*gasp!* You VACCINATE your children!?!?

Yes. Yes I do. I usually try to stay away from talking about this hot-button issue publicly as it always causes trouble. However, enough people have asked me why I vaccinate, that I've decided to just throw it out there. Let me begin by saying my children's vaccination schedules are altered, and we annually check blood titers to make sure my kids have the antibodies that excuse them from getting any unnecessary booster shots. They don't get unnecessary immunizations like the flu shot or h1n1...I pump my kids full of all natural, pure vitamins D and C instead. I don't mindlessly let the AAP tell me what to do with my children and I don't vaccinate out of fear.

Secondly, this is NOT my way of condemning anyone or trying to sway the decision of anyone who doesn't vaccinate. I understand that there are many reasons people don't and it's their personal conviction. Who am I to say they're wrong? This is simply MY personal conviction posted on my blog - my outlet. Please don't attack it, and you don't havta like it, but please don't tell me I'm wrong.

Now, why I choose to vaccinate my children...



1.) The four biggest "faces" of anti-vaccination are John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Jenny McCarthy. Three pro-choice politicians and a playboy bunny...not exactly the kind of people I wanna be on the same team as.



2.) The number one resource of the lies and myths (and there are A LOT of lies and myths) spurning on the anti-vaccination movement is the Church of Christian Science...a cult. Read more about it here . There is no aborted fetal tissue IN vaccines (that's their biggest lie.) That's scientifically impossible. Read about that here.



3.) Satan's job is to steal, kill and destroy. Death and disease were consequences from the fall and not part of God's design. That would make disease part of Satan's arsenal then, right?? So wouldn't it be fair to say, that every time a man, woman or child dies from a disease, it's a battle that Satan has won?? If we have the necessary weapons to fight back (i.e. vaccines) why wouldn't we use them??



4.) Vaccines save lives. Period. God created our bodies in such a way that the tiniest little bit of virus would be apprehended by our immune system, be attacked, and then our cells would forever remember how to "deal" with that virus...making it powerless against us. Now remember, death and disease was NOT part of God's plan...so he gave us a way to fight it off. By receiving an immunization, we are arming our cells with the ability to automatically fight off disease by recognizing it. If a known pedophile moved into your neighborhood, what would be the better plan of action??...to find a picture of that person and become familiar with who to look out for, or simply hope for the best??



5.) There are rumors that vaccines cause autism and SIDS. I'll reiterate...both are RUMORS. The autism thing, while strongly argued, has NOT been proven. The SIDS thing was started by a bogus article that was circulating on the Internet for a while. Somebody made up a phony bar graph that showed the amount of SIDS cases per country versus the amount of vaccine given per country and had America overwhelmingly leading in both cases. It also said that Japan had cut back exponentially on vaccines and their SIDS cases plummeted. It was all fake and made up, but fear-filled parents spread that thing like wildfire. I'll remind you, ANYONE can go online, type up a "report" done on a "study" by "Columbia University" and sign it "Joe Shmoe, PhD" - A doctor gave me all of this information.



6.) I feel like all these parents who say they aren't vaccinating because "they don't want their child to become autistic", are REALLY saying they'd rather let their child die than have autism...because, again, vaccines save lives and that IS proven. That's really, really sad.



7.) My children are God's gift to me. He loves them more than I do (I don't know how that's possible, but he does) and He requires me to love and protect them here on earth to the best of my ability. BUT NOT ONLY THAT...I'm required to LOVE and PROTECT my neighbor too. When I vaccinate my children, I don't do it out of fear that they'll catch a deadly virus and die, because I serve a Healer. But what about the kids that they'll have contact with, or even children of future generations, that AREN'T covered in prayer for health? If my children aren't spreading diseases to them and future generations, then I'm loving my neighbor. And what if God told Tim and I to sell all of our things and go to the missions field tomorrow? I'd be at complete rest that my children have immunity against many of the deadly diseases that we forget about in America (because of vaccines, actually), but are a fact of everyday life in communities in third world countries.





Please don't flood my comment box with negativity. I've spent A LOT of time in prayer and research on this topic. I have come across things that have challenged my decision and have doubted myself along the way...but every time, after seeking peace, I've found it for the above mentioned reasons.