Pinkitis

Bella had pink eye this weekend. Those of you who are more medical minded might know it as conjunctivitis…which, to me, sounds more like a grammatical term, but whatever. We got the drops, she is better, and there are no signs that Hope has it yet, but it was an interesting few days.

First, she woke up with her right eye covered in gunk (and yes, that is the most professional term I could come up with to describe it). In fact, it was swollen and glued shut by the gunk. This is a tasty little treat to encounter pre-breakfast. Then, speaking of breakfast, we quickly realized that Bella was having a hard time seeing out of that eye, despite my ungluing efforts, when she was not eating the food on the right side of her high chair tray. Now, many of you don’t know this about my youngest daughter, but the girl can eat. She does not leave food on her tray…ever. So, we realized what was going on, shifted the food to the left side, and she happily ate all the rest.

We went to the doctor to get a perscription for the obligatory drops to clear up the eye, where we were then told that she had it in both eyes. Drops for both eyes it is! She has accepted the drops as rountine now, but not before we discovered that our sweet girl has an uncanny knack for shutting her eyes so tight that we can not pry them open. Honestly, she does this weird thing where they almost flip inside out and her baby blues remain secluded behind the lids. This is a talent we will be developing, for sure!

The rest of our weekend has been spent keeping the girls, who are great friends, away from each other. This is no easy task since our house is roughly the size of a compact car. Things seem to be clearing up in the eye department and so, as I like to do far too often I am afraid, I have been reflecting. I Thessalonians 5:18 says, “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I take that literally and so I have to be thankful for the pink eye. Here are the reasons I am thankful for the gooey gunk.

1. I am thankful that pink eye turns the eye pink and not green or purple or yellow. That would be creepy. Plus it makes it sound kinda girly and I am all for girly.

2. I am thankful that pink eye showed me how much my girls love each other and that when they can’t play together, they are a little sad.

3. I am thankful that Bella curled up on my lap last night and fell asleep while I sang, which she hardly ever does anymore, and that I got to breathe her sweet baby scent for a while.

4. I am thankful that her distorted vision reminded me of my own distorted vision and how I am often too happy to walk around with one eye glued shut, oblivious to how much greater, fuller, and clearer my vision could be if I would allow the Lord to heal those infected parts of me. Bring on the drops, Lord!

See, even pink eye can be redeemed!