So, last week's appointment with our sweet pediatrician... Mercy's six month visit, wow! I still can't believe that!
...and you know what that means... Vaccinations! Three shots, and all three were totally harder for mama than baby girl!
But I think they were worth it... for me, anyway. I know they were worth it for her.
When Mercy was two weeks old one of the nurse practitioners came around saying it was time for some shots. What did we want to do...? Early in the pregnancy I had a couple of conversations with some friends who had chosen not to vaccinate, but Chris and I still thought we had two months to decide, so we hadn't really thought too hard about it. Suddenly we were faced with this decision... so... what did we want to do...?
So I had a discussion with the nurse and asked some questions, Chris and I prayed and talked and ultimately we decided to go for it...
Why did we go for it?
It's funny because soon after we made the decision, my good friend, Maralee, posted a series about vaccinations on her blog, here's a link to one:
http://www.amusingmaralee.com/2013/04/vaccination-guest-post-whats-in-our-vaccines-and-is-it-causing-autism/
The series answered so many questions and echoed much of why we made the decision we made.
This is what it boiled down to... It's simple and totally not scientific, but it's how we felt: basically, if there is even the smallest possibility that our child could develop some life threatening disease down the road, our line of thinking was this: Wouldn't we want to do anything within our power to prevent it?
Our decision was easy, it was YES. We can handle any issues that haven't been proven to rise up due to vaccinations, but, as we were quickly learning, we weren't so sure we could handle the life threatening stuff...
So we vaccinate... And it hurts my heart to hear her scream, but she gets over it within just about 30 seconds, and I deal...
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| Big girl sitting up for the very first time!! |
Another thing new to this mama: waking up every hour during the night to console the screaming child! Oh, it was a hard night! Hard for my heart and hard for my rest...
Thank GOD for Children's Tylenol, we got to bed for good around 5:30am.
During those late night hours of questioning our decision to vaccinate while I was watching the baby girl feel so bad and so sad, I was reminded of a question Chris asks our students often:
"If there is a God, can you think of anything more important than getting to know who He is, who you are in Him, and how the two of you can be in relationship with each other?"
...we watch a series called the Gospel Journey with our students every now and then, and in it the speaker, Greg, has a conversation with an atheist named Andy. Andy is explaining his understanding of sin in relation to his world view... Greg stops him with the question, "What if you're wrong?"
Andy stumbles a little bit and then answers, "Well, if I'm wrong then I'm in deep crap!"
Those two moments ran through my head all night as I prayed for Mercy and for our non-believing friends and students.
The answer to Chris's question is no. If there is even the slightest possibility that there is a God, and there's a way for us to know Him and avoid eternal separation from Him, there's absolutely nothing more important, and it's not worth it to not search and know. If there is a God, the consequences are too heavy, too serious to just not worry about it right now...
Friends, if you find yourself in a place of doubt and questioning, make it your daily goal to figure it out. Find someone to talk to. Ask questions and don't be shy or feel like you'll be judged. This is important stuff. Who is God? Is He real? Who are you in relation to Him? Is it important to be in relationship with Him? And if not, what if you're wrong?
In the end it's a personal decision, just like vaccines. But, friends, don't make the decision without doing the research! It's just not worth it.
...Mercy was all better in the morning and as of this past Tuesday she weighs 11lb 13oz, she is chunking up! She is officially SITTING UP now and loving it (although not quite mastered it yet... she still falls over after about 5 seconds!) She watched her first Saints game tonight and seemed enamored! We are still struggling with the breastfeeding/bottle feeding and I'm trying to be ok with that... Seems a little easier (emotionally) the older she gets! She is CONSTANTLY smiling, giggling, so expressive all the time! Thank you for the prayers you are always sending our way. We love you all so very much!
"I thank my God every time I remember you;
in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy!"
--Philippians 1:3-4
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