Theology and Mucous

I apologize in advance if this post is strange, but it's 1:30 in the morning and I'm up blogging because I can't sleep thanks to the intense pressure in my sinuses. It is pretty dangerous to share my middle-of-the-night thoughts with the greater internet world, but hey, why not live dangerously.
We at the Spangler house are getting an opportunity this weekend to deal with our theology in the land of unexpected unpleasantness. What the heck am I talking about? Well, Greg and I are supposed to leave in a little over 24 hours to go to Couple's Retreat, our first overnight away from Addie, and it's not looking to likely that we'll be going. We're waiting till the last minute to make the final call, but yesterday's news wasn't great.
Addie and I have been fighting this ick for a week now, and fighting hard. We hit it with the EmergenC, the Zicam, the Mucinex, the Cough Syrup, the Expectorant, the Day-time, the Night-time... you name it. I even drank some magic elixir from our neighbor that tasted like I'd licked a tree. And I think I can still hear it... or maybe feel it... saying "Is that all you got?" I was determined to fight it off and not get on antibiotics because Addie and I have both had more than our fair share of antibiotics and our bodies need a chance to learn to fight on their own. Well, we fought, but we didn't win.
We went to the doctor yesterday. My doctor in the morning, her doctor in the afternoon. My doctor said, "Yep, you fought, but it's not going anywhere. Time for some antibiotics."
At Addie's doctor I expected to hear that she had a sinus infection and would need the drugs, but what I DID NOT expect was to be told, "Um, one of her ear tubes is coming out. And that ear seems to be infected." At which point I carried on the grand tradition of making Addie's ped think I'm nuts and started crying. Man, I was tired and that left hook came out of nowhere! Every vivid memory of the winter of '06/'07 came right to my mind- the constant doctor's visits, the crying, the screaming, the meds, the ear tube surgery... And to think of doing it all over again!
And that is why I say that we're dealing with our theology in this ugly land of infections. Because what do you do when you don't get the fun things you want (weekend away, health, sleep) and instead face a potential trial? You can get overwhelmed, have a huge pity party, and be a touch mad at God. And I'll be honest, there was some moments of that yesterday. But we sat down and talked about it. Is God good? You bet. Does he withhold good from His children? Nope. So how do I explain this? I back up, stop looking at myself, and start looking at God.
Yes, we're sick and miserable and tired, etc, etc, but also we're so blessed. Knowing that I have an eternity before me to be in God's presence, removed from sickness, what's a little time here? Just a blip. Even a fun weekend away, even at a church retreat, only has limited value. But serving the Lord with gladness where He has me- that has eternal value. Bringing praise as a sacrifice when it's not easy is a privilege.
I am so thankful for the promise of eternity because it gives us hope. When life doesn't seem so rosy, I'm so glad I can know that I'm not living for this life!
So thanks for letting me vent people. We look forward to keeping you up to date on the great weekend ahead of us- whether that's Greg and Niki at the Beach and Addie's fun time with the Kropfs, or whether it's a weekend together as a family loving and serving each other in sickness.

Finally, I leave you with a little story to sum up how we feel:
The other night, after we put Addie down to bed, we heard her over the monitor making more noise than usual. I asked Greg, "Is she crying?" Putting the monitor up to his ear he said, "I think she's singing!" We leaned in to hear better and heard our daughter singing
"God is so good,
God is so good,
God is so good,
Heee's goooooood to me."