Category: My Journey

Runny Noses, Messy Stalls, and a Full Heart

The Season of Sneezing

It’s been an eventful few weeks in the Sanders household–the kind of eventfulness most of us could do without. It seems Covid has displaced other viruses for the past year or two, leading to a particularly rough cold and flu season.

My family has not been spared. The first wave of sickness hit about a week after we had Trunk or Treat at our church. Cris and I had fairly mild symptoms, but Clark had a more difficult time. He had a fever that would come and go. Worse still, he would either cough or cry (or both) starting at around 3 or 4 in the morning for several days straight. We went about a week without at good night’s sleep.

We all got over that bug and figured we were done with sickness for a while. We were wrong. Clark and Cris both started having flu-like symptoms last week. Cris has been having body pain, mild fever and nasal congestion. Clark has been having a high fever and nasal congestion.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Saturday and Sunday morning went something like this: Clark woke up at 4:00 a.m., crying and seeking parental comfort. I took him with me to the extra bedroom to see if everyone could get a few more hours of sleep. Clark went back to sleep with me by his side. But the four-year-old’s severe congestion made his slumber sound like a small chainsaw. I never would have imagined such a small body could produce such a loud snore.

Going back to my room wasn’t much of an option: Cris, who also had nasal congestion, wasn’t sleeping very quietly either. More importantly, there was a good chance Clark would wake up, follow me in there, and interrupt what little sleep my wife was able to get.

One of these 4:00 a.m. wake-up calls was yesterday, a Sunday, which means I preached in this sleep-deprived state. I joked with a few people about the possibility of falling asleep during my own sermon. God gave me the strength to preach His word and enjoy fellowship with the congregation.

I ended up taking Clark to a nearby urgent care last night. We were a little concerned that his fever had not gone away after several days (and we knew strep throat was going around). He was diagnosed with the flu–no strep throat.

The High Price of Clean Stalls

I’ve been thinking about a verse from Proverbs in light of these recent events:

Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
    but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

-Proverbs 14:4

The point of this Bible verse is pretty simple: there’s no cleaning up to do when there are empty stalls. But empty stalls also mean you have no animals to work the field. It’s much better to clean feeding troughs than to lack a harvest.

There’s a point I’m getting to–one directly related to the proverb I’ve just quoted.

There was a time, not too long ago, when I never had to worry about having my sleep interrupted at 4:00 a.m. or wrestling with an uncooperative boy in a doctor’s office.

But that household quietness did come with a price of its own. I was alone.

I’m not saying that my previously single life was meaningless, joyless, or void of purpose. I still smile when I think about carefree jeepney rides on the streets of Manila.

But I also wouldn’t trade anything for what I have now. I’m profoundly grateful to have a wife and son to love and care for.

Today this proverb will come to mind every time I reach for a tissue to wipe my son’s nose.

Image by Elke from Pixabay

Divine Appointment on Salem Drive

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
    but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

-Proverbs 19:21

I read this Proverb this morning as I was sipping my coffee. I began thinking of how often God has changed wrecked my plans in order to accomplish His plans.

But God allowed me to experience the truth of this verse in a most amazing way this morning.

I took the usual five-minute drive from my house to the church building. Most of this short commute happens on Salem Drive, a road I’ve gone down countless times since we moved here.

But turning off of Salem into the church parking lot was different this time. A man had laid down his adult-sized tricycle on its side, partially blocking the parking lot entrance. I actually had to wait for him to move it a little before I could drive in–otherwise I would have run over a long flag that was attached the back of the vehicle.

The man asked for my help as soon as I stepped out of my car. It turned out that the tricycle had two chains, both of which had come loose. He was unable to get them back on (I’m not sure exactly how long he’d been trying).

I grabbed the chains and began working on getting them back onto the sprockets. I joked that the task took me back to memories of my 10-year-old self fixing my bicycle. He laughed and repeatedly thanked me for my help. I could tell that life had thrown some serious challenges his way, yet he was so cheerful (this was a quick reminder about the importance of gratitude).

His tricycle was slightly more complicated than my childhood bicycle, but the principle was the same. We had both chains back on their sprockets in a few minutes. He then pointed to the rear axle and explained that the sprocket was loose, allowing it to move from side to side on the axle (it should be firmly fixed in the center). This, he said, is probably what caused the chains to come off. He asked if I had a wrench we could use to tighten it.

I asked our secretary if she had some wrenches in her toolbox (she keeps one in her office). She found a set, but they looked way too big to be of any help.

I have a set of tools in the trunk of my car that I inherited when I bought it. I never have really looked through them very closely so I wasn’t optimistic about finding what I needed. But I figured it wouldn’t hurt to check.

And there they were: a set of channel lock pliers that looked like they had been custom-designed for today’s job (the smallest set I have ever seen). I wonder what Mr. McCoy (the car’s previous owner) had in mind when he bought them. “I’ve never even noticed these before today,” I told my new friend. A few turns of the bolt and the sprocket was securely set in the middle of the axle.

We turned his newly repaired tricycle right-side up. My friend thanked me again before joyfully peddling away.

I reflected on this divine appointment as I washed my grease-covered hands.

God had orchestrated every detail: from my arrival time at the office to the tool that was placed in my trunk years ago. He put me in just the right place at the just right time and provided me with exactly what I needed for this morning’s first assignment.

It’s going to be a good day. It already has been.