I took my son into the doctor this afternoon. It wasn't so much that he had been running a fever for 2 days straight or that his sore throat was so bad that I had to force him to consume liquids (gatorade, jell-o, hot cocoa, anything he was willing to get in) so he didn't become dehydrated. No, it was little tiny bruise-like marks on his arms and legs that made me wonder if there might not be something unusual going on in his body.

We walked into the doctor's office in a sudden blast of snow. As we headed toward the front door, I thanked God for all the good things that He had done today. See, I woke up with a headache (the one I went to bed with last night decided it wasn't going to be slept off), and I decided that instead of just hoping to "make it through" this day (this week, really), I would look for what God had for me in the midst of my tough time. And He had a lot! The energy for all of us to get some work done - even if sporadically, the opportunity to have some great time helping my daughter make a quilt, an appointment at a time when hubby could meet us at the doctor's office to take my daughter home, even us being able to arrive a little bit early. I know there was much more, but it's not sticking in my head right now.

We learned that J has neither strep nor the flu but some freaky virus that has been going around.  The doctor couldn't make much of the bruising - it didn't look like anything serious, but it could be an indication of a low platelet count in his blood. We're going to keep an eye on it and see if any more bruises pop up in the next few days (after all, bruises on an active boy's body aren't unusual, but he hasn't been very active lately, so unexplained bruising would be cause for concern now). If we need it, we have an order for a blood count.

I got my still-feverish boy back out to the car, brushed an inch and a half of snow off the car, and headed for home. The roads were packed at 6 pm, and when I realized I was nearly out of gas, I decided to turn back to a gas station - then I decided to take a somewhat less-traveled road home.

The less-traveled route was a great road for a while. We were making good time at about 25-30 mph with not too much other traffic on the road. We came to a very curvy part of the road, and I took the first curve really slowly. I was just talking to my son about how we needed to be really careful not to slide off the road like all those other cars just ahead on the next curve ... when I hit the same patch of ice and slid off the road. Right into a Volvo's rear light. Ouch! By the time the other driver and I had finished exchanging info, another car had slid off right behind me ... and another behind him ... and another. And a sherriff's deputy who arrived to help stop other cars from adding to the mess pulled forward a bit and slid off the road. Then another car slid into his truck!

Here's how icy that road was: a plow/sand truck came to spread sand on the road. He went forward ... backward ... and on his third pass HE slid off the road! (Almost into another car, too!) I credit God's grace that as many people were out of their cars next to that icy road, not one of us was hurt.

Through it all, God took good care of us. I had a full tank of gas, so no problem just keeping the car and heater running for me & my son. I managed to call AAA, and the tow truck arrived about 30 minutes later - at the perfect time right when the deputy had gotten all but my car and the one in front of me out. The tow truck (that I didn't have to pay for) pulled me out in 2 or 3 minutes, and I was on my way on a freshly sanded road. My son was so patient through this whole thing. And we even had food in the car! In fact, my kids' penchant for leaving their things in the car came in handy - I didn't have a hat, but when I wanted to get out of the car (in the frigid cold) and find out what was going on, I had one of my daughter's blankets to put over my head. So I can even trust Him that we're not going to have to foot a large bill for damage to the Volvo either.