John 16:33

John 16:33 "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble and suffering, but take heart, I have overcome the world."

I love this verse. It's one of my favorites and one that I reference often. In light of all that is happening in the world here lately, I cling to the promise that HE already knows how things will play out. HE wins... and you know what? I am HIS so I win, too. He says we will have pain and suffering- we aren't immune to it just because we are Christians. It's going to happen but we have hope. The world is a scary place. On Monday, the bombings at the Boston Marathon were front and center. An eight year old child died. I cannot even imagine. It makes me want to put B in a bubble. I am a protective Momma... maybe even excessively so. I am usually overly cautious, anxious, and careful. Most of my thoughts are about my child and I spend my time with him when I am not at work. No one will ever have to remind me how precious this time is. Believe me, I soak him in. I hate that he will grow up in such a seemingly cruel world... But then, I remembered something I heard on HisRadio today. It was a quote by Fred Rogers and it talked about how when something bad happens, look for the helpers. That is a wonderful illustration of the good still left in the world. There are still good people. During 9/11 countless stories were told about ordinary people saving and helping others. Fireman and policeman gave their lives to try and save others. Even during this Boston Marathon story, there were many Good Samaritans who reached out to help those who were hurt. My coworker's niece had leukemia and hundreds of people came out to be tested as a possible bone marrow match. A friend's home burned and donations poured in immediately. When my grandmother died, friends called and gathered around us and begged to do something to help us. There is still good and I try to see that. I could spend my life worried about the next tragedy to happen... And there are times that I do... But I choose not to. I don't want B to only hear about the ugly, scary things going on. I want him to know that there is good too!

After the news broke about the bombings, my heart was heavy. It weighed in my mind much of the day. That was also the same day Ju called to say B was running fever. Normally, I wouldn't have worried but he had had an ear infection for two weeks and I was worried it wasn't clearing up. I also wanted a finger stick to make me feel better that there was nothing serious going on. I called the doctor and they wanted to see him. We saw the nurse practitioner... Who I also love. By this point, his fever was 102 with Tylenol and he was asleep in my arms... Not normal. His ears looked good and she was puzzled as to the cause of the high fever. This made me nervous. She said it could be viral but she wanted us to head to the hospital for bloodwork and a chest X-ray just to rule out anything serious. I lost it and had a meltdown in the doctors' office! She was very kind and understanding. Jonathan met me at the hospital and after two vials of blood and a chest X-ray, we were on our way home to wait for the results. The NP called to say everything looked great and it was just a viral respiratory infection. This time I cried from relief. He kept a fever that night and a low grade the next day. Today, we went for a chiropractic adjustment. Hopefully, we are on track to get back to his normal self soon!