Update on Jackson and What God has taught us This Week:

The above pictures are taken at the many trips to the doctor’s office. I was trying to take a picture of his rash.

• Wednesday he broke out in a rash all over his body and the doctor said I had to come in so he could examine it. Of course Charlie and I try to be doctors online and we read on WebMd that if your child breaks out in a rash after he has the flu that can mean that he has toxic syndrome and certain organs could be shutting down and he could die (but that it is rare and only 5 percent means this)
• The doctor did do a complete examination on him, but he did not take blood work (they did blood work on Monday) Jackson has not had a fever since Monday night and his ears are not infected and they did a Strep test Monday and it was negative. He was actually laughing at the doctors yesterday, and yesterday afternoon he did not sneeze or cough that much. The doctor said at first it looked like the Strep rash. But he concluded that it was just Jackson's reaction to the flu (but that this type of reaction is rare). He is doing so much better, just real tired.
• Jackson being extremely tired and bored is a bad combination. I did everything I could today to keep him entertained. We watched 2 episodes of the Doodlebops, watched a Cedarmont Kids DVD, and watched Mickey Mouse. We went outside and played…we even played kitchen and he made eggs. But, he normally gets out of the house a couple times a day, and I think he is going stir crazy. He even threw himself on the floor at one point!
• Jackson can say “cracker” now when he wants a cracker…yeah!
• He loves to say “boo” and “moo” and tries to make a barking sound when he sees a dog or even a picture of a dog. Every day he communicates to me more what he wants and he is a great helper. He even helps me unload the dishes, put up his toys, and put his diapers in the trash. I learned after sitting in Rene’s Sunday School class that if you expect a lot out of your 1 year old….they will most of the time rise up to those expectations. They understand a lot more than we think they do. I will have to blog about Rene’s Sunday School class. It was unbelievable, and I am hoping that she will teach a seminar on what she does (she teaches the older 1’s).

Two new great discoveries:

1. Cup/Bottle id tags. Go to http://www.inchbug.com/ Have y’all heard of these tags? This is so great especially when your little ones go off to the nursery. They are $11.95 for 4 of them
2. If you need Diaper Bag ID tags e-mail Katherine and tell her what your diaper bag colors are and she will make you a very cute ID tag, and if you are in SC you will get it the next day. They are $4 each and her e-mail is sinclair_t@bellsouth.net.

What God has been teaching us:

1. I guess I have been wrongly dwelling on some people’s weaknesses in churches in general. Well, God spoke to me yesterday through His Word - unbelievable. I had not been reading the last four days because of Jackson’s high fever…but God knew what I needed to read and when.
2. My reading for yesterday was 1 Corinthians 10-13. In Chapter 12, Paul is explaining how the church is one body but many parts. Paul states, “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body…..If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” Do we really as church members believe that? Do we believe that God has arranged the parts of the body just as he wanted them to be? Some people have gifts of teaching, some have the gifts of encouraging, some administration….but it seems to be that I want everyone to have the gift of teaching or encouraging. But, that is not how God wants it to be!
3. It is interesting that right after Paul speaks about how everyone in the church has different gifts and different roles he speaks about how important love is. I had never really tied the two together. I had made the connection of the use of spiritual gifts and using them in love….but not loving every person in the body of Christ. Do you think I am way off?
4. Paul basically says that if he has faith that can move mountains, BUT IF HE HAS NOT LOVED, HE IS NOTHING. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to flames, but have not loved, I gain NOTHING. It seems that Paul is saying if you have all of these spiritual gifts in the church but do not love you have nothing and gain nothing. If you do not love all the different members in the church in ministry you gain nothing. Instead of focusing on what is wrong with the members of the bride of Christ maybe we should focus on loving them….doesn’t that mean we need to love all of them?…even their weaknesses? Are we, as ladies, really loving everyone in the church? Or are we trying to “fix” everyone? Are we “loving” them when we slander them? I think if we try to help people without loving them we gain nothing. Again, God has arranged the parts of the body just as he wanted them to be./

Jackson has the Flu....Sad!

