“For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Job 33:4 NLT
There’s an old saying, “A breath of fresh air”. We’ve all heard it, on t.v., if nothing else. Webster defines the phrase as, “A welcome or refreshing change.”. Doesn’t that sound nice? If you’re using the phrase to describe someone, absolutely, I think so.
But, in this case, I’m referring to a literal breath of fresh air.
It’s been a beautiful few days at my family’s home in the hills of West Virginia. Warm and sunny – perfect weather to enjoy some time outside. I know my kids have been chomping at the bit to play outside after a long winter (well, technically, year – thanks COVID) of being cooped up in the house.
We’ve spent every minute we could outside playing – swinging on the playground, riding in Power Wheels or just sitting on the patio in the sun. It’s been wonderful (insert smiley face sunglasses emoji here).
Unless you have allergies or asthma, that is. This is the part where my hand goes up, because I am lucky enough to have both. Who says you can’t have it all?? (I’ll be here all week; tip your waitress.)
My husband and I have terrible allergies. If it’s outside, it’s probably going to make us sneeze. Our precious daughter inherited this gift, so when our son started sniffling and coughing, we figured he did, too. After a few days, he developed a noticeable wheeze. This was very alarming for me because his lungs are scarred due to all of the intervention he needed while in the NICU.
His official diagnosis is Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (or BPD for short). When he was diagnosed, it was explained to us as basically, and I’m quoting here, “crappy lungs”. We were told it could present as severe colds every year, asthma or he could heal completely and have no issues. So far, he had been minimally affected, but was prescribed a nebulizer as a precaution.
We decided it was probably better to err on the side of caution and call the pediatrician. She agreed with us and asked to see him. 2 hours later, he was diagnosed with croup.
Y’all, I was terrified. I remembered my grandma likening croup to the plague (…timeout to wonder if this is where my flare for the dramatic comes from…). My husband assured me that the doctor wasn’t overly concerned. We caught it early, so she was confident that a round of antibiotics, steroids and breathing treatments every 6 hours would have him good as new in no time. This is when the “barking” cough started.
If you haven’t experienced this, let me just tell you…I 100% questioned if Ari was barking in his crib. It’s terrible. He was not a fan of the breathing treatments, but I can’t blame him there. And we all know the rule, if baby doesn’t sleep, mama doesn’t sleep. So he and I spent a lot of time snuggling in the rocking chair. I spent a lot of time praying.
Then it hit me.
God was taking this time to give me a spiritual “breathing treatment”.
I had gotten too lost in the chaos of everyday life and too far from Him. I needed Him to intervene and give me that soul-healing breath of life. It was the reminder I needed that the ultimate Physician is always in control. Praise His holy name!
With this realization, I was able to put my overwhelming panic to rest. That’s not to say that I wasn’t still worried about my baby, but I was no longer scared. THAT is a peace only God can provide. It took me back…back to where He wants me to be – nearer to Him. I began to make talking to Him, REALLY talking, not just a quick prayer here and there, and it was just what I needed. There are still times that I can only pray that He hears my heart, but I think He’s ok with that. He just wants to hear from me…and you.
It is so easy for us to get caught up in the daily grind – too easy to make excuses and put Him on the back-burner. It’s not an intentional slight, it happens in the “…but first…” moments (See Erika’s blog, “My Big But” for more on this).
So my ask of you is simply this – make time for Him.
Make a concerted effort to spend time daily in His word (perhaps start your day with Coffee and Convictions) and talking to Him. He doesn’t ask for anything fancy, just talk to Him. He loves you.
“So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.” Isaiah 30:18 NLT
LYLAS
Brandy
