So yesterday was my 35th birthday. My plans for the day waking up? Relax and be taken care of. But before the relaxation begins, I thought I’d just make a lovely breakfast for the boys and that will be my only worry for the day. I wasn’t even halfway through frying pancakes when Ikaia runs to me telling me Atte says there is an emergency. Zayne has an emergency. I rush to them, the sight of it is scary obviously and we call the ambulance. They arrived a few minutes later and advised us to go to the children’s clinic in Nürnberg. That is a one-hour trip no one planned for on my birthday. Worst of all, the fear of what could be the problem loomed large.Â
worship- a reccurent lesson
Zayne is not crying anymore at least, he has loaded about fifteen pancakes, berries, and a cup of tea for breakfast ( we could conveniently call Zayne the pancake or puff puff monster, yea he makes a lot of those disappear, in one sitting!). Still, I am worried. But I do have one victory in that moment- I am triumphant over the urge to google the symptoms! Look at that- instead, I blast on some worship music and bask myself in God’s presence all the way to the hospital.
We get to the hospital, Zayne cries some more as the doctor tries to sort out his malaise. Matter of fact, he is screaming at the top of his lungs. That is no ideal situation for any parent. Helplessly listening to the child whine in pain. I stand outside and pray through it all. Thankfully it’s nothing a little antibiotic can’t solve. We finish up from the hospital. It’s 3 pm, I have a slight headache, all I have had so far in terms of nourishment is maybe a liter of water, I am one hour away from home and Atte’s entire birthday plans are almost non-existent.
It would seem ok to call our friends and say hey, things are going south as you can see, let’s just cancel dinner, we’ll cut the cake tomorrow or next week or whenever. Get home, crawl in my bed to sleep off the headache. Nothing wrong with this plan right? After all there indeed was an emergency.
The problem with this option, as the holy spirit began to speak to me, is, like I always did in the past, you cannot wait for life to be perfect to live. Such is life, messy with all its little imperfections and curveballs. You have to live through it all. In the moment. We always guarantee ourselves a tomorrow don’t we? And yes tomorrow may come, but don’t miss out on the present because you are looking out to the next day.
Yes, it was my birthday and I was supposed to be laying in bed taking calls and enjoying all the streams of love flowing my way. It was clearly not happening, so what? Rebalance, reroute and replan… make the most and the best of your present situation. Most of our experiences are teachable moments and there is always a lesson to be learned.
So we rebalanced, made a new discovery in that town, a much-needed afro store and barbers shop. We got ourselves some plantain and okra and headed home. We replanned asked our one and only chef to help with some of the roastings, to him it is always a pleasure.
Instead of a chilled quiet day, where I lifted my feet up and was taken care of, I had to jump in the kitchen and help with the cooking. Instead of dinner at 6 pm, it was dinner at 8.30 pm. At the end of the day, we had a beautiful evening. The laughs and chatter were loud and long. Followed by a few tears of joy with spoiler gifts from loved ones. Overall, our hearts were merry and we all went to bed feeling happy and fulfilled.
I had written in a previous post how powerful it is to live in the moment. How important it is to sit with oneself, meditate and process one’s feelings ( click here to read more). The events of my birthday reminded me of a lesson already learned. Life is a lot different when we are intuned with our inner man, a higher spiritual authority, and truly listen.