H1N1 Hits Close to Home

Yesterday early afternoon we found out the sister of a coworker had been hospitalized after being found by her mother unresponsive at home. She was put on life support, tested, considered to have H1N1, and died at the hospital a few hours later.

This is also the sister of someone I serve closely with at church.

The sheer reality of it all is now hitting very close to home.

Please pray for my coworker Jill, my serving partners Steve & Cheri, and the entire family.

I must admit, I'm now re-thinking the vaccination... I don't think you can help but wonder when it hits this close to home. I just remind everyone though not to be afraid... this post is not about evoking fears in anyone, it's a prayer request, an update from me around here, and my thoughts on it. Please just continue to go about things as normal... no reason to freak out.

I trust God's ways and His sovereignty in this and all situations. I don't understand why it happened, but I know that God's plans are perfect. I pray that through this God will be given more honor & glory.

I am thankful for God's hand in my life. I trust Him. I know He has me in the palm of His hand. I know if I'm meant to get this virus then I'll get it, and how it ends is up to Him. But that doesn't mean I'm going to be silly and disregard the wisdom of doctors. I'm just trying to be my own advocate, researching like crazy again the vaccination, and praying for God to show me whether or not to get it.

Either way, I trust Him. I hope & pray that you do as well.

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Since I'm feeling kind of numb and sad today, I thought I'd point you to a couple of other blogs to look at.

1) An update on my friends Spencer and Melody, fighting very difficultly with Lyme's Disease. Please pray for them.

2) An update on my friend MckMama and her 1 year old boy Stellan, who has been very sick much of this past year. They have one amazing trooper on their hands, and he's now MckMiracle... having survived an aggressive, risky ablation which was able to make it so he will no longer suffer from SVT. Go read about it all on her blog and give her some love.

3) Read some tips on The Tramadol Diaries about staying well this flu season with a chronic illness. There's a list in there of tips that I think are applicable to everyone, not just those suffering from chronic illnesses (although it is especially important for us).

Be blessed & go bless those people today. Thanks again for your prayers for my coworker's family.