Chariots, Horses and Flu Vaccines

Jennifer Knapp (when, oh when, are you going to come out with a new album?) has this great song called "In the Name" with the following as the chorus lyrics:

Some trust in chariots
But we trust in the name of the Lord our God
To each his own won't lead you home
And probably never will
I won't trust in the things I do
They will not stand, no they won't come through
So I'll trust in the name of the Lord my God

Psalm 20:7 is the source of this song's message: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."

I can honestly say I don't struggle with putting my hope and trust in chariots and horses (I've actually never even seen a chariot), so it might be easy for me to say that I fall into the latter group that puts it's trust in the name of the Lord.

But what if David had written these words instead:

"Some trust in modern medicine, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."

or

"Some trust in their own ability and knowledge, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."

David phrases this sentence as a very clear either/or. Am I placing my trust in God or not? Absolutely God gives us wisdom and gives our doctors wisdom, but my trust and hope cannot be put in people alone.

I got to thinking about all of this when I found myself calling our pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist, trying to figure out when and where Luke could get his H1N1 flu shot. I am fearful and anxious of the flu. I began thinking, "The sooner our family can get this vaccination, the better. THEN we'll be safe from the flu and any possible complications. THEN I won't be as anxious."

I think the psalmist (and God!) would agree this is wrong thinking.

I don't think it's wrong for me to research how to protect my son, or take all the precautionary measures that are available to him. And yes, we are going to all get the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available here. Where I faltered, though, is in putting my hope in those things, and not God Himself. I took my eyes off the One who can calm the seas with a word. Don't you think He can calm my fears? He is the only one worthy of our absolute trust.

We'll start here

I have so many thoughts and stories running through my mind, but for now I thought I would just share two things.

1) I am mama to the best boy on earth:



and 2) I am wife to the best hubby on earth:

Heart friends are the best!

Luke and his heart buddy Alex had fun playing together this morning at Alex's house. Alex's mama and I had fun chatting and watching the boys play. Okay, that's not entirely truthful. It was more that we had fun chatting while we protected Alex from Luke's wrestling moves and picked up shards of a drinking glass Luke broke.

You are the epitome of a gracious host, Dana!

Luke and Alex sharing a seat.

How sweet is Alex? He's giving Luke some love here.

Luke and Alex have very similar hearts, both diagnosed with double inlet left ventricle and both are seen at Northwest Children's Heart Center. Would you ever be able to tell these boys have had FIVE surgeries between them?

We look forward to many more play dates in the future!

Fun, except for the drums

The Puyallup Fair opened yesterday. Three weeks of rides, scones and oh, the traffic. Don't get me wrong, I love the fair. Once. Maybe twice a year. My husband, on the other hand, could go every day. Maybe twice a day.

On opening day, you can follow a cattle drive parade into the fair for free before noon. Luke and I took advantage of their generosity, wishing it extended to ride tickets. We hit the train, the track cars (three times) and the canoes. He loved the rides, I loved watching him love them. I also loved Purell.




The fair's theme this year is, "The Big Fantastic". I like it, but Luke would like to amend it to read, "The Fair Would Be Even More Fantastic if You Eliminated the Marching Bands".

Small beans

I spent the first half of today discouraged. After another failed attempt to leave Luke in the gym nursery, I was feeling frustrated that this is not something he can do yet and ill-equipped to help him jump this hurdle. I don't know exactly why this hit me hard today. Maybe it's because I want him to be comfortable in many social settings, to be secure in new environments. More, I think it highlights for me the fact that we weren't able to do some of the more "normal" things with Luke — like putting him in the church or gym nursery — in his early life.

The first half of the day I wrestled with whether to continue to push Luke in this area with the cold and flu season approaching, and fought thoughts that he is missing important socialization skills.

Then I logged onto my computer and checked on some blog friends.

Mason's family has just learned that because of stenotic left pulmonary veins, he is not a candidate for a necessary heart transplant.

Moriah's mom and dad, after 10 months in the hospital with their daughter, were looking forward to going home next week. Now Moriah has yet another infection, this time pneumonia.

My little pity party suddenly didn't seem so inviting. So I'm leaving that party and heading home to the two-year-old miracle waiting for me there.