Bout' a Four Letter Word…
It was sometime around midnight when I unpleasantly awoke, sore vexed in my tent. I rolled about on my sleeping mat a fair amount before realizing that going back to sleep was not a feasible option; not in the state I was in, anyway. I felt as though someone had taken the liberty to punch me in the stomach about a dozen times while their friend hit me over the head with a cast iron skillet. Funny thing, I had fallen asleep peacefully only a couple hours before.. So after about an hour of indecision, I took the plunge and exited my Marmot, walked stiffly through Tent City and out to the bathrooms. It was there that I happened upon Danae, one of my lovely fellow Racers. We talked for a while, making light of both our situations (she had twisted her ankle earlier that day) as I waited for my body to decide what route it wanted to take regarding this sickness. Eventually we parted ways but I remained rooted to the cement wall we had been sitting on. A few minutes passed, then another figure emerged from the shadows. It was Jordan, the other resident ginger on Spice of Life. Upon seeing my state, Jordan sits down next to me and inquires about my health. I respond with a few details, but we don't end up talking very much; instead, he just rubs my back as I'm doubled over on the wall, which ministered to me profoundly. It had been an hour of being out at the wall with no action, so we ended up walking back to Tent City with a five gallon bucket in hand, just in case.. I attempted to lie down for ten minutes or so, but it was finally time to deal with how nauseous I was.
Flash forward, it's morning now and I am in no state to go to ministry or to do anything, really. During breakfast I couldn't remain sitting in the plastic chairs, so I made my way to the cement to lie down. Shortly after breakfast I picked myself up and created camp on the patio near to where the bathrooms were. Camp looked like my 1.5'x3' towel laid out on the ground, haha. Despite how out of the way I was, I had Racer upon Racer come over to me to check on how I was doing, asking if I needed anything, etc. My sickness had turned into a fever, body aches, nausea, head ache- the works. It was such a blessing to have people minister to me in this time. Many people asked if I wanted something different to sleep on, but I didn't want to inconvenience them, so I declined. Scott/Chuck grabbed my pillow for me and gave me his other towel because I had refused a sleeping mat and Stacy also gave me her giant beach towel as a blanket so I would have something to cover up with. Vanessa and our other Stacy went out and bought me medicine and Gatorade and took my temperature, essentially I had two doctors. An hour or two goes by, I'm in and out of sleep when Kara comes along with her sleeping mat and rain fly saying, “So, I know you said no, but I felt so bad just looking at you on the ground. Come over and sleep here, girl.” I had a place to sleep that wasn't cement, I had medicine and Gatorade, I was prayed for by many, I had lunch brought to me and the pastor's wife was super helpful. I was surrounded by an incredible cloud of witnesses, so well taken care of.
I did not get up from that sleeping mat for about ten hours. My fever and body aches came fiercely, but finally had departed from me. All my other symptoms died down too, and so I made my way back to the general public where I was checked on by just about everyone. I ventured to my tent again, but was stopped to see if I needed Gatorade by Melissa, who then offered to go and get it for me from down the street- I accepted. When I made it to my tent, zoning out to my iPod I was asked by Beka, Devin and Melissa how I was doing, if I needed dinner, and if I needed anything to just call on them because they were there for me.
This is just a small sample of the ways people took time to help me. I'm not entirely sure why, but in all honesty I didn't expect this kind of help to be presented to me.. Of course, I understand that my team and squad are united; however, the actuality of that truth didn't sink in until I was helpless on the ground. Funny how lesson learning works sometimes, no? Alas, above all the sickness and above the discomfort, above the hours spent on the ground sweating the fever out, I come away experiencing this instead: love.
Oh, ps: I can keep food down now, so don't you worry! 😮
