Christmas Traditions

I have my traditional Christmas sinus infection. I spoke to Dad today, and he was quite concerned, and suggested I do something about it. I'm not sure if he's concerned about my health or his-- he's being discharged from the nursing home tomorrow, and Daughter and I will be invading his one bedroom apartment sometime before the end of the week. I usually end up with sinus infections twice a year: right before Christmas and right before Easter. That whole thing about stress making you more vulnerable to illnesses is certainly true for me.

I arrived here in Tiny Village about the same time my doctor joined his brother-in-law's private practice. That first Holy Week I went to see him with a sinus infection. He said, "Wow, you're the third minister I've seen this week." I could tell he was new. Easter week, we were all stressed and vulnerable to any bug going around. Because we couldn't afford to be sick, we also went quickly to the doctor. I promised Dad I'd make an appointment tomorrow if I wasn't any better. I'm not real keen on going back to the doctor. After all, last time I went he told me I had diabetes, high cholesterol, and an "area of concern" in my right breast.

Complicating things is the fact that I'm scheduled to take communion to three of the saints tomorrow afternoon. At this point, I probably shouldn't be breathing on any of them. The first one I'm supposed to see is Old Man, and he doesn't need any additional challenges right now. I always hate making these decisions. Do I go visit and risk passing on my illness? Or do I go see them in January and apologize for not making it before Christmas? There's also the whole questions of how hard do I push myself. I need to have a voice and be ready to lead worship at 10 p.m. Christmas Eve.

I'm going to have some difficult decisions to make tomorrow morning. Daughter is going shopping with our respite provider tomorrow. She's really looking forward to it. I'm glad she'll have something fun to look forward tomorrow.