Wow . . . the past two weeks have flown by. Today is the last day of Christmas vacation, and tomorrow it's back to the normal routine for a while. Most people have lots of plans for their vacation. This year, my family and I spent ours at home . . . sick.

The first night of vacation, Ella began running a fever. We kept an eye on it overnight and then called the nurse help line around 5 am when her temperature reached 102. The nurse suggested calling the pediatrician when the office opened, but she said not to get too concerned until it reached 105. After a checkup and a nose swab at the lab, we found out that she had Type A Flu (the popular version that was the illness of choice in Madison County all month). We were quarantined for Christmas vacation! We were able to go to our parents' houses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The next week provided even more time stuck at home! How exciting! We were able to get out on Wednesday when my mother-in-law stayed with Ella for a while. We used most of that time to catch up on sleep that we've lost over the past four months, so I'm not complaining about not being able to get out. It saves money and gives us an opportunity to rest that we would not otherwise have.

Yesterday, Jessica felt sick, and Ella started running a temperature again. Hopefully we're not headed into round two!

Rest is God's way of renewing our bodies, souls and minds. I usually don't take time to slow down and rest, and my wife often reminds me that it's not a sin. Even with all that I should have done this December and all that I just wanted to do, taking a break and just staying home was probably not that bad. Especially since it gave all three of us a chance to just spend lots of time together.