Germ Therapy

1 Peter 1:2-11

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In trying to navigate and meet the needs of some of our children, we have had seasons of participating in attachment therapy, family therapy, play therapy, behavioral therapy, EMDR therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and medication therapy. We have found these therapies to be more or less helpful for different children at different times and each therapy always had a cost for the family unit as a whole - either a financial cost, a physical cost (driving, incredible hours of time weekly, etc.), or an emotional one. Usually, by the end of a trial season with a particular therapy, there were multiple costs to the family unit that outweighed the benefits the child was gaining by continuing in the therapy. For this reason, and because there is an added measure of peace in a home whose day is not scheduled by running every direction to try to "fix" six children through therapy, we have chosen to limit our use of outside therapies at this time. I could write a whole other post about what brought us to this decision, but not this morning - I have disinfecting to do today! Today we find ourselves peacefully therapeutic at home, finding in Christ everything we need for life and godliness for this season.

What is it that we need during this season? Faith (in Christ), virtue, knowledge (of God, of His Word), self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. That is a big list.

Giving thanks in all circumstances, I rejoice that this week we can show our children love through germ therapy. Five of six children have been sick throughout the past week, beginning with one with strep throat over Thanksgiving. Thankfully the strep throat did not spread, just a nasty cold! Being sick is never fun, but it is such a sweet opportunity for me to show them the love and care of a mom. It is also a new opportunity for them to learn to be taken care of by me, to ask for help and comfort, to learn to depend on us as parents. I would never choose for my children to be sick, but I am happy to take care of them and show them that I delight in them and in being their mom.

Chicken soup, blankets, tissues, water, oranges, juice...love.