Sometimes things are just hard.

One week later, we are still dealing with sick kids, and 2 sick adults. Bob and I can't seem to get over this monster cold and Stryder was throwing up again yesterday. All the kids have sniffles, and they have all the behavorial accompaniments that go along with not feeling well. Bob has been working long and strange hours with broken sleep. I haven't slept well in quite some time. It's getting to us. There is tension. We are fatigued. There is no way to really rest. Bob and I would like to look to each other for someone to lean on but we're both depleted. The patience required to deal with the children and one another is difficult to maintain.

That's just how it is sometimes.

I am amazed today at those that endure lasting illnesses. I can not begin to fathom their plight. All that we are facing is temporary, we will get better and our lives will go on. Can't get out of my mind those parents with sick children today. Those parents who are spending their days and nights by hospital beds. Those parents who do not know if those children will live or die. Those parents who may be celebrating their last Christmas with their little ones. Thinking of the strain on their marriages, on their finances, on their own health, on their faith. Praying for them today because just the small infirmity we have faced this week has reminded me of how little I have had to suffer, and that there is a whole world of people enduring lasting hardship.