allergic to water

i can pretty clearly recall the day, long ago... not sure how old i was, but i remember i was standing in our kitchen after playing outside. i asked for a drink and instead of getting something of the deliciously sweet variety, as a kid my age has just gotta have... my parents offered the boring "water" alternative. somehow in my slick little mind, i thought i had contrived the most awesomest idea ever....

i proceeded trying to convince them that i was, indeed, allergic to water.

i don't think that story needs to go much further, but here i am, now 27 and i feel like ive taken a full circle. It sounds almost as silly, not quite, but almost, to hear "you're allergic to the sun."

Im sorry... what???

So heres how it all went down... we were having a wonderful winter-escape to my parent's condo in Venice, FL. We arrive on Friday. Wednesday, we spend a few hours at the beach - I apply sunscreen to everyone else and skip myself. I end up with a slight sunburn. SLIGHT people. I mean, I've had bad sunburns... there were no blisters, no lobsters, this was a "throw some aloe on it for a couple days and move on" sunburn. Friday I go out to play tennis...as I start sweating, I start itching. By the time we load back into the car and I had cooled down, the itching/burning become uncontrollable. To spare you some of the details... I basically writhed in pain and severe itching for the following 72 hours+ as we tried everything from sprays and creams to oatmeal baths and tea bags...with no relief. I was locked in a room for the remainder of the vacaction, then I humiliatingly (yes, its a word now) had to walk through airports, ride a plane home and face the bitter cold ohio again, all with a make-shift-t-shirt-tube-top-thingy so nothing would touch my back or chest. YIKES!

So the urgent care and a dermatologist confirmed it... I had an allergic reaction to the sun. There it is. I only survived the madness because of some heaven-sent cream we found to finally take away the itch.

Well its Friday... a week has passed... I'm going to survive, I haven't gone completely insane, I'm almost healed up, barely itching anymore, finally wearing a sweatshirt and actually got to hold my baby this morning!

What an ordeal.

All this to say... I learned a lot in this last week. Well maybe things I already knew, so I should say I was reminded of a lot in this last week. 3 things imparticular:

1). God is my strength and my refuge, an ever-present help in trouble - Psalm 46:1. I found myself reciting this verse over and over to get me through the minutes/hours/days.

2). I have some really sweet friends. Friends who I know will pray when I ask. Friends who filled the week up bringing us dinners, groceries, etc. I was a little overwhelmed with suprise and thanks at their love and care for me.

3). my husband is AMAZING. he just took over mr. mom and mr. dad and mr. dr. as he packed us up from vacation, got us home, took care of basically everything for a week, including one exceptionally needy wife. lets just say, i wouldn't have made it out very nice or normal had it not been for him.

Sometimes it takes strange happenings for the reminder of God's love to truly sink-in. I can now say I'm actually quite thankful for all this as it gave me week of totally relying on my Savior to get through each day, a week of love and unexpected encouragement from friends, a week of seeing my rock and love in action as he served me and our family, and a week of not taking the little things for granted - like holding your kids when they cry, doing the dishes, unpacking from a trip, sleep, clothes, and simply resting on your back in a chair.

so here i am: thankful, recharged, ready to get back to just doin life and definitely ready to workout again!