11 Ways to Comfort in a Crisis – #3 & #4: Texting and Cleaning

#3 – Texting

Sometimes the Happy Hubby has to politely ask me if I would rather be married to him or my phone.

I sheepishly admit that I have a bit of a love affair going on with this thing.

It’s no fancy pants i-Phone or super cool Blackberry, but it gets the job done.

And by job done, I mean texting.

From the day the Happy Baby was admitted to the NICU, this phone became my lifeline (well, actually, the phone I had 6 months ago is actually not the one you see above because the one I used at the beginning of our crisis got dropped in the toilet by yours truly.  Did I mention that I had scrambled egg brains?).

I lived for receiving text messages from friends and family who were just touching base to make sure we were okay.

Those texts were a reminder to me that I was not alone in the battle.

I’ll never forget the text I got from a friend a few days after a doctor told us that our baby more than likely had a muscular dystrophy and was probably not going to make it.

The text read, “I feel led by the Lord to tell you this – he (the Happy Baby) is not going to die.  He is going to live.  He is not going to die.”

I had not said anything to her about the doctor’s speculations, so that text was a powerful one.

And then there was the text I received from another friend one Saturday morning as I drove down to the hospital that read, “Been praying for the Happy Baby and I feel like he’s going to have a great day.  Text me later to tell me about it.”

Sure enough, when I walked into the Happy Baby’s room, the nurse said, “Do you notice anything different about your son?”  And I took one look at his precious face and realized that he was off of oxygen support for the first time since he had been born.

I was texting the praise report to my friend before anyone in the room could even blink!

My pastor’s wife and a few other friends committed to texting me Bible verses every single day (sometimes even multiple times a day).  Those daily texts were a critical part of my survival because the constant reminders of His truth came in just as my thoughts were beginning to head down a destructive path.

Texting is a great way to pop into a person who is hurting’s world and let them know you are thinking about them – without the 2-3 day delay of snail mail.

A simple, “Praying for you today,” or a Scripture God puts on your heart, or a funny story…  Anything, really, just to remind them that you are willing to join them in their battle.

But make sure the person in need has an unlimited texting plan! 🙂

#4 – Cleaning

As I mentioned yesterday, when you are going through a trial, you simply do not have the mental capacity to do things like make a meal, remember people’s birthdays, or even how to clean your house.

I snapped the photo above of our living room about a month and a half into the Happy Baby’s hospitalization.

*Note – Feel special because I wouldn’t share that disaster with just anyone! 🙂

One day a lady in my church sent me an email informing me that she had hired the Merry Maids to clean our Happy Home and what day would be good for them to come.

I cannot even tell you the relief this provision brought me!  To know that our home was not going to be overtaken with bugs and rodents due to my lack of attention with a bottle of Fantastik {ahem – see photo above}.

Let me introduce you to Merry Maids Debbie and Viola – truly ‘merry’ women, indeed!  They are a huge part of the Happy Baby’s story as they ended up coming to our house on 5 separate occasions.

Each time, Debbie would  say, “I just know your baby’s gonna be okay.”

And each time they dusted things in our house that I hadn’t dusted in like… well, since we had moved in 8 years ago.

What was even more exciting about our friend’s offer was that she had hired a team to come clean our house instead of trying to do it herself.  Because trust me, I knew my face would have been as red as Rudolph’s nose had she actually come and seen the condition of our home – the master bathroom in particular.  I’m one hundred percent sure that my pride is wrapped up in that statement, but the idea of my friends on their hands and knees scrubbing floors that I should have been scrubbing myself would have added more burden to the insecurities I was already facing having to ask for so much help in other areas.

The gift of a clean house in a crisis is one I am forever grateful for, so if you have the financial means – call the Merry Maids.  Or, if the person in need isn’t as proud as me, then grab a few girls and do it yourselves – remembering to pray over each room as you scrub.

Happy Texting and Cleaning-ing! 🙂