The Little Sucker

My health saga continues.  Thankfully I am working with a Dr. who is willing to go the distance with me.  He looked at all my precious blood work, my saliva test results and then ordered more blood.  When I arrived at the hospital to have my blood drawn last Friday she pulled out 6 tubes.  Can you say... craziness!!!
So this week I went back for those results.  The results showed there is definitely something going on in my body.  Some of my immune counts are low, indicating my body might be fighting something.  That something is still unknown.

Then he said I for sure have some adrenal fatigue.  Doesn't surprise me much since that is the place that deals with stress.  And after last year... how can that little guy not be tired??!!  So I'm taking some vitamins and such to help nourish him back to health.  (Not sure why I decided my adrenal gland is a guy??)

He also said my iron count is still low and that for someone who is as healthy as I am, that doesn't make sense.  So he gave me an iron shot... that too was interesting!  I have not had a shot in my hiney as long as I can remember.  I had to have 2... the first one was to find out if I am allergic to the shot they were going to give.  Our conversation went something like this...
Nurse: "Let me know if you experience any changes in the next 15 minutes."
Me:  "Ummm... like what?"
Nurse: "Temperature changes, itchiness, hives... anything like that!"
Me:  "Ummm, ok!?!?!??!?!?!?!"
For the next 15 minutes I sat there wondering if I was itchy.  Because of course I was since she said I might be!  And this is the sign I saw as I waited...

But nothing really changed and so shot #2 given!

AND he wants me to take an antibiotic to see if it takes care of whatever is going on.  He said I would be real sensitive to sun so would need to take precaution to stay out of the sun while on it.  I quickly said... "I'm going to Costa Rica in a little over a week and 1/2!  Could we maybe wait until after I get back?"  I then promised him Costa Rica would for sure make me feel better.  He said that was fine and I can wait!

Then he told me he wants to test my blood for Lyme disease.  A couple things went through my head.
1) Meredith in my community group has Lyme disease and I've watched her the last year battle hard.  When I talked to her on the phone I told her... "Mere, I love you.  But I've watched the hell you've been through and I really don't want to follow in your footsteps."
And yet, if I do have it... what AMAZING provision of God to provide her to walk with me!
2) When I actually got the tick bite last June I was so overwhelmed with the joy of God's attention to details that weekend.  And today, if I have Lyme disease, I will not now go back on that joy and believe in that attention to detail. (See original post here.)
3) We are back to the percentages thing again.  The tick was on me for less than 2 hours and I did not end up with a rash at any point because of the bite.  And so it seems like a small chance that I have the disease.  BUT as I said before when I got a biopsy... if I am not supposed to have Lyme disease... there is 0% chance that little sucker (pun intended) gave me the disease.  But if it is part of my story, then he could be on me for 2 seconds and I will have it.

I go back on Tuesday for the test.  Then it will be 4 weeks before I know anything.  A fun time to wait and keep my eyes on the Lord and trust that He is in control of all things.  Not always easy, but always true.

Video Thursday : "Churros"

Gotta be sure we get some laughs in here...

Let the Unwrapping Begin!

This week something hit me. Each day is a new day... profound I know! But a new day for what?  And this is what I realized...
A new day to learn and know more about God.  A new day to love Him and be loved by Him. And a new day to make Him known!
And it got me really excited.  I realize this is not necessarily new information or something that I haven't even thought, been told, or realized before.  BUT it felt fresh and new this week.  It felt really great to think about the newness of that.  The freshness of a new day.  Yesterday is gone! And today is a gift, waiting to be unwrapped!
I've also come to realize over these last couple of years the importance of starting that new day with the Lord.  Of giving Him my first fruits.  This is a little bit of a miracle for me because I am not a morning person.  When I shared a bathroom with my friend Ang, she knew I don't really talk before 9am!
When I do get up and choose to give God the time and space He deserves... amazing things happen.  I am filled up.  My focus is set right.  I am renewed in Him. And thoughts about how to head into the day are clear.  It allows me to connect with my Savior, Creator, Lord, Best Friend, and Father!  It reminds me of so many things. Whose I am. What the point of this life is.  Who I am.  Why I do what I do. Who I get what I need for the day from.  Who He is.
And then the gift of the day is in perspective.  And I remember where it came from and what it is for.
Then let the unwrapping begin!


The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”
Lamentations 3:22-24

Video Thursday : Books of the Bible

Be sure to listen all the way to the end for the little surprise!!

Witness OR Witness Protection?

from John Belle on ToonPool

"But you are my witnesses, O Israel," says the Lord. Isaiah 43:10aa

So this week in Breaking Free, the last week actually, we are talking about being a planting for the Lord, displaying His glory.  I will plan to do a post about that too, but this post rests on the VERY beginning on Isaiah 43:10.  Here it says that we are His witnesses.  And this got me to thinking about the idea of being a witness and what that means.

