I really need to be getting myself and my stuff ready to go camping and boating.  But I wanted to post a little bit about how wonderful my Monday was.  Reminding myself how the Lord is answering the quiet prayers of my heart. 

With Jennifer back from camp, my wonderful husband and I got to go on a lunch date!  It was wonderful going shopping with him and out to lunch at our favorite spot, Tasty Tacos.  He was more relaxed than he has been for the last few months, the stress of caring for the affairs of his mother and sister have been showing.  We had some great conversations about our daughters future.  I shared with him a story about the daughter of one of my co-worker's.  Her daughter(public-schooled) had met a boy(home-schooled) and fallen in love.  The boy wanted to marry the daughter at age 18 and then begin their life together.  My co-worker was not for this mind-set.  My husband and I discussed what I'd been reading from Voddie Baucham book and how biblically to marry young was preferred.  It was wonderful to listen to my husband's own interpretation of the bible on this subject and how much the Lord had us on the same page.  This is despite the fact that we hadn't really discussed it up until this point. 

Next we were in the middle of WalMart and began a discussion on foster care.  I've been praying about this a lot, and asking the Lord to prepare us for the next step.  My husband surprised me with his ideas and attitude about foster care.  I was again amazed at how much we were on the same page, without me ever discussing it with him, just praying.  Lord willing this is a journey we will begin at sometime in the future.  My husband has a lot going on with his mother and sister's affairs(which is another entry in itself) but to see his heart softened was a gift. 

Then we were on our way to Aldi's when we began a discussion about immunizations.  We have not gotten Grace's last set of immunizations, she will be 6 in December.  The more I read and learn about immunizations the less I am liking the idea of her receiving them. There are several other reasons that I've been wrestling with immunizations. First is the issue of the use of aborted fetal stem cells to make the immunizations. Next is the risk of autism, I know there are hundreds of studies that show this isn't the case.  But both my husband and I look at my forty-eight year old autistic sister-in-law, who received all of her immunizations at one time, when she came to the US at age eighteen months from Korea.  Today's immunizations are reported to be safer than then, but the risks of side-effects weigh on my mind.  As an RN that works within the current health care world I'm not about to get a we vs. them mentality started.  I had a heated discussion with a pharmacutical rep. about the Varicella vaccination and it wasn't pretty.  But I've been praying and doing a small amount of reading about immunizations.  It should be no surprise to me, that as we discussed the issue of immunizations we were on the same page.  This discussion lasted all the way to our last grocery store stop.  My husband had been listening to Jan Mickelson on WHO-radio, discuss with a chiropractor about the research on immunizations and their necessity.  We've not come to any final decisions about Grace and her immunizations, but are prayerfully researching what our next step will be. 

My marvelous Monday ended with a visit to watch the hot-air balloons land in Indianola.