Growing pains.

They called and said "Her temp is at 102. something" I told them what to give her and that I was coming.
Not 5 minutes later, they called back and said it was 103.6.

I thought that I knew what was happening, so I wasn't overly concerned, but I did want that temperature down. I prayed the medicine they gave her at their first call would work quickly.
I drove to get her, praying that God would touch this precious tyke.

I picked her up, and they gave me the stuff she'd thrown up on, so I could wash it.
I held her and immediately saw what I expected. Her cheek was swollen.
For the last two days I thought she'd started cutting a new tooth.

I brought her home, and we rested. We curled up in a huge chair and slept. Her temperature broke, but the pain was still obvious when she looked at me and squinted her eyes.

I babied her, and held her, kissed her, doctored her, and did all the typical things of sticking my finger in her mouth looking at her stubborn gum that was screaming at a tooth struggling to break through.

She sat, and she rested and whined.

Then I toughened up and said this baby needs a bath.
We can sit here whining and moaning about these growing pains, or we can keep going. So we kept going. She's moved from whining and crying to singing some song I don't know, rather loudly, in the bathtub.

Growing pains are hard. That's why they call them pains. But, spiritually speaking, every time a growing pain hits, I can't just sit down and doctor the pain. There are things to be done, I have to keep myself clean, I have to buy supplies for next week, I have to start the laundry or no one will want us around next week. Growing pains are not injuries that should hospitalize you until you regain your health. And despite the fever and vomiting, growing pains are not a sickness that requires a week of bedrest.

They are simply what they are. Growing - and pains.
Growing hurts.
So if you find yourself hurting, wondering where God is, wondering where faith is, wondering where hope, grace, mercy and trust went - it could just be you're going through growing pains.
If you find yourself helplessly lonely and wondering why God has forsaken you - it could just be you're going through growing pains.
If you find yourself hurting, desperately broken and unable to find your foundation - it could just be you're going through growing pains.

Here's the clincher.

Bell has a little bit of a cold right now. A cough, and a runny nose. So I could easily assume the sudden fever and vomiting are because of that.
But I know it's not. Don't ask me how I know. I just know. I know the fever and sickness were because of this tooth.

It's important, to know your life, your spiritual life, well enough to figure out what is sickness and what is growing pains. (I say that, easily, knowing that in my own life that discernment is far lacking.)
It's also important to realize that growing pains don't just happen when you're well. It's not just one or the other. Though I typically lump all lifes issues into one bundle.

Life, is awesome. God is awesome. But, if you ask Bell.. and if she could really speak.. she'd tell you that sometimes life doesn't feel awesome. Sometimes it feels whiny.
She'd also tell you it's fun to play with the bathtub stopper. Even when you're sick.