In Sickness and in Health

It's a good thing that I like taking care of sick people, for that is just what and pretty much all that I did last week! Eight of our nine children at home were all sick at once, which is preferable to having just a couple succumb each day and the whole routine going on for a couple of weeks. It was a horrible virus; severe headache, fever, chills, aches accompanied by a sudden onset tight chest cough.

Our living room/sick room

Thankfully, neither I nor Jeff ever got the bug! Little Peter didn't either (until Sunday) and was quite lonesome and wondered why no one wanted to play with him. His usual energy and antics quite irritated the convalescing ones. Happily his neglect was well rewarded when he did fall ill, he reaped the  sympathetic caring of all those on the mend.

This bout was on the heels of a head cold that went around the week before and so when James started with this awful cough and temperature of 103 degrees, I suspected he might have walking pneumonia...so I prayed and watched him closely and started him on hot lemon with honey, broth with lots of garlic and cayenne, vitamin C, vapor rubs etc. I also mixed up a batch of Elderberry Syrup which is an excellent antiviral and started everyone on about 3 TBS a day. I was actually relieved when Joe showed the symptoms the next day, for then I knew it was a new virus and that James was alright.

Extra time with big brother

By the next day, everyone had taken ill and moved from our cold basement into the living room, near the wood stove.  Right away I made a huge pot of turkey and noodle soup with lots of onions, fresh garlic and cayenne. We also happened to have a couple of cases of Knudsen's Recharge which I served liberally. This is a great way to supply electrolytes and avoid dehydration.  Everyone wanted something cold for their sore throats. Rather than buying expensive popsicles full of artificial coloring and sugar we froze Recharge in cups for slushies.  Another thing that really helped was putting frozen fruit through our Champion Juicer, which comes out just like ice cream without the cream and sugar...they loved that! And of course our trusty vaporizer was running full throttle the whole while. I'm also a firm believer in rubbing Vicks or Mentholatum all over the backs and chests of the sufferers to help loosen the stuff in the chest.

Kleenex on a roll :)

The whole living room became a sick ward. We watched lots of movies and read aloud. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful and we were able to open the windows in the afternoons and I could go for walks and refresh myself.  I was really impressed at how peaceful things were. Everyone realized that bickering and balking would only make things worse (or maybe they just didn't have the energy) or most probably, since they are ages 10 and up they took it in stride like we would expect they should.

I got to thinking about how seldom in the course of raising our family over the past 27 years we've  been to the doctor. Our first four children had many more doctor visits that the other seven have had combined. In fact, our youngest three have never been! They are 5, 8 and 10 now.

Ruthie reading on her floor bed

  A look at how our lifestyle has changed over the years sheds some light at why this might be. While the first four were young we took them to every prescribed check-up, and got the recommended immunizations. While I did stay at home with them, we dropped them off in the church nursery on Sundays with lots of little guys who spent most of their time in daycare. Too much sugar, white flour and junk foods became a concern about that time so we began grinding and baking our own wheat bread, using whole wheat in most of our cookies and things and halving the sugar in most recipes. Since then our diet and health has been steadily improving!

All that remains of a half gallon of honey and a bottle of lemon juice.

Along all this way I've been slowly learning and trying home remedies and herbals. For instance, I read that a drop of warm olive oil in the ear can alleviate an earache. I've practiced that for 20 years and never had to have anti-biotics for an ear infection. I'm sure that the realization of how important it is to avoid anti-biotics, coupled with the experience of enduring illnesses and recovery made me willing to "tough out" alot of  incidents. I believe that every time we "fight through" a dis-ease on our own we strengthen our body's immune system.

 These are just my thoughts and observations.  Above all God gets the Glory for keeping us safe and healthy and giving us Wisdom through the years.

Grace's new foam filled "bean bag" made a great extra bed this week.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5


We make what we call "Hot Lemon and Honey" by the potful. Simply bring water to a simmer and add lots of honey and preferably fresh squeezed lemon juice or bottled lemon juice. This is an all time family favorite which soothes the throat and spirit. I tried adding grated ginger but the flavor was too "warm" for my family and they preferred it without.