plague and pestilence???

As our family experiences some typical seasonal sniffles and coughs, it is a bit of a conscious decision to not panic and become fearful, or even expectant, of the worst scenarios imaginable. As the letters come home from school, and we hear reports on the news all about the swine flu, and in fact, a dear friend is just now beginning to recover from it herself, I'm trying to remain relaxed and just do what I can preventatively on the homefront.

First and foremost, and probably the thing I most easily forget, is covering my family and loved ones in prayer. I'm finding Psalm 91 a good guide for praying:

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

Rather than fearing the pestilence and plague, I am trying to remember to rest in the shadow of the Almighty, and lean on His wisdom. As He so graciously gives wisdom, I am trying to act on those things that He brings to my mind.

There are many simple things that our mothers have probably been telling us for years before we ever heard of "H1N1". Things like making sure we are getting plenty of rest (I admit, I do much better imposing this on the kids than on myself, but I'm making a more concerted effort) and pumping the vitamins. I think this year it's a very worthwhile investment to stock up on some Emergen-C or Airborne, or whatever immune booster you favor. (We have found the Emergen-C to be very effective, but I know that Airborne also makes powder packets for kids that taste great...reminded me of pixie stix candy...my kids actually asked for them every day!) I'm also trying to make a point of reminding them of the things that they are being told at school and we are hearing on TV about coughing/sneezing into a sleeve, and I'm going to make sure the hand sanitizer sees a little more action! (I don't use anti-bacteria soaps, except for in the kitchen, because I've heard that overuse of them actually kills off the good bacteria that helps fight sickness So I'm trying to promote longer hand washing with regular soap and warm water for routine hand washing. However, I think some gel on hand for post-coughs/sneezes might be a good idea.) I'm also going to hit all doorknobs and light switches and other oft-touched places with some anti-bacteria cleaner today.

Lastly, I'm choosing to steer my mind away from fearfulness and remind myself of the goodness of the Lord. Last week, as I shared about wrestling with coveting, I made this little reminder for myself and set it above the kitchen sink. This week, it continues to be a good reminder to be thankful for all we have, including health.