The VIRUS has landed . . . and so have I, directly on the couch. I got a sore throat right before Christmas and blamed it on dryness in my house. Oh boy, was I wrong. In it flew (no pun intended), and I've been hacking and blowing for over a week.
I thought for sure I'd be back to my old self today, but not yet. Soon the coughing started, along with an enormous pity-party.
I've never claimed to be a good patient. I fight against being inactive and often start doing things way too soon. This time, I was determined to make myself rest.
As I sat on the couch this morning doing nothing, I suddenly was hit with the urge to put the glass shelves back up in my window for my struggling plants.
NO! Woman, REST!
I resumed doing nothing. Hmm, I wonder where I put those shelves? I decided it wouldn't hurt me to check in some of my famous "tucking places."
I remember putting them under the couch. All restraints aside, I soon was on my hands and knees checking "tucking place" #1 under all the furniture. WHERE ARE THEY?
HMMM, I think I saw them in the storage room in my studio. Coat - Hat - Scarf . . . a quick dash outside to the studio. NOTHING.
Now adrenaline coursed through my congested body, and I dashed to the basement. I'll rest in a minute there's one more possibility . . . no glass shelves.
Back to the couch I went, frustrated and hacking, "REST WOMAN!" Proud that I was finally doing the right thing, I settled in for a brief snooze. However, lying down, my attention drifted up to the top of the cabinet.
Gasp . . . they could easily be up there . . . but I'll have to go outside to get the step ladder.
Resist . . . resist . . . oh no, here we go . . . coat - hat - scarf, back outside to get the step ladder hanging on the side of the garage.
That's when my story takes a turn.
Guess what I found next to the step ladder? No, not the glass shelves. The cloth cover I'd been keeping over my bike had blown up over the propane exhaust for the heater to the studio and was smoldering! SMOLDERING?! Moments more, and it would have been in flames!
I ripped off the cover, which had melted into the exhaust coils, and threw it in the snow. I stood there staring at the smoking cover, realizing that I could have lost my studio and my life's work.
Oh, Lord, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! If You didn't spark my desire to hunt for the glass shelves, I would never have seen this.
Isn't it amazing the lengths the Lord will go to protect us!