Sick Day...

I woke up at 3:30 yesterday morning to make Matthew a bottle. I could hear him crying, so I went into the kitchen, warmed the milk under the faucet and fiddled around in the dishwasher until I found all of the bottle pieces. My stomach ached, but I decided it was just indigestion from dinner the night before. When I walked into Matthew's room, I smelled something foul. Yep, it was throw up. He had a fever, too. I calmed him down, changed the sheets, changed his diaper and PJ's, wiped down the mattress with a Clorox wipe, the whole bit. He didn't want the bottle, so I rocked him back to sleep and prayed quietly that he would get better.

As I lay back down, my stomach began to churn and hurt. I felt nauseated. Indigestion. I thought to myself again. It took almost an hour, but I finally fell back to sleep. When I woke up the next morning I was sick. So much for the indigestion theory, right? Courtney came into my room begging for breakfast. Matthew let out that "Get me outta here!" cry from his bedroom. I knew I had a long day ahead of me.

I'm tough! I thought to myself. I can do anything as long as I'm relying on God to be my strength! I prayed and started the day.

Thankfully, Matthew slept a lot. I think he took 3 or 4 naps (probably due to the Tylenol for his fever). He was in a good mood during his awake times. Courtney is almost self-sufficient at this point. She played quietly in her room most of the day. Now and then I would hear the refrigerator open or the pantry door slam shut. I ventured out of my bed a few times to find half-eaten biscuits, string cheese and tortillas lying around the house, but I was just glad she was able to get her own food.

I learned an important lesson. You see, I have been meaning to learn how to rest for awhile now. It's not something I've ever been very good at. I'm more of a task-oriented person. I don't like idle time. I have a hard time sitting on the couch to think or read. I love getting out of the house to drive around town, walk around the mall or whatever. I have a hard time being still. I've come to blame my children for my restlessness, but I discovered yesterday that it's all me. They don't need me to run around like a chicken with my head cut off in order to get through their days. I felt like God whispered to my heart a few days ago that I needed to model rest to them if they were to learn it. Getting sick was just what I needed to kick into gear.

Yesterday I couldn't help it. I was sick. (REALLY sick.) Courtney and Matthew each had time in my bed where we sat quietly. Courtney and I talked about all sorts of things. Matthew and I played little games (peek-a-boo and what-not). It was awesome (except for the part when Courtney decided to jump on the bed). Today I have been trying to take it easy. I don't feel sick, but since I got so dehydrated yesterday I want to make sure I don't overdo it. So this morning I made it a point to turn on the radio in Courtney's room and read to the kids. They loved it. We sat quietly, listening to the music. I realized that many times I feel busy but I'm not very productive. I also realized that I need to take time to rest each day. I used to do that in college to alleviate stress. I'd draw, play guitar, play racquetball (not resting in the traditional sense, but restful to me)- anything to take my mind off of the day-to-day busyness and refresh my mind, soul & body. So now I'm on a mission to find time each day to rest. I'm sure it will be different every day, but I need it, nonetheless.

So my question for all of you: How do you rest? What is your escape? I'd love to hear your comments, as I'm still new to all of this. I could use all the help I can get!

Oh, and one more thing: The world didn't come to an end just because I spent most of the day in bed. Sure, food was strung all over the house and I found blue highlighter on several objects (came off easily, so I'm not too stressed). But overall it was a good day- and we just picked up today as if nothing were out of the ordinary. I have to give props to my husband, who stayed home from a meeting to help me out. He fed the kids and got them to bed, cleaned up and made things so easy for me. I was able to go to bed at 8pm! It just made me wonder if I were to practice resting instead of driving myself crazy go-go-going 24/7, how different could life be?