One of THOSE days?

So I know it's Tuesday.  I usually give you a picture on Tuesdays.  But the past 48 hours have been hell. 

Have you ever had one of those days? 

 Yesterday, I came down with the flu.  After 4 hours at my desk and sipping on a Sprite, I ran to the bathroom as my body had apparently pulled the "Abandon Ship!" cord.  Then, I went home.  Quietly.  Miserably.  Disgustingly.  I went home. 

I woke up when my phone range later in the afternoon.  I was hot, under a blanket, and not really awake yet.  I admit it.  I hit the "ignore" button on my mother.  She was probably seeing if I was at work still and wanted to get dinner with her and my father.  I rolled over and couldn't go back to sleep. 

Finally, I listened to her message.  Gramma.  Hospital.  Possible stroke. 

I thought, "Great, I'll check into the hospital while I'm there visiting my Gramma." 

I struggled for a while and decided that I could do absolutely nothing in my current state.  You see, when I'm sick, I shut down.  I don't move.  I don't ask questions.  I don't answer questions.  I don't like talking.  I don't like moving. 

Things I do when I'm sick:

• Sleep
• Roll over
• Cry
• Put on a sweatshirt
• Get up and walk to the bathroom
• Drink water
• Cry
• Take off a sweatshirt
• Sleep
• Watch movies that I would never watch in a healthy state of mind
• Eat Carr's crackers
• Sleep
• Cry some more

So last night, I put myself in bed and sucked it up.  This morning, it's back to work.  Only I'm still an emotional and aching heap of bones.  The bathroom trips have subsided.  The body ache has not.  I feel as if someone took a tire iron to my joints. 

My Gramma is having tests run and my mother is with her right now.  All I can do is pray, pray without ceasing. 

This morning, on the 210 west freeway around Campus Avenue, I was passed by a middle aged man in a dark colored Honda that had flames coming up the hood and sides.  As he passed me I thought, "Go ahead Grampa!  You look like an idiot in that car!"  I may have even said it out loud, who knows? 

A few minutes later I see brake lights ahead of me and cars began to dart left and right.  Then smoke rises up.  In just a few brief moments, that older man in the Honda that had passed me was involved in a multiple vehicle accident.  I saw him, dazed and stunned.  He opened the door to the car but didn't get out.  He was obviously shaken. 

Then I saw the middle car but the driver was stuck in the vehicle.  That was car that was giving off all of the smoke.  The final car was a truck and the driver had already hopped out and was checking on other drivers. 

Also passing at the time of the accident was a California Highway Patrol car.  The officer was running from car to car, checking on drivers and passengers and assessing the situation as I passed. 

Some of you might think I'm nuts, but I pray a lot in the car.  I pray because I'm alone in the car and I can gather my thoughts.  I pray because I can talk out loud to God and it just looks like I'm on the phone.  I pray because driving is stressful, and prayer calms me down. 

I was in the middle of a prayer when the accident occurred.  I was telling God all about how I needed help because I'm not enjoying my job as much as I used to.  I was asking God to be with my Gramma.  I was begging God for the winning lotto numbers so I could pay off all of my family's debts and buy them all nice houses. 

Then I saw the faces of the people in the accident.  That man in the Honda & I had been driving next to eachother just minutes before the accident.  I get to go about my day as usual.  He'll have to go to the hospital. 

Then I prayed for them.  I thanked God that I no longer have the need to drive fast all of the time.  I praised God for all of the blessings he's given me over the past few years.  I breathed in and out deeply. 

Then I realized I was crying.  I was crying fairly hard.  Why was I crying?  No clue.  I'm not a cry baby usually.  Perhaps it was the flu and the residual body ache.  Or my Gramma's testing.  The shock of witnessing a rather heavy duty accident. 

But I've learned I need to be a bit more thankful in my prayers, because I'm truly being protected. 

Pray happy,

Kipp