The wonder of the new year was tarnished in record time with a case of New Year’s Day stomach flu. I found myself yelling, “Go! Go! Go!” with a fervor only matched by a sergeant directing troops on D-Day. He didn’t make it to the bathroom and I found myself covered in vomit and searching our rented condo for cleaning supplies. Nothing dampens the holiday spirit like scrubbing old rental carpet at 1AM.
My husband couldn’t stomach the situation and instead paced around, checking in on my cleaning progress, simultaneously putting our marriage on a perilous path.
A day later, the whole episode started to take on an amusing quality. We laid in bed and regaled each other with stories from the previous night. Before the discussion took a serious turn. New Year’s Day has a history of drama in our family. This year was the stomach flu, but 7 years ago was a heart that stopped working.
My husband’s heart malfunctioned electrically, thanks to the interference of inflamed tissue. He was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease, Sarcoidosis, and our lives changed forever. Gone was the naïveté that we were young and invincible. Heartbeats suddenly turned precious as we breathed a prayer of thanks that God had spared my husband. He would have more days to be a father, husband and son...engineer, skier and friend.
New Year’s Day carries a mixed meaning for me now. There’s still the fun and excitement of a new start, but it has also become an anniversary of what might have been and what is. Another year of heart beats and God’s promise fulfilled, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper and not harm you, plans for hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Even when the new year gets off to a bumpy start, I have the gifts of perspective (vomit is a sign of life and a body functioning properly); gratitude (every member of the family is present whether causing chaos, sleeping through the chaos, cleaning up the chaos, or pacing around the chaos); and acknowledgment (my planning skills pale in comparison to those Who created it all).
Our year didn’t start out on the perfect note. The coming days and months are sure to bring a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but my hope is firm and my confidence strong that we will have joy in the face of it all.
P.S. By January 3 we were as good as new and celebrating the new year with fabulous views from nearly 12,000 feet!
