Luka’s Itchy Head

A couple of children, Luka and Nakeysha, who were being schooled at our home, needed to spend some nights with us for a time, as their mother had started a new job and had to work late in the evenings. Sleeping bags and clothes were brought, and a space in our living area was designated their little “bedroom.”

About half way into their six-week stay in our home, Luka began to complain of his head itching. The dreaded thought crossed our mind, “Maybe he has head lice.” His head was checked, but nothing was found. A week later he was still scratching, so we checked again; but, no, we didn’t find anything and thought perhaps he just had an itchy head.

Luka continued to scratch, until one night he announced that he had bumps in his head! A prayer went up from our heart, “Oh, Lord, help us to find what is wrong with this child’s head.” A bright light was arranged, and the search began. About five minutes later, something was found! Was this the dreaded “head lice” we hear about? The microscope was brought out; sure enough, all doubt was removed. No wonder this child’s head had been itching! All those little legs crawling around! To say nothing of the bites! Five were found that night and many, many nits (eggs).

We thought back across the years that we had taken care of neighbor children. At one other time, we’d had a close call and we had thanked the Lord for His protection. Now it looked like the Lord might be allowing us to have a greater trial. How could the rest of the family escape? Maybe some of us already have it?! Our heads itched just thinking about it!

The next morning, a sister came over and helped me clean, vacuum, do washing, and put various things in bags. And we prayed, “Oh, Lord, if it could be Your will, would You protect the rest of us from getting the lice.” Different reports of others having it in their homes were not very encouraging. It always seemed like a long, hard battle. Calls were made to those with experience to glean helpful information. I was really impressed with one family who eradicated it very quickly. The one infected wore a shower cap to keep it from spreading. One mother shared a homemade recipe for killing the lice which worked better than the store-bought products.

The ingredients were brought out and mixed up:

• 2 T. mayonnaise
• 2 T. Vaseline
• 1 T. cider vinegar

and applied to Luka’s head. It was to stay for 20-30 minutes, but to make sure the lice were suffocated, some additional minutes were added. Then began the many washings to get out that greasy mixture. But it worked. His mother later gave the treatment again, so he got a double dose! The itching stopped, and it’s been many months with no return. And none of our family got it, either. It really seemed like a miracle when we thought back on how long his head had been itching. When we thought of the close contact there had been in teaching, reading stories, sitting on the couches and chairs, it was truly a miracle from Heaven that we were spared. We truly do thank the Lord for answering our prayers to Him for help. He was our “help in time of need.”* (Hebrews 4:16)

Note: The homemade recipe called for Natural Cleanser to spray on after the treatment. It may be bought at a drug store. Spray it on and comb out with a nit comb. Then shampoo. We didn’t have it, so used dish washing soap several times, and then shampoo.