what God is teaching me through vaccines...

You probably wouldn't be surprised if I told you that Nathan and I had to "count the cost" before we started down this road to missions.

(Of course, every believer has to do that, don't they?  No matter what a believer does in life, there is always a cost to following Christ).

But anyway, I have seen some attitudes creep up in my heart recently and I feel God teaching me through these.  He is so patient with me!

The first lesson has come through this stage of getting vaccinated and filling out lots of paperwork.  I had to track down mine and Nathan's shot records from our childhood, calling around and compiling those.  I found out that our family had to get a LOT of vaccines.  Some were routine (mostly in the case of Layla and Daisy), but others are specific to going overseas.

I don't know about you, but I find medical stuff to be a big headache at times.

And then, came the kicker.  We found out that the Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine (JEV) is going to cost us $600 per person.  I was shocked speechless when I found that out!

So while I was kind of grumbling in my heart that all of this medical stuff is a big pain, and that the JEV is going to cost us an arm and a leg...I felt the Lord being so patient with me, and faithful to remind me of truth--this is all part of the "cost".  The "cost" of getting a bunch of expensive vaccines is so tiny in comparison to what we are privileged to do--help bring the gospel to a people group who would otherwise have no chance to hear it.

This is all just a part of what it takes!  I am so thankful that the Lord is so gracious to remind me of these truths.  Jesus is better than everything--including expensive vaccines!


(and just for fun...Layla was so brave when she got her shots!  No tears at all, and she kept saying all day how "fun" it was to get shots!  Lol...Daisy didn't feel quite the same way about hers, though!)