After such an amazing and blessed trip to Dallas/Ft.Worth to make the most of Tim’s scheduled work trip, we arrived home three weeks ago with slight signs of a cold. Though we were being cautious and hardly went anywhere beyond our lovely Airbnb, we think we might have caught something at a gas station or perhaps a restaurant that we visited. The sickness ended up being the flu which wore us out. To be safe, we had a couple of our family members tested for “the virus,” but the test turned out negative. We had a few good days or so where we thought we might all be past it, but then experienced something we don’t ever think we’ve gone through before: we got sick again. We’ve seen this second back-to-back sickness happen to a number of people we’ve known — even recently with one of our children’s online teachers. 

Thankfully, there were no fevers this second time around, and our symptoms were less severe than the first time. It still knocked us down. Our older children have never felt the need to sleep or rest for days to heal before, but, this time, several of them spent almost the whole day for multiple days in bed. Based upon what they’ve told us, we can see how external factors have probably contributed to bringing down our immune systems, but it’s okay. We adjust, pray, and thank God for His blessings...like all this delicious fruit! We had been craving fresh fruit when one of our sweet neighbors asked if we would like her to pick up anything from the store. She happened to be at the right store at the time we needed more, and our normal grocery delivery was limiting our ability to get enough for our family. 

Though we often have fresh fruit on our countertops and refrigerator, we don’t usually get this much. It’s so nice that even in sickness, there’s a way to heal through good foods, satisfy immune-boosting and vitamin C cravings, and delight our children with a place that looks like fresh pickings from an orchard were unloaded right on to our countertop! Gabriel loves asking multiple times if the kiwi are ripe yet and was pointing with great joy at the nectarines, mandarins, peaches, and apricots saying, “Yum!!!” We love seeing our children’s thankfulness and delight in not only the big things but also the small things in life like this. It definitely makes any difficulty — even sickness — less uncomfortable, and we’re so thankful for that. 

No one is stuck in bed today, and we hope that this is a sign of major improvement! We’re so very thankful for God’s loving kindness towards us that He has demonstrated in amazing, special ways even over the course of the past month. Also, we hope to make some sweet announcements or updates soon — one includes why one of our fun children’s books publishing date has been delayed. It has also been a wonderful joy to see our children go through a summer study for the Bible Bee even though they know that making it to the national competition in November is a long shot. Please pray for wisdom for us and, above all, that God be glorified.