An Unexpected Time to Count My Blessings

Four of My Many Soul Sisters

("Support network" sounded too organized, "friends" didn't seem chummy enough, and "helpers" sounded too stilted, so sue me.)

On Sunday night, Patrick and I had one of the roughest sick-to-our-stomach nights of our married life so far. The next day, we were both weak and tired and still sickly. I won't give you the gory details, but the fact was that neither of us was in any shape to take care of two healthy (for which I was grateful), energetic little boys. I managed to get them dressed and feed them some breakfast, and then I was done. Almost all of our friends only have room for one more kid than their own, and I wasn't really in a condition to drive or even step out of my house, so I racked my brains to think of who (two people) I could call on for help. And in the moment, a flood of options charged through my brain. That was then followed by a flood of reasons some of them couldn't help or it would be too inconvenient, but I knew that if it came down to it even those who couldn't easily help would lend a hand if they were needed.

But my reasons for gratitude didn't end with that. I called my friend Amber and said, "Will you take Caleb for the day? We feel awful." And do you know what she said? "I'll be there in ten minutes. Is it okay if I come in my pajamas?" If I hadn't been so disgusting and she had been in the room, I could have hugged her (and I'm not really a hugger).

Then, I called my friend Temma who has a little boy just Eli's age. Didn't get ahold of her. Called my friend Stacy. Stacy said, "Well, we have this appointment, so I could for an hour, or if you need help this afternoon, let me know." It turned out Temma's little boy was sick, but I know she would have watched Eli for me if he hadn't been. By then, I was a little wiped out and couldn't make any more phone calls. Patrick was doing okay and hadn't been as busy as me up to that point, so he offered to take charge of Eli so I could sleep. Eli fell asleep unexpectedly that morning, so I called Stacy when I woke up, and she said, "Yes. I'll pick him up on my way home." Like that, we magically had the afternoon without any responsibilities. For three hours, we slept. Then we woke up, I took a shower, and we gathered our children back into our house, fed them microwaved chicken nuggets for dinner, and we all fell into bed. The next day, we felt much better.

I know that not everyone is so lucky to have a community of support like that. If I had my way, though, every woman would be so lucky. Because we definitely all need it at times. Thanks so much to my community, and may you always know that you can call on me when you're in need.