Not my favorite part of the job...

I am a Christian woman. I go to church. I love Jesus. I believe in the power of prayer.
As a mom, there are many times when I call upon that power. However few are more urgent than when a child is throwing up.
"Please God, let it stop."
"Lord, if you could help her aim even a little bit so that at least half of the vomit lands in the bowl and not on my lap, that would be great."
"Jesus, I pray that you would heal my child from this illness. However, if you choose to let the virus run its course, could you please give me enough time to change the sheets, change my clothes, change her clothes, start the laundry, and mop the floor before she pukes again? I would really appreciate that."

Sadie Lynn seems to have a stomach bug of some sort which is causing us all great distress. I was at a school board meeting last night when I got a frantic call from Steve. He's pretty good with the girls on his own, and can handle just about any situation without help. Unless that situation involves someone barfing. And worse than that, last night he had barfing and diarrhea to deal with. Everywhere. I knew from the tone of his voice that his ability to cope was quickly coming to an end. I rushed home, but by the time I got there my wonderful husband had already cleaned up and a tearful little Sadie Lynn was in bed waiting for new blankets from her daddy. As soon as I walked in the room he looked at Sadie Lynn, gave her a kiss on the forehead, turned to me and said "it's your turn." I spent the next hour sitting on the bed next to my sick little girl whispering prayers for her health
It was a long night, but she seems to be in better spirits this morning. And, frankly, I can't imagine she has much more inside of her that could possibly come out of either end.
So far Sarah Jane has shown no signs of the bug herself, and so she went to school this morning as usual. Although, the last time Sadie Lynn was ill, and Sarah Jane wasn't (or so I thought) she threw up in her classroom within the first 5 minutes. Oh well, at least someone else had to clean it up that time.