A Prayer for When Kids Get “Inconveniently” Sick

Every parent knows how it feels—like a mess, a mess of emotions, schedules, expectations, disappointments and ineradicable loves.

Very rarely does a child get sick on schedule. Usually it just happens, inconveniently, without notice. 

One moment all is well. The next you wake up in the middle of the night to an ear-piercing cry from a child who is suffering, as they see it, the apocalypse. It's the flu, or pink eye, or diarrhea, or an ear infection, or, God-forbid, Covid-19-millionth. 

One moment you've got things figured out—the errands, the emails, the eating, the exercise, the entertainment, plus a bunch of other stuff that doesn't start with the letter "e." (“C” is for chores.)

Usually, of course, you're just trying to catch up on last week's to-do list, while constantly evicting the thoughts from your head that keep telling you that you're failing or never good enough.

But today you’ve got it. You're going to crush it.

Then it happens. Your child gets sick. Again. 

And suddenly you're in multi-task mode, alternately playing doctor to the best of your limited abilities because calling the doctor would add another level of COMPLICATION; alternately reconfiguring the day's schedule in your noisy, exhausted head.

You feel like you're going to lose your shiitake mushrooms. You had a plan; you had things you needed to get done.

You try to remind yourself of the truth, that God makes things possible where they seem only impossible. But self-reminders are as satisfying as giving yourself a back scratch.

You refuse to play chess with Divine Providence, because you've done it before and it only sends you into crazyville. 

You refuse to play the Comparison Game, because it’s a cul-de-sac of misery if you get stuck there.

You refuse to see yourself as a victim, because that's a blackhole from which you return only with great effort.

So you put one foot in front of the other, you get real with God, you thank him out loud for your children, you look up at the sun (because vitamin D), and you hold onto the truth that this life isn't your only chance to do all the things that your heart painfully desires to do.

If that’s you, then this prayer is for you.

PS: It goes without saying that I'm using the term "inconvenient" in a tongue in cheek fashion. It's never really a matter of convenient or inconvenient; it's a matter of whether the sickness comes when you've got margin for it or not at all.

Do you love your children? Absolutely. Will you lay down your life for them? In a heartbeat. Should you cherish even these difficult moments? Most certainly.

But you're still human as a parent. You've got feelings. You've got God-given desires. And it's ok to lament the little things which, in the moment, feel like rather big things.

Would it be amazing to be surrounded by loving extended family, of both kin and faith, in order to sustain you in the hour of your need? 100%. Do most of us have such support? Tragically, no.

So you pray and you do your level best and you keep trusting that God's mercies are new every single morning.