mountaincottage

There are many sides to the vaccination issue, but as it stands in the US, vaccinations are recommended for our children, and in most states exemptions can be obtained. The choice ultimately resides with the parents on what is best for their child.

What is alarming is the lengths to which a county in Maryland went this weekend to force children to get their vaccinations, without asking the questions a care provider should ask before giving vaccinations, without giving the parents the info they are supposed to receive when a child is vaccinated, without consulting medical records to see if the child might have a medical condition for not getting their shots, or if perhaps they've received shots but the school has lost the paperwork, and giving many shots in one day to "catch the child up" which puts a child at higher risk for side effects ... all under threat of imprisonment or fine to the parents who did not comply...

Here are some links to the story:
NY Times article
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/us/18vaccine.html?ref=us

Blog by Vaccination activist
http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/

PRN newswire discussing the Association of American Physicians and Surgeon's stand on the subject
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-16-2007/0004707525&EDATE=

Maybe it's just me, but this seems to be just one more example of our rights slipping away.

Here's an update from our cottage :-)

We are currently at home. We've worked in S. GA, Atlanta, MI and PA this summer. We hope to be back on the road (for the smaller Fall Hail season), or with other income options within the next couple weeks, just to keep up with cash flow and to make it thru till hail season begins again in the spring.

Aiden is doing well. He enjoys being home, getting to visit his friends Michaela and Anthony on a weekly basis, and has expressed quite an interest in reading, so we've begun preliminary home school. While in PA we visited a train exhibit and took a train ride into a beautiful gorge, which he enjoyed.

You may remember that Rudy and I separately attended the men's and women's events hosted by Ransomed Heart, this spring in CO. Both events were healing, growing times for us, and we highly recommend them! While there I had the following experience:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Friday Nite, Captivating, March 07:
"As I walked back into my cabin, a fellowship of 4 women were sharing, but they immediately stopped and “Esther” said, “You're beautiful, Thank you for dancing (free form ballet)!” and they all echoed similar sentiments.
I shared a little of my story with them ...
We talked about children – how many? They all had at least 2-4. I have one.
“Do you want more?”
“Yes, I want more, but We're waiting on God – our firstborn was a gift, conceived after 7 years of no contraception, immediately after He healed some broken sexual places in our hearts. It's getting hard tho – our son is almost 4, we haven't used any contraception, and we don't want two 'only' children.”
“Joan” quickly said – “Can I pray over you about that?”
“Of course”
They laid hands on me and began to pray... and prayed for things I hadn't mentioned, which God gave them to speak... Wow...

I went to bed with a very full heart. My name redeemed, many agreements broken, my heart's passion for dance fully and totally restored.... " and a vague hope that their prayers would be answered....
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And they have been! Over the course of this summer, Rudy and I have been discussing having another child, what we need to do, etc. He's always been hesitant to have children, given his own ugly family legacy which he's afraid he'll carry on. In fact that was one of the things the ladies prayed over that I hadn't mentioned to them - Rudy's desire for/ fear of having children, in addition, his concern of financing another child. Anyway, Rudy gave me the "Okay" for us to pursue really trying for a child in early August (which would include charting, ovulation tests, special supplements, getting maternity care insurance, etc) and we miraculously conceived about a week later!!! On our 12th anniversary weekend - which was the first in a long time that we really felt like "we're going to make it!", as we've been thru so much in the past few years. God had been working and healing in miraculous ways!

So we are the very happy expectant parents, and big brother, of what I sense is a little girl... (that's yet to be verified.)

Please join us in praising the Lord for this incredible, miraculous gift and answer to our prayers!!!!!

I'm due early May 2008. There are some details that need to be worked out which I'd appreciate your prayer support on. Such as: Finding a good, like minded OB/GYN, balancing regular medical care and our life on the road, timing of the birth vs. spring hail season, negotiating the cost of a c-section delivery, as we are self employed, and I'd not yet arranged for insurance when God blessed us with this little one. We also have several large ticket items we'd like to sell/replace – like our current camper/truck for a larger one...

I've had plenty of nausea – no trips to the porcelain god, just overall yucky feeling, and fatigue, so my to-do list while at home has been slow in process, but otherwise, we are all doing well, and staying busy catching up with details here at home. Rudy has several automotive projects he's working on/will be working on, to move some of our extra vehicles out of our lives. He's also planning/dreaming of putting in an actual shop to do such repairs/make money during off season times at home.

While home we've also enjoyed a 4-wheeling trip into the Shining Rock wilderness, several nice hikes around home, and Rudy went mountain biking this morning. I hope to be camping this weekend as well.

I pray you are all doing well, that the Lord is blessing and bringing complete wholeness to each of you, and that your fall brings a sense of rest and peace to your hearts!

Hope you had a wonderful Holiday Season, and that this New Year is filled with many Blessings!!!

From the Mountain Cottage - where it is 50 degrees and sunny :-)

Prioritizing time can be a difficult thing for me.

Do I write that letter on the blessing of Grace to my aunt, or Write our yearly newsletter - the closest thing I ever get to sending Christmas cards?
Perhaps finish researching the how-to's in forming and LLC?
Or do I spend the time folding laundry and doing dishes?
Or perhaps doing the touch up paint in the living room, and then decorate for Christmas?
Maybe workout and take a shower..
Or perhaps just go to bed?

As a SAHM the largest portion of my time should be spent as an engaged, emotionally available parent, teaching, laughing, engaging, playing with my son. What's the point of me being home if I fill my time with so many projects that he literally raises himself? So the tasks that take my full attention ought to be done while he sleeps...

So, for tonite the best thing to do is probably take a shower and go to bed. That way, I can be up early in the morning, spend some me time with Dad, maybe start on one of those letters, before he's up, needing breakfast, and the required snuggles for the day to go well. He can help with dishes and laundry and decorating for Christmas...

Only one question remains - do I have the discipline to go to bed, or will I burn the candle on both ends as usual, and surf the internet, or watch a movie, or...?

I know many live in the North, and Rockies, and already have snow.

However, It's been a looong time since I've seen snow in November. And then it was just a sprinkling.

Yet another Gift from God, here in my little cottage, in the mountains of TN... We had snow again today! This is our second snow, the first lasted half a day, last weekend when "David" was home, so we all went for a walk - it was beautiful too. :-)

Today, wet, silent, beautiful snow covered the hemlocks, the hollies, the peach trees. Several inches fell, but it had been raining previously, and the ground is still very wet, so at least half of it melted. (the next morning a full 3 inches lay on the ground)
Usually winter brings a weariness for me. Last year I went into it in a grieving depression. All we had in AL was rain, and cold, bitter cold. The snow we saw was dry flurries, not even enough to coat anything well.

But this winter, I'm filled with hope, anticipation, joy. I don't much like the cold, but I sure love the snow. Finally I am home in a location which gets snow. Reportedly, we could be snowed in several times this year when folks 5 miles down the road have just a dusting.
When we bought this little cottage, we had no idea what it's "microclimate" was;
no idea that my favorite woodland flowers would be found in the flowerbeds,
no clue how very close we were to the AT and AWESOME hiking, overviews, waterfalls, mountains,
no clue how pretty the autumn would be.
We didn't know we'd get snow in November.

But our Lover knew. He knew we'd been in the wilderness for so long. He gave us a respite for our souls. A place to call our own, to come Home to.
What a gift He's given us... and the cool thing is, we get to unwrap it a little at a time, as the seasons change and more bits of our gift is revealed!

Thank you Jesus!!! Thank you for giving me gifts for my heart!!!