Friday, March 7, 2008

An Awful, Horrible Thing

I may have quite possibly done the worst possible thing ever. I mean, really, the worst thing ever.

Last night after dinner, Chad was cleaning up and I was sitting at the island with his laptop looking up various things he tossed my way...random information I can't seem to remember because of the horrible thing I did. Because he is so wonderful he made us both some green tea with honey (our new obsession since he's had to medically give up coffee). It was delicious and sweet and scalding hot just the way I like it...with extra honey.

Chad took out the garbage and Charlie stood next to me to see what I was typing and reading. I have tried and tried to remember what happened next but I can't figure out what I did. All I can remember is the burning feeling in my lap and the shock of seeing my tea cup UPSIDE DOWN on Chad's laptop. His work laptop. His work laptop full of sermon notes and various other VERY IMPORTANT things.

I sat frozen, with my mouth open, staring at the laptop. Next to me, Charlie made this horrible "ooooohhhhh...." sound. Sort of half-moan, half-whisper. Then he freaked out and started saying "Where's Dad? Oh, man! Where's Dad? This is BAD, Mom. This IS BAD!"

At that moment Chad came back into the kitchen while I still hadn't moved (the laptop had gone black the instant the tea hit the keyboard) and tears where rolling down my face. Charlie yelled out "Mom spilled the hot tea!" and Chad immediately ran over and grabbed my arms.

"Did you burn yourself?"

I couldn't answer. Yes, I had burned my legs and they HURT but all I could do was lift up the laptop and watch the hot tea ran off the sides. The look of horror on Chad's face made me so nauseated I almost lost it. He turned back to me.

"Did you burn yourself?"

I nodded but still didn't speak.

"Let's clean you up." He took a dishtowel to soak up the excess then sent me to the bedroom to change. I took my time. I took a shower, found my softest pj's, and basically moved as slowly as possible, dreading what was waiting for me when I returned to the kitchen.

When I opened the bedroom door Chad and the boys were snuggling on the couch. They'd saved me a spot. I cried a lot more and couldn't do the words justice that Chad said to me. He wasn't mad. He wasn't stressed out. The laptop was broken- we'd try to fix it and if we couldn't we'd figure out what to do after that. He called "the computer guy" and followed some very specific instructions.

And then he went to the store and got us ice cream. Because he's just that great.

I've spent the evening downloading his library programs ( www.e-sword.net ), Bibles, commentaries, etc. So he can redo some of his work this week. He's a smart guy and backs up his computer regularly so most of his files were reachable.

And for the next few days we wait while the computer dries out. And I pace for whatever reason while he peaceably goes about his day. I wish I could be like that.

7 comments:

*carrie* said...

Tracy,

Wow! I'm so sorry that happened, but I'm grateful you're all OK and that Chad responded with such grace. Hope the computer will "heal" quickly!

Tracy said...

What a wonderful testimony of God's grace and mercy! You have a keeper there. I pray that your legs and the laptop will soon be fine.

*carrie* said...

Tracy,

It's me again. =) Thanks for your comment today. I'll be writing a follow-up post (hopefully) tonight.

~katie~ said...

Just hopped over to your blog from Carrie's....

Reading your story brought tears to my eyes...the feeling you were going through and then the gracious way your hubby responded. Thanks for sharing!

I just had to pass on this link to you:

http://nunniesattic.blogspot.com/2008/02/hello-everyone.html

I actually just stumbled onto that post yesterday, and I couldn't help but feel for her and say prayers for her and her hubby! Sounds like everything's OK because she had another cheerful post later. :-)

Now I just want to add that I have been quite clumsy in my past and I have had similar experieces.

Us wives can do some clumsy things (unintentionally of course), but praise God for wonderful, forgiving husbands!! :-) Beautiful picture of Christ and His love for the church. If our husbands can be that loving and forgiving, just think of the love and forgiveness of God?? Wow, He is so good.

Again, thanks for sharing. I'm glad I stopped by! Your story was very encouraging.

Blessings to you!
Katie

~katie~ said...

I also just wanted to mention that I don't think either of the unfortunate incidents (your laptop experience and the superglue incident) required forgiveness as both were very accidental! (I just re-read my response and didn't want it to come across that way!!) :-)

Also, I'm sorry that you got burned!! I forgot to mention that! I have had hot wax spilled on my fingers before and that was not scalding temp - it just stuck! I can't imagine what the scalding hot water must've felt like! Yikes!

Ok...just wanted to say those couple of things.

Have a great weekend,
Katie

Amanda said...

WOW!! I felt your pain as I read your post! Sorry that happened. But, at least your husband ROCKS and you got ice cream out of the deal!! Talk about positive reinforcement!!

Milissa said...

Hi Tracy! I am new to blogging...randomly discovered your blog...and I definitely enjoy it. Thanks for sharing. Let me just say...you did not accidentally do the worst thing ever. Even though you feel terrible & it felt like the worst thing ever..it's not. In the grand scheme of things...it's only a laptop. It's a BIG deal...but it's just a laptop. And your husband ROCKS! (I'm sure you know that.) I'm sorry it happened...I'm sorry you burned your legs...and cried over this...but I LOVE the way your husband responded...it's obvious he loves and respects you...it was an INCREDIBLE moment for your child to witness...and this story just gives me the warm & fuzzies. I love happy family stories and this one tops the list. It's easy to be pleasant when all is right with the world...but people show their true character when something goes wrong. Thanks for sharing such a heartwarming story. :) ~Milissa