Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Chicken Pox

You have never seen a mother so excited for her children to finally get a highly contagious disease!
Ever since that silly vaccination came out it has been incredibly hard to find someone who has the chicken pox in order to expose my children to it. But, when the word got out that a kid in our church had come down with the nasty virus we purposely made plans to get together. Lil' Cowboy was shocked to learn that I actually wanted him to get sick!
Lil' Cowboy and his friend played Wii together exchanging the sweaty controllers half way through the game. He looked quizzically at us but really thought that sharing a straw was the most objectionable. It worked though. He came home from "school" today with about a dozen pox and an overwhelming need to scratch.
The four older children have taken their rite of passage of childhood so now we are just waiting and hoping that Brown Sugar will break out in the next couple of days.
It will be a long couple of weeks but once it is over we will not have to worry about this again.

As I was teaching piano lessons today I had an overwhelming sadness roll over me. I am going to be doing this on my own this time. Eric was always a help with the kids and especially when they were sick. He probably changed more diapers than I, he mopped up the vomit for me (he had no sense of smell), and he would get up with a feverish child as often as I would.
The physical labor doesn't scare me but it is the lack of emotional support that makes me sad. I can chat with friends on Facebook or text from my iPhone but none of these relieve the lonliness. I know that the Lord God of the Universe is my husband now but this relationship lacks the supportive hug or physical shoulder to lean on after a long weary night.
That just plain makes me sad.
And, then it makes me cry.
And, then I begin to rejoice.
Rejoice in His goodness, His mercy.
Rejoice because in my weakness He is strong and He is making me stronger.
Rejoice because when all is said and done even the chicken pox is being used to make me more like Him.
~Heather

5 comments:

CristyLynn said...

So, we should pray that Brown Sugar gets the chicken pox now, right? :)

We'll also pray that you will continue to know the comfort of your precious LORD. We love you!

not2brightGRAM said...

Just curious... why do you want the kids to get chicken pox?

Lazy D Ranch said...

I like doing things the old fashion way. Chicken pox is not a deadly disease and the vaccine is proving to be worse than the actual disease.
The vaccine works only about 70% of the time and leaves the child susceptible to shingles.
Now they have found that those who have been vaccinated might need to get a booster every five years.
I am not in the "no vaccine" camp but in the "be more informed" camp. And, in all my research chicken pox was probably the most ill-conceived of them all.
As a side note, I can see where the vaccine would benefit some in our society. Those who have compromised immune systems or those who have escaped this childhood disease.
Hope that answers your question.

not2brightGRAM said...

Thanks! That makes sense when you explain it that way.

Rebecca had chicken pox in high school and she was VERY sick. Our M.D. said he'd never seen a worse case. So, had a vaccination been available prior, I would have done anything to spare her the experience.

Mrs. S said...

Do you think its okay to covet the chicken pox???? :)