After 3 trips to the doctor this week, we have finally found out what is wrong with Jackson...he has the flu (they actually have a flu test that they did up his nose). This morning he had a high fever again (over 102) and just looked completely dazed. It really scared me....he could not even hold his head up or keep his eyes opened. He is highly contagious so we will all probably have it, so pray that we have enough strength to take care of him. He sometimes looks so sad and sick, and he wants me to hold him constantly and reaches up for my neck many times during the day. My doctor was not comfortable giving us tamiflu because of the side effect of hallucinations is high with children under 2 years old, and it only helps them get over it faster by like 1 day. So pray for Jackson. Children under the age of 2 can have complications with the flu such as getting pneumonia. He did not get his flu shot, but believe me we will all have the flu shot at the beginning of October next year. However, the nurse said that they have had many children come in with the flu who had the flu shot this year (so they are not sure if they predicted the right strain of the virus this year). We are not sure where he got it from but we will be here at the house for the rest of the week trying to get better. So keep us on your prayer list. Thank y'all!

How I am treating the Flu:
1. Like any other virus, with a fever, I am giving him children motrin every 6 hours. Tonight I am going to wake up at 3 am to give him his motrin so he does not have such a high fever in the morning.
2. With saline solution up his nose when his really congested and then we blow the mucus out with a blue suction instrument that they gave us when he was born at the hospital.
3. When he is coughing or real congested we go to the guest bathroom and turn the shower on real hot and let the steam break up the mucus.
4. Let him take some naps in our bed with me propped up on pillows
5. I am feeding him with his bottles and formula at night. He is not eating much of anything and he has already lost 1 pound and the doctor said he could loose another one before the flu is out of his system. Last Wednesday he was 22 pounds and 10 oz, today he was 21 pounds and 7 ozs. Today, he only ate 12 ozs of whole milk, and then 6 ozs of formula and 1/2 cup of grits. I even offered him rainbow sherbet and he wanted no part of it.

If anyone has any more suggestions, I am all ears!

Lots of Thanksgiving Weekend Pictures!

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend until today. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Mimi's here in Columbia, and Jake and Jackson had a fun time playing together. Then, my parents came Friday and we went shopping on black Friday (Gigi got Jackson a little broom) and then of course on Saturday we all went and watched the Gamecocks lose again....I cannot even write about it. Remind me never ever to go to a Clemson/Carolina game ever again. I just get way too upset about us losing to Clemson, and it is just a game. Anyway, our good friend Carol (from Sumter) came to stay with us and Jackson ran a little bit of a fever with her last night so we left the game early. Well, this morning Jackson wakes up and he was on fire. His temp. under the arm was 102.4! Ah! Carol is such a great friend and God knew that I needed her this morning. We immediately gave him Motrin and the fever went down to about 100 within 30 minutes. We did go to the doctor and the doctor said his throat was red, and they did a strep test, but it was negative and his ears had a little fluid but no infection. The doctor said he just has a virus combined with teething. It was so scary his temp being that high...he was shaking all over. Pray that we glorify God in our actions even when Jackson gets sick through these winter months!

We Got a New Digital Camera!

They called me Monday and told me it would be $330 to fix my camera and that it would only cost half of that to get a new camera. So Happy early Christmas to me....we got a new camera! They have come a long way just in a few years in the quality of the camera (we got a two year warranty on it). Last night, we had the Family Thanksgiving dinner/program last night at the church that both the children's ministry and the music ministry do. It went really well. We were expecting 300 people and ended up with at least 400 maybe 450. The children did a great job singing and the pictures above are from this event. Happy Thanksgiving!

Video of Jackson Brushing His Teeth!

What God has Been Teaching Us:

Update on Jackson: 14 months old now!

1. My digital camera got messed up at the Florida/USC game on Saturday and I will not have it for another week…that is why there has been no pictures posted on the site .Sad. These pictures above our from October when he was 13 months old (we still had not done a lot of unpacking)
   
