You know you are doing everything you can when you...
-boil and filter your drinking water
-filter the water to the whole house
-sterilize all your fruits and vegetables
-sterilize juice bags
-use antibacterial spray on your kitchen counters after washing the dishes
-bleach the rinse water for your dishes
-have antibiotic soap, wet wipes, and hand sanitizer all over the house (and in the car)
-air dry your sippy cups (all dishes for that matter!) until there is not a drop of water on them
-sterilize your toothbrushes once a week
-use boiled water for brushing teeth
-clean/disinfect your bathrooms 3x a week
-sweep and mop (with disinfectant) your floors 3x a week
-empty the trash and lysol the trashcans and bathrooms 3x a week
-continually rebuke and remind your children not to put hands or anything that might possibly be remotely dirty in their mouths!
-contiually rebuke and remind your children to wash their hands
-only order bottled beverages and/or cooked vegetables at restaurants or church functions
-only eat 'God-wrapped' fruit when out and about
-keep your pets outside at all times
-wash towels and linens once a week
-feed your family probiotic yogurt mixed with ground up papaya seeds every day
Despite all these precautions, Eliana still has parasites - we've only been treating them off and on for the last 9 months! This is so frustrating and discouraging. I hate the fact that she is almost always taking some sort of medication. I hate having to force my child to take foul-tasting medicine every day. I hate having to wash out poopy underwear all the time. I hate myself when I get frustrated with Eliana or with washing out poopy underwear; if something were to happen to one of us, I don't want her memories of me to be a frustrated mommy when she can't really help it! I hate taking in samples to the lab 2x a week. I hate seeing Eliana with circles under her eyes and not gaining weight like she should. I hate feeling like I have to force my child to eat to see her gain weight. I hate feeling that I'm sacrificing my child's health to be on the mission field. I hate feeling guilty, like I should be doing something more or better to help her get over these parasites. I cry and pray over this situation all the time.
And yet at a very low point this last week, as I was praying, God helped me put things in a better perspective.
-Eliana is active, intelligent and happy and is not loosing weight.
-What mother doesn't have to wash out poopy underwear?
-What mother doesn't have to force her child to eat or take foul-tasting meds?
-I am not having to care for my child through a life-threatening or debilitating illness.
-Eliana is alive.
-I have the money and means to provide her with good medical care and medicine.
-I have the money and means to buy the cleaning supplies I need to take every precaution to provide her with a clean and healthy home.
-I have the money and means to buy healthy food and provide clean water for my family.
I would appreciate your prayers for myself... my attitude, my patience, my love... it has been one of those emotional roller coaster kind of weeks. And for Eliana, for her complete healing and prevention of getting parasites again. God is good, all the time.
7 comments:
Oh, Julie,
We all pray so much for all of you, and especially for your battle with parasites. I know you do everything you can to protect your family. I'm thankful God's Spirit encouraged you this week with a reality check. We love you all so much, Mom
Julie, God bless you sweet sister. You do such an incredible job living where you do and taking care of your family. I HATE the medical system here in Peru where I have to take samples to the clinic anytime my children seem to have a problem. I feel you there. But I am thankful that you can step back and think about the blessings you have. I have resolved to thinking in many situations, "Megan, it could be so much worse." But we need times to vent for sure, because it really does get old after a while. I will say a prayer for Eliana's healing and for her sweet mother that tends to her. You are doing a GREAT job. Love from Peru.
I am so sorry you are still struggling with this. I will pray for you and your sweet little girl. Hang in there, you are a wonderful mom and you are doing a great job! Don't let Satan give you a mommy guilt trip. Love ya!
I understand a little of your frustration. For awhile, it seemed that Brett was sick every Tuesday. I can only imagine the struggle that would come if it were my child. Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts and feelings about it all. Just remember it's o.k. to be angry sometimes, God can handle it. Hang in there...there are a lot of people praying for you. --April
Julie...I'm so sorry that Eliana is struggling still with parasites and that you have to work so hard in the process. Your list of all you do sounds exhausting (can you imagine if you ever move back to the US and don't have to do all these things...what will you do with all that time!!??) I'll be praying for Eliana to be healed of the parasites...and for you heart to be guarded from discouragement and worry.
Hang in there. Wish I could say more than that, though.
Love, Nicole
Sweet girl, you are such a good mother and such a dear soul! Every Mom can appreciate the frustration and most of us did not have this seemingly perpetual struggle with parasites. Bless your sweet hearts, I love you very much and continue praying for this and many things on your behalf. Love and hugs to you, Rosemary
Julie, I know I'm way behind in reading this, but I wanted to share something with you anyway. This last Thanksgiving, Chris & Andrea were offered enough vouchers to fund 2 summer trips for their family if they would just give up their seats and take a flight the next day. They took the opportunity, went home, and Ava cracked her head open on the coffee table in the living room. They spent the evening in the ER, paying toward their deductible, where Ava had to be stitched up without sedation. They flew to MI the next day and spent the week figuring out how & when to get the stitches out without spending another couple of thousand dollars in the ER. (A wonderful Nurse did it for free - WHAT A BLESSING!) Anyway, Andrea spent a lot of time second-guessing the decision to take the vouchers and finally realized that she had no way of knowing what would or wouldn't have happened if they had gotten on the plane in the first place instead (a car accident on the way home? Illness on the airplane?). The fact is, we all struggle through something (some worse than others) and wish we didn't have to, or wonder if another way would be better, but we will NEVER know AND it may not be better a different way. All we can know is that God is watching over us and taking care of us, and like you said, there are blessings in our current situations. Keep your chin up, friend! We support you as a mom and a missionary!!
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