I can’t focus on anything but my boy coughing

It’s 5:15 a.m. and I’ve been up since 4 a.m.

The sound of my son’s coughing woke me and won’t let me sleep another wink in peace. The pediatrician opens for walk-ins at 7:30 a.m. and that can’t come soon enough for me.

What started a week ago as an innocent-sounding cough turned menacing and wolfish yesterday–as if my boy is coughing through beads of broken glass. Maybe that’s the over-dramatization of a first-time father at 5 a.m.

All I know is that I can’t focus on anything but my boy coughing. I’m listening for every catch of his breath like the sound of a gun cocking.

Be kind today. You’ll be tempted to judge the people you meet for not being as attentive to you as you think they should be.

Every one of them has a shadow across their heart. Because life in this world is what it is, every person you meet is carrying a burden they cannot put down. They’re not listening to you as intently as you think they should because their ears are straining to hear distant warnings or sounds of hope.

Maybe you could be the sound of hope–even faint hope.

Or better yet, you could offer to listen with them.

Grace and peace to you today.