When I was eight, I went on a "vacation" with my father and got terribly motion-sick for days from the plane ride, (I couldn't sleep because the hotel room kept spinning), got sunburned over 80% of my body, and was in a car accident (this was before seat belts were mandatory). I wanted to hold my father's hand on that trip - to be reassured in some way - but for some reason, my father didn't want to hold my hand.
I dreaded the plane ride back the entire time (which wasn't any better, and no one thought to give me motion-sickness medicine). I could barely sleep because of the nausea and the sheets touching my sunburn. Because my skin was damaged so badly, my body has a hard time regulating its temperature still... so goes the care of a fallible earthly father.
Another time I was with my mother and we had to cut our vacation short - hurriedly leaving in the middle of the night to get on a plane unexpectedly (with no time for the medicine to work), and I got really sick, then, too.
Needless to say, I don't like "vacations."
When I've gotten sick on my family vacations - far from home and in unsure territory - it has been such a blessing to have my wife "take over" and "take care of things" and literally take care of me, too - all while navigating unfamiliar terrain - dealing with the luggage for five on airplanes, bus transports, car rentals, unfamiliar roads, unfamiliar destinations, three small children, and one useless husband...
I've gotten motion-sick for as long as I can remember - “amusement” park rides, plane rides, wavy boat rides, car rides (when I'm not in the front) - when my inner ear isn't balanced with my surroundings; when my insides don't agree with what I “see” going on around me. But the times my internal, emotional reality has clashed with what's actually happening outside of me (that maybe I can't see, hear, or understand clearly in the moment), is when I've experienced emotion-sickness.
The incongruity of feeling some way that doesn't mesh with what's really happening around me can make me confused inside (and can lead me to make poor choices and do things I regret).
And I've gotten emotion-sick way more often than I've ever been motion-sick, and I, along with everyone around me, have been totally wrecked by these times…
This is also when I need to take a moment, get myself to a quiet and stable environment, breathe deeply, take a little sustenance, and recenter myself. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says “Take every thought captive and make them obey Christ - fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”
A spiritual Dramamine I take all the time now to keep these emotion-sickness "spells” under control is to remember that my good, heavenly Dad is still on top of things - which to me means that I can be patient when I don't understand what's happening, and surrender my "control" (really my out-of-controlness) to Him because I know from Scripture (and my experiences) that He will do what's best for me and make everything work out for my good and for His glory in the end, because He has worked things out for me before - and He'll do it again and again because He loves me…
It's comforting - calming - reassuring to know that someone else “has got this - has got me,” especially when I'm in no condition to see, hear, or think clearly in the moment (which happens way more than I care to admit).
Thank you, God, and Erin, for always "taking care of things;" especially for taking care of me when I can't always take care of myself.