How many times have you been right where I was that day? So tired you can't think straight. So overwhelmed that a simple daily task sends you over the edge. How many times have you cried out to God for help when you've reached the end of the rope?
Leading up to that moment, I spent eight days in the hospital by my husband's side as he recovered from heart surgery. Just a few hours prior to my grocery store run, we made the nerve-racking drive two hours to our home. The whole drive - with him twisting and wrenching in pain as he tried to relax in the back seat - I prayed to God to just get us home safely. To keep him as comfortable as possible, and to help me not to do anything stupid to make his already tense nerves tighten up due to my driving. (It was probably a good thing it was recommended he sit in the back seat since he doesn't trust my driving much.)
After getting him home, I called on his dad to come sit with him while I ran to the pharmacy to get his prescriptions and picked up a few things at the grocery store to fill our pantry of low sodium foods. Who knew finding low sodium foods would be so stressful? But to me, at this moment, it proved to be too much.
As I approached the exit at the store, I saw rain coming down in buckets. I didn't have time to wait for the rain to lighten up. So, I ran across the parking lot in the pouring rain. As I did, I could feel myself giving up hope on keeping it together any longer.
Reaching the car, I quickly loaded the no salt, no taste food into the back. It was no use... I was soaked to the bone. And overwhelmed with defeat.
I started the car, took a deep breath, and let the tension of the eight days release through tears as I prayed to God for strength to keep going. This was just the beginning of Bill's recovery.