2. After talking to my friend whose dad is a dentist, we have started to brush Jackson’s teeth. We got toddlers’ toothpaste which they can swallow and it has no fluoride. He actually has been brushing his own…he is so smart! We do it in the morning and at night.
3. He really understands everything I said and now likes to run away from me at stores. Jackson copied Charlie and shouted, “Jesus!” the other day with a smile.
4. When I ask him to hug me…he does!
5. He tries to feed himself by dipping his spoon into his yogurt…but he misses a lot
6. He loves Southern Gospel music…
7. He is super friendly and says “hey” to everyone and waves. People tell me that he is the happiest little boy they have ever seen. The other day we were at the DMV and he tried to give everyone his Cheerios. I pray and know that God will use his friendliness and love of people to reach many people for Christ.
8. It seems like he always has a virus. The other night he kept on swallowing mucus and he was very upset about it. We went in the bathroom and sat in the steam of the shower to try to break up the mucus. It worked well and then I did something I have never done. I laid hands on him and prayed in Jesus’ name that He would heal him. I prayed in faith and he slept through the night and was healed…no more mucus! Was this wrong for me to lay hands on him? I did it in faith and honestly for God’s glory and so we can go to church and do ministry. Doesn’t the Bible say anything that you ask in Jesus name, by faith, and for His glory you will have? What do ya’ll think about this? Has anyone actually laid hands on their little one in prayer?

What God has been teaching me through Bible Reading and Bible Study this week (Acts 3-19)

1. King Herod died because, “Herod did not give praise to God” (Acts 12:23). So, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. Wow.
2. Listening through Acts in the dramatized NIV version really shows how Paul preached. He did not make some nice little suggestions, he preached. He was yelling for people to repent and be saved.
3. Peter also preached very urgently. He clearly explains that God made “no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9). God actually purifies our hearts…I guess I have never really dwelled on that phrase.
4. Lord spoke to Paul in one specific vision where he told Paul to “not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.” Acts 18:9. Seems like a lot of Christians today are silent about Jesus - me included
5. In the Bible Study I am doing at the church, the author asked us if we have accomplished our goals for this year. Sometimes our goals can be selfish but one of my goals is every year is to reach/disciple 5-10 women a year. Sad to say I think I can name 5 but not 10. Why is it so hard for stay at home moms to evangelize/reach people? Is it because all we are focused on all day long is just surviving our day? Reading through the Gospels, Jesus says to not even go home and tell your family “goodbye.” Just come and follow Him. It seem like some stay at home moms, me included, are only focused on their family and not focused on reaching women for Jesus. Some weeks all I can think about is Jackson’s sickness or how Jackson is doing. I hate to say this but I think that way of thinking and living is sinful and wrong. This is exactly what Satan and his demons want Christian women to do. I do not know about you but I do not want to live like this and neither should you! I do not want to live a life not doing anything for His kingdom. It is a constant fight. Our goal in ministry and life should be reaching people and making disciples (of our making disciples should include your children!). Does anyone else struggle with this or have any suggestions/actions steps on how to fight this battle?

USC Tragedy

The 7 college students that were killed last Monday in the horrifying fire have been on my heart all week. This tragedy hits close to home

1. Because I graduated from USC and was in a sorority (Kappa Delta) and knew many Tri Delts and SAE’s.
2. Because we just had a fire in our house this past June

Seeing this fire and all the suffering it has brought has brought back some hard memories of our fire. What if Jackson had been in his room when it caught on fire? What if Charlie had not heard the smoke detectors (I certainly did not hear them)? What if God had decided to take Jackson? Would I have been strong enough to have endured the tremendous loss of a child? I am praying for these families daily, and Dr. Estep preached a wonderful message on, “When Bad Things Happen” (go to the website and here the ending song…it was unbelievable).

After having Jackson, I really did ponder on what was the worst event that could ever happen to us. Jackson is ultimately God’s child not mine. God has given Jackson to us as a wonderful gift. The suffering here on earth is only temporal. The worst event that could happen to our family is not that one of our children died, but rather if one of our children died and we knew 100 percent that they had rejected Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Where we spend eternity is FOREVER! The suffering here one earth is only temporal. Am I daily choosing to live for eternity or am I choosing to live for the temporal things. Is unpacking boxes and having a perfectly clean and organized house more important to me right now than holding my baby and reading to Him God’s Word? I think women especially get so unhappy because they put all their thoughts and energy in temporal things such as baking the perfect meal….is baking the perfect meal really investing in eternity? We were not created to live for the temporal things of this world!

Finally, today in my daily reading of Scripture, I was reading John 9 and 10. In Chapter 9 Jesus heals a man who was born blind. Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus if this man or his parent had sinned. Jesus clearly states, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Sometimes I believe bad things happen so that the work of God might be displayed in that person’s life. We were not created to worship ourselves, but our Creator. If an event, however hard it might be, helps us grow closely in our relationship with God, as well as to die to ourselves, and depend on God…..will it not then be totally worth all the pain?