. I'm home on bedrest this week according to doctor's orders. Although this isn't what I wanted to do this week and I have so much to do at work, this is what is best. Sometimes God stops us in our tracks to get our attention and force us to rest...at least that's what He does in my case. I guess it is because I'm so stubborn He has to thump me on the head once in a while. And by the way, LOVE my acute care doctor even though he also fussed at me about overdoing it:-)

God bless friends. Many of you are sick as well. Rest and get well. My prayers are with you all! Now it's back to bed for me:-)

In His Love, Cathy