A Trial

I had no idea when I wrote the previous post, last weekend, that it was just the beginning of Jacob's sickness and that we were about to encounter a trial. His temperature continued to rise over the next few days, to a point where we were very concerned. We were giving him a combination of ibuprofen and tylenol, at the direction of a doctor, in addition to just letting him sleep and trying to get him to drink. He wasn't very fussy, just very uninterested and wanting to sleep all the time. He also refused any food or drink. Then on Wednesday, five days after his fever began, it suddenly went away and he came down with a rash that covered most of his skin. At this point, again through the direction of a doctor, we were able to diagnosis it as roseola. What a relief, to finally know what was going on. Anyways, today is Saturday and he is doing much, much better. He still has the rash but this morning it began to become less noticable. He also is eating and drinking, not with a whole lot of enthusiasm, but at least we are not having to force it down.

This week was very difficult for me. I did not know what to do, or how to best care for Jacob, at the same time as trying to care for the rest of our lives here. Towards the end of the week I was reading and was reminded of James' writing on the purpose of trials, "consider it joy...when you encounter various trials", "so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing", "blessed is a man who perseveres under trial", etc. What a blessing it is that God is giving us endurance and wisdom, through the trials that we face. I do not know fully what I have learned through this recent trial, but I do know that I am resting more fully in God's sovereign control of all things. I pray that through future trials I would rest on His promises in James 1 and "consider it all joy".