coughing....but not crushed.

ok so Im sitting down to give this blogging a go! hmm, so whats been going on?

well, our little family has been plagued by colds and coughs for a while now, and it all came to a head the past 10 days or so with Abigail getting it really bad. We are on the mend now, but she had a bad cough and high fever for about a week, along with major fussiness and sleeping alot.

We have taken her to the pedi several times (Im such a first time mommy) but the conclusion is that she has had an upper respiratory virus and a double ear infection. My poor little punkin, no wonder she has been so miserable. I was so worried that she had pneumonia, so we are so thankful its not. Dr gave her some medicine, and she had some chiropractic work done, so she has been getting back to herself in the last 2 days...I have so missed my playful, joyful, mischievous little one! Im glad she is starting to feel like herself again.

Unfortunately, I have gotten the virus as well, am hopefully at the end of it now, but it has not been fun to be sick and have a sick baby too. Parker has been a good "nurse" for us both, and we are thankful to have our family close by to help us out when we need some extra hands (or some hot soup!) Hoping to get out of the house a little bit today or tomorrow...me and Abigail are both going a little stir crazy.

As much as this sickness has been terrible, it has been a good "challenge" if you will, for me to trust the Lord with my baby girl's life. It is hard to feel so helpless and unable to take away her pain. We have several friends whose children have major illnesses or disabilities, so I know that ear infections and cough do not even compare, but I think they would all agree with me that it has to be a daily choice to trust God's protection for our little ones, especially when they are sick or in pain. My heart hurts when she hurts. I hate forcing medicine (or trying to get her to take an inhaler for her cough), but I know that she cant see the big picture. The medicine will help her even though it just feels like further suffering to even take the medicine.

I have to think that taking care of a sick child is a good glimpse into Gods perspective of us sometimes. I know He hurts with us as He sees us go through suffering, even though He allows it. I know that He allows suffering to help us understand Him better and know His heart for us on a more intimate level. This can be a whole other post for another time, but I just want to acknowledge, for anyone that needs to hear it today, that He sees our suffering and loves us through it. He will not allow us to be crushed. We may get close to it, but His hand is ever near, catching us when and where we need to be caught.

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." 2 Cointhians 4:8-10

"I cling to you, your strong right hand holds me securely." Psalm 63:8