Well I think I need to nominate Jim for Husband of the Year! If this entry doesn't convince you that he deserves it (or at least get an honorable mention) then it will at least convince you that angels really do protect us and that you need to have a sense of humor in all things...so feel free to laugh with us.
Last summer I got an invitation to speak at a Youth With a Mission Discipleship Training School (or a YWAN DTS) in Dunham, Canada (near Montreal). Jim was excited for me to go, he has gone 2 years in a row and thought it'd be great for me to go this time. He even suggested that I take Rachel with me and he would stay home with Michael. That is quite an offer since life with Michael is so unpredictable and a lot of work even if all goes well.
Well, last week was the week, and Rachel and I had a great time in Canada. There were students from 13 different countries there. We even took an extra day and explored Montreal.
Unfortunately Michael got a stomach flu the night before I left. It ended up taking him 4 days to stop throwing up. Jim stepped up to the occasion and even taught Michael how to throw up in a bucket!
The stomach flu was better by Thursday, when he was pulling at his ear and was obviously hurting. So then he took him to the doctor (Michael doesn't like going to the doctor and made quite a scene there) who put him on antibiotics. The antibiotics upset his stomach again, so round and round they went. The plan was for Jim to have at least the days free while Michael was in school, but he didn't end up spending even one full day at school.
OK, that's just the tip of the iceberg. On Thursday Melissa and Jim were sitting in the kitchen while Michael was upstairs in his room. We have to be careful that Michael doesn't get out of the house without our knowing it, which he has done often. He doesn't seem to understand that he can get hit by a car or get lost. So they knew he couldn't get out of the house since he was upstairs and they were downstairs near the front door.
Suddenly Melissa thought she heard Michael's voice outside. They ran outside but didn't see him anywhere, but then they couldn't find him anywhere in the house either. Finally they realized that he had gone out onto a balcony upstairs and managed to climb up onto the roof....to the tip top. He was perched there making his happy noises and evidently enjoying the view. Jim ran back into the house to get his shoes and in the meantime Melissa was on the balcony and managed to talk Michael safely down to her.
Once he was down, Jim was hugging Melissa and consoling her since she had gotten quite upset and scared at Michael being perched on top of a 2 story house. While he was hugging her, Michael went back into the house, shut the door and locked it....locking both Jim and Melissa on the balcony upstairs. Then he ran downstairs and he (and the dog) ran out the front door. Melissa got Michael's attention from up on the balcony and the tone in her voice convinced him that he should probably go back inside...however they couldn't talk him into unlocking the balcony door.
In the end, they got someone's attention who was down the street. He came into the house, unlocked the door and all was well.
The only other incident was when Jim got into the back seat of the car with Michael to calm him down (while they were waiting at the drugstore for his medicine) and he realized when he tried to get out of the car that both back doors were childproofed!
So there you have a glimpse of a week of Jim's life with Michael....and why I think he is the Husband of the Year!!
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