1 Cor. 10:13

"[God] will not suffer you to clean up gross things above that ye are able."

--1 Corinthians 10:13 (modified slightly from the King James version)

***

The other night, long after we had all retired, my brother Daniel heard Mary wandering in the hallway. So he came out and asked if she was okay. Sweet little Mary, so tiny in the darkness, looked up at him, and without a word, took out her binkie, vomited into her hand, and then offered it him. That's when Daniel said, "I think we should go find your mom." Mary then spent five minutes puking on the rug beside my bed.

Thus began my official initiation as a mother.

So far, my children have been blessed with guts of iron. There is very little puking in this family. On the rare occasion that David or Mary has thrown up, Greg has been around to deal with it--every time. The result is that in my 4 and a half years as a mom I had never cleaned up kid vomit.

I do not consider this to be a coincidence. Instead I attribute it to God's knowing my limitations. I am squeamish to the utmost. So squeamish I can barely trim my kids' fingernails. So squeamish that no one is allowed to discuss even minor medical procedures in my presence, lest I pass out, crack my head open, and then require my own minor medical procedure. I am DEFINITELY too squeamish for puke.

But after a long night of wiping up vomit, scrubbing carpets, changing pajamas, washing pacifiers, smelling puke-encrusted hair, and holding my baby close, I know that God now thinks I can handle kid vomit. I guess I should be pleased that I am growing stronger as a mother???

God, no offense, but I really don't want to know what else You think I can handle.

(By the way, my sweet Mary is fine. But I will never be eating apples again.)