Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired
By Lisa Lakey
We were sick and tired. Figuratively and literally.
Flu-ridden and homebound months after our wedding, I was questioning whether our marriage would make it after all.
We glared at each other over the hem of our tissue-strewn blankets and said little to each other after accusations over who drank the remaining orange juice and chose the last movie.
Our demise was close, but we persevered. If absence makes the heart grow fonder, sickness sucks the fondness right out.
Neither one of us could care for ourselves, let alone each other. So instead of sympathy and love, our words were filled with contempt, and later … regret.
Sickness is no time to battle it out with your love. When you don’t feel well, emotions run high and anger triumphs over common sense.
So if one or both of you is under the weather, let me offer a few tips from my failure:
- Rest. A lot. Sickness makes us tired. Being tired makes us cranky.
- Count to 10 before responding. Calm those nerves so you don’t lash out.
- Don’t argue about orange juice. It’s not worth it.
- Take a break. Take a nap in the spare bedroom, read a book in the tub. When we feel confined from sickness, we need a little break from other people.
- Say “thank you.” Even if your spouse does something minor, make sure to show appreciation.
- Help where you can. If you are both sick, grab an extra juice when you head to the fridge. Even if they don’t say so, your spouse likely appreciates it.
It’s the trying times that show what we’re made of.
No, not the viruses in our bloodstreams, but the fruit at our core—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Even when you’re sick. Cough, cough.
Vows are more than just words said at your wedding. Read “I Still Do … Every Day.”
The Good Stuff: If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:25-26)
Action Points: Reading over the “fruit of the Spirit” listed at the end of this devotion, which one is hardest for you to show in regards to your spouse? How can you prepare yourself to respond to them in the Spirit when you least feel like it?
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