You Get What You Deserve!

Greetings,


Once again I find myself trying to explain why I have not entered a post in the recent past! There are so many reasons I could give you that I think I will start with the one that will attract the most sympathy for myself!

Awhile back my daughter, Stephanie, started running a fever and became congested. Christine and I, being the great parents that we are (that was a sympathy statement), decided to take her to the Dr. She got an antibiotic and was feeling better in a matter of days. Later on, my son, Jacob, started exhibiting the same symptoms. So we took him to the Dr. and repeated the same process that we had with Steph. He got to feeling better in a matter of days as well. So, now this evil fever/cough finds it's way to me. Here is where I begin to troll for the most sympathy as I can!

Before I tell you my experience with this fever/cough I need to ask you a question. Do you agree with the statement, "You get what you deserve"? I think it's a tricky question. But, let me get back to that question in a moment as I share with you the story of "a man", "his Dr.", and "the wife who told you so"!

I love the fact that my family shares things. We share bathrooms, vehicles, TV's, and, oh yes, bacteria and viruses. It was with this last item that I found myself on the business end of some creepy virus that was making it's way through the respiratory system of our family. Just as with Stephanie and Jacob I began running a fever and finding my chest tightening. Before I go on I have to say that, in my own defense, I have had quite a bit of luck recovering from colds. Well, now that I think about it, I have more luck recovering from brain surgeries. Nonetheless, after catching the bug that my son had thrown to me I was supremely confident that I would be able to whip this "thing" without the cost of medicine and a Dr.'s visit co-pay. Obviously, since I have been sympathy-grubbing and decision justifying I was wrong! Here is where the "you get what you deserve" question rears it's ugly head and my wife rears her pretty one!

In the beginning of my "cold" I had beaten the fever back into submission and was feeling very manly in my destruction of the "bug" that had sent my less able children running to the Dr. Yet, after the fever had been beaten the cough set up shop in my left lung. I admit, now that I have no other choice than to do so, I might have waited a tad bit too long to go and see my physician. It was so long that I now found out that I had pneumonia in my left lung. How it had gotten there was a mystery to me. I mean my defenses were fortified. I had seen the weakness of my children and I had made adjustments to account for any type of left flank maneuver this enemy could have thrown to me. What I didn't take into account was the awesome strength of this "bug" and the absolute weakness of my decision make process! In three days my enemy had conquered me, taken over permanent residence, changed the curtains and the wallpapers, and even made an address change to 1600 Derek's Left Lung Ave. I was whipped before I Knew that I was in a fight. So, instead of taking five pills like my children and being done with it I found myself making deals with my Dr. to keep me out of the hospital. I think I spent $16.00 dollars for both of my children's medicine. After all was said and done I was swallowing 2 antibiotic pills, 4 steroids pills, and breathing in Albuterol every four hours! Oh ye, and I also got a Toredol shot in the Doc's office just for good measure. In reality, I got what I deserved!

On my journey home I have received many things. Some of them I deserved and some I didn't. Pneumonia is no laughing matter and I jeopardized my health by letting myself think that I was somehow "bigger than the bug". However, I can look back and truly believe that I don't think I deserved 3 brain surgeries. Yet, when I look at my life as a whole I realize that it is not really about getting what you deserve it is about living with what you get. Bad things happen to good people and, sometimes, pneumonia happens to dumb people! All in all it comes down to how we react to things we get. I don't, fully, know the reason why God has allowed me to endure such pain and trials and the reason I don't know that is because I am not God. I do, however, know why I got pneumonia! God works in our lives, through our lives, and, sometimes, in spite of our lives. He gets to do that because He is God, a sovereign God! I am OK with that.

In the end, my wife was right when she told me to go to the Dr. before my cold turns into pneumonia. I have come to realize that my wife is, almost, always right when it comes to my health. The thing I can't figure out is why I don't listen to her. Maybe it's a guy thing or a macho thing. I do know it's a dumb thing! I think God knew how dumb I was going to be in my life and He blessed me with Christine to offset the damage. At any rate, that is my story and I am sticking to it.

So, as I leave you this day with thoughts of "physical vigilance" and "bodily fortification" I give you this last piece of good and sound advice...if you ever find yourself wondering whether your wife is right or not, take my advice, SHE IS!

Until next time,

Derek