LICE. Warning: This post will make you scratch your head til your scalp bleeds.

Gross.  So its 3 weeks before I am due with my 4th child and I find this gem in my daughters hair.  It was all but dead and no bigger than a couple millimeters but I took it out, snapped a picture and feared the worst.  I immediately googled pictures of lice and sure enough, there an exact replica of the creature I found lurking on Jaq's scalp.  I kept her home from school and cried.  My good friend had had lice at her house over and over again.  She said it was nearly impossible to get rid of.  I was overwhelmed to say the least.  Could I eliminate it before the baby came?  What would it entail?  Cordelle had been gone all week and luckily was on his way home, because I was on the verge of a nervous break down.  He was going to drive straight to work but given my emotional state, decided to come home. 
  Now after my initial sob fest, I gotta say I was incredibly blessed through this whole experience (which may sound silly to all of you and perhaps a little overly optimistic, but to me this was very overwhelming at a time when I already was a little unstable, and God was there for me.)   Immediately after I discovered the lice, I went to work looking for nits.  Amidst tears and fights that I was pulling her hair, I soon became overwhelmed with the regular "hair battle" and just about gave up.  Once I was calm, I got a small prompting from the Spirit to look for things I was grateful for.  HA!!  There was nothing in this situation I was grateful for.  But I knew it was right and so I began with what I could. 
1- I was grateful Cordelle came home right when I needed him
2- I was grateful he was willing to sit for hours combing through and finding nits in a 7 year old's LONG blonde hair.  (We did this 7 times over the course of 2 weeks and it took 2-3 hours each time).
3- I was grateful it was a sunny day.  Using the window and outside light to find nits made it tons easier to spot than indoor lighting. 
4- I was grateful for the time I had spent at my friend Angela's when her kids got lice to learn how to identify it, where to look for nits etc.
5- I was grateful for Angela who came by and gave me all sorts of advice and even went through my hair making sure I didn't have any.  What a saint!
6- Months before, after my friend had gone through this nightmare 3 separate times with 3 girls and 2 boys, I had an impression to look up natural ways to kill lice.  I found a concoction of olive oil and essential oils and other natural ways to kill and ensure their coming back.  So I saved it on pinterest. 
7- When my friend came over she lamented about all the shampoos that were full of pesticides and toxins that she tried, most of which didn't really do the job but convinced me of a brand that seemed to work.  So I bought it.  But I really felt like the Spirit asked me if I would trust in my prompting to do things naturally.  So despite firm recommendations and a questioning glance from my husband, I never used the chemical shampoo, trusting that there was a reason I learned and found the natural way.
8.  The oil combination made the hair slippery and helped glisten the nits making them easier to find.  9.  After the first initial treatment, the oil suffocated and brought out the female lice....all that was left was the nits.
10.  After 3 consecutive days of nit finding, pulling her hair up in a tight bun for school (because I didn't want her to get it again) and treating her hair every 7-10 days for 3 weeks after that (their gestation), we finally checked it one last time and did not find even one nit.  The lice never came back, like it does for so many families.
11. I was So grateful I only have one girl with long hair.
12. No one else got it.
13.  I learned how amazing a supportive dad/husband is at a time like this.

Somehow after the overwhelming feeling wore off, I was given the gift of determination.  I was out on a mission.  And I felt supported in this little trial.  I also learned how exaggerated people make it out to be.  There was so much more fear involved then need be.  I can't wait for someone else to go through this so I can help them to know what to do and how to beat those gross little creatures.