Knowing My Purpose While Dealing with the 2020 Flu

The flu has taken over my life for the past few weeks. This is not just any flu—I’ve never seen any flu or sickness like it—EVER! Thankfully, a friend of mine and her family of seven had the flu before me, and she was able to walk me through it a bit. Her husband is a doctor, so I knew the information she was giving me could help. When my family started showing symptoms, she was already on her 19th day and was still reporting weakness.

I was personally able to thwart getting the full-blown flu up until the kids’ 9th day of suffering. I thought I had escaped scot-free. To say the least, it has been a busy nine days, and I’ve had to reschedule many important things, such as a trip to Texas to film segments for “The Difference” on TBN. Though I was disappointed to miss out on a great trip, I knew exactly where I needed to be: at home with my family.

Thankfully, the producers and the Hagees understood and encouraged me to stay home with the family. It was a good thing I stayed. After rescheduling, one of my sons, Hampton, started vomiting blood. We quickly took him to the doctor, who discovered he had contracted pneumonia. All the other kids had fevers in excess of 103 degrees. We have never experienced that before. Using Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen intermittently kept some of the kids’ fevers at a manageable level, but one of them had a fever that refused to break. I gave her a sponge bath by dipping a towel into lukewarm water and placing the towel on her back, neck, head, and stomach for about 20 minutes. This absolutely worked! I was in touch with pediatricians and other doctors during the whole ordeal.

I couldn’t help but feel that I was reliving my whole experience of having newborns. I often wake up and check the kids from time-to-time, but waking up every two hours to provide meds and take care of those struggling with the flu is different. Even though there was barely enough time for me to sleep or take care of myself, I have a sense of peace and stillness within me knowing I am living my purpose. I am focused on doing the next right thing, and that is taking care of the kids and Scott. That’s all I can do right now. There is a lot of peace in that. As a new mom, all you can do is take care of your infant and any other kids you may have.

Since my children are older, my life has expanded, but Scott and the kids remain way above all the rest. My life is quite a bit more complex now that I have a business. There are so many more decisions to make, from what to post on social media, what companies to work with, how to help Scott with his office, and how to educate the kids in the most efficient way. I find that, though I am physically tired, it has been a nice break from the anxiety of decision-making. All of my decisions were already made—simply take care of Scott and the kids. That’s it.

I have to admit that I will be glad when the kids and I completely recuperate. I’m ready to get back to all that I have going on, which is a lot, but I do acknowledge that it has been a joy to care for my family with no other burdens on my mind at all. There is a lot to be said for living the simple life.

If you are a young mom, I’d like to encourage you to not feel the pressure of socializing your kids at the expense of their health. There is plenty of time for this. Don’t feel pressure to take your very young children to Mother’s Day Out or Daycare if you don’t have to. I know some of you do and I am praying for you. You can give your kids Vitamin C and D, along with elderberry syrup and that will help. Don’t feel pressure to take them to a play date or (and I hesitate to say this) to the Church nursery either while this flu is still running rampant. This flu is the worst I have ever experienced. Do your best to keep your household from getting. Stay in (away from crowds) until this passes and enjoy each other’s company.

All of us have busy lives. I pray that you all stay well and live life to the fullest! If you do get the flu, enjoy what you can (the stillness), drink a ton of liquids to avoid getting dehydrated, and truly rest. Rest your mind and body. Allow time to heal. Don’t try to hurry up the process—that will just drive you crazy. Do one right thing at a time! If you are working, my hat is off to you—do your best to totally rest when you can! Many blessings!!

I’ll be sharing more nutrition, health, and exercise tips in the next newsletter!