FLU SEASON FOR THE HOLYFIELDS HAS ENDED

I think it is safe and I am extremely happy to report that the cold/flu or whatever it was season in our home is finally coming to a halt.

It hits us about this time every year. Last year it was March, this year February, not a whole lot of difference, since the temperatures here in the Far East dont change much from feb - april. We have had many more sunny days and many more warmer temperatures. It even got up to + 16 F this past week. Our region has as many sunny days as Sochi (on the black sea) and almost as many as Mississippi. That is a special treat and great improvement over the first 8 years we served in Moscow. Even if it is -40 F in the coldest part of our winter, having sunshine makes it bearable. Living in a small apartment in dead winter, we are all sure to get it.

We dont go to the doctor, so we pretty much "self diagnose", treat the symptoms and wait for it to pass. Between the 5 of us, we had all the symptoms you can imagine: headache, fever, congestion, swollen glands, runny itchy watery eyes, diarrhea, coughing, sneezing, body aches, low grade fever. Caleb had signs of bronchitis, so put him on antibiotics. Michael had signs of sinus infection, so put him on antibiotics, and Grace woke up after 4 days fever free with another fever and swollen glands, so started her on them just in case. (we can still buy them over the counter here, but dont do unless we feel absolutely necessary)


3 PLUS wks of fever (started feb 6) first caleb, then me, then grace, then Sasha, then Michael, he is in the last days, hopefully completely fever/symptom free tomorrow. Its been a long season this year.

My rough calculations of the damage of the "sick" season this year:


4 boxes of Theraflu
1 box of daytime/nighttime nyquil cold tablets
12 packs of softer tissue
1 large jar of home collected honey
3 fresh lemons
MORE TEABAGS THAN I WOULD BE ABLE TO GUESSTIMATE
4 packs of halls cough drops
4 boxes of amoxicillan (caleb, michael and grace, just in case it was an infection)
Lots of Juice, fruit and homemade soups (especially chicken noodle)
This year I even tried all the home remedies I knew of: eating powdered cinnamon, eating honey, lemon tea, garlic (around the house and eating it)
All the same it just had to run its course.

It's not all bad though, in times of fever/sickness, we are forced to stay in to rest, and get well, and so as not infect others. Because of that, I spent more time praying, interceding, studying, reading, reflecting, and even though we all felt bad alot of the time, we enjoyed playing games, watching a few old movies and just having lots of good talks.

I have realized through the years, that if I am even more intentional in the "sick" days, we can draw closer to God and each other as a family, and their are many rewards. And the best part of all is when I finally feel like a human being again, it makes me all the more grateful for wellness, getting out of the house to buy groceries,fellowship with believers,returning to regular exercise, and even returning to some of the mundane household chores that I didn't get done, or didn't have the energy to do well, becomes a joy (well, maybe not a joy, but more pleasurable)