So I looked up the word on dictionary.com.  Here is what it said...

wit·ness

   [wit-nis]  Show IPA

verb (used with object)

1.

to see, hear, or know by personal presence and perception:to witness an accident.

2.

to be present at (an occurrence) as a formal witness,spectator, bystander, etc.: She witnessed our wedding.

3.

to bear witness to; testify to; give or afford evidence of.

4.

to attest by one's signature: He witnessed her will.

Now I got to thinking.  Does my life really give witness to an active, living, loving God?  Do people see, hear and know that God is real because they experience Him in my life? If I give testimony, is there any doubt that He is real? (And funny that I have never connected testimony in my head that way!)  Do I attest to God, His sovereignty, His love, His righteousness by my words and actions?
Or am I acting like I am in the witness protection program.  Hoping people don't notice me or who I am connected too?  Am I afraid of what will happen?  Who I will upset or disappoint?
And the answer to all of the above is SOMETIMES.  And that's not my favorite answer. I want to be bold.  I don't want to be like Peter who denied Christ because of fear.  But oh I do so often relate to Peter!

And so my prayer is that I will love God more.  That I will know Him deeper.  That I will be more bold and courageous for Him and His truth.  That I will bear great witness and that I will not seem as though I am in the witness protection program!
And I just realized... as a witness for Him... I am protected!  Check out Isaiah 43:13!!!

A Broken Leg!

My friend Ann, who I work on staff with, found out that she has kidney cancer.  As I sat and listened to her share it with our staff, I was so encouraged and thankful for her hope in God and His care and sovereignty in her life.  If you want to read more about her processing, check out her blog: http://annneelypiper.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/hope/
(Side note:  Ann writes for a living and is really gifted at what she does.  So it is a great read :)

So on to the reason I am telling you about this.  You see, there were a few other things rolling through my head as she shared.  As I have been fighting with all this health stuff I have consistently been saying a few things.
First... It is hard that what is wrong with me is not external that you can see.  If I had a broken leg, I would have a cast, take some pain meds, ask for help, and those coming in contact with me would see exactly what was wrong.
Second... Not knowing is driving me crazy.  As I said above... broken leg... what to do... CLEAR!  But not knowing means just living through the symptoms of each day, a little bit in a fog AND no one can see what is wrong with me, so it is not apparent upon glancing that something is.
And so as I listened to Ann I thought... "Lord, I really do think if I found out I had cancer, I would be trusting You like that."
And you know what I heard back... "How about trust me like that even when you don't know what it is!"
OH... RIGHT!!!
I can glorify Him in the not knowing.  I can trust that He is sovereign over all of it, even when I have no idea what is going on.  (In fact, isn't that pretty much what is going on 99.999999% of the time??) I can be thankful even in the midst of the unknown.

So that's what I am trying to do.  Lean in, and trust Him, even when I don't have answers.

A little info on my health stuff... I took a saliva test this past week.  A crazy kit where I take my saliva at 4 different parts of the day, under some specific conditions.  Then I mail it... thank you UPS.  I have an appointment this Friday with my friend's Dad to talk through what all they found.  Hoping for answers.  Praying for answers.  But trusting the Lord has much purpose in this part of the process too!

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,and he turned to me and heard my cry. Isaiah 40:1


The animal pics were found on the website "animals with casts"! Who knew there was such a thing??
And this is just a bonus video I found while looking for the cast picture.  The music is awesome!

Video Thursday : Amazing Grace

Cupcakes...

It's no secret that I LOVE cupcakes!  I do not know what started this love.  But I do... my absolute favorite is yellow cake with milk chocolate icing.  And preferably homemade!  Probably tied for 2nd are strawberry with strawberry icing and lemon with lemon icing.  (Lemon should be punch you in the face tart.)
And no only do I love to eat them... pictures of fun cupcakes just plain make me happy!
So here are a few of my favorites!

These are from the website fun-cupcake-ideas.com ...

And then these are from all over the web...

These are from theberry.com...

From the momma momma blog...

And momlogic.com...

And Kara's Cupcakes blog... 

And last and the greatest... from the fancyflours.com...

I mean who isn't smiling after all those happy things!!!

Book Review: Unbroken

I had heard a ton about this book being so great and so I decided to read it.  It is by Laura Hillenbrand who wrote Seabiscuit.  It is a true story about a World War II POW.
I typically don't read these kind of books.  I'm not a huge reader any way and so most of my reading is non-fiction books that spur me on in my walk with the Lord.  When I read fiction they are typically Francine Rivers books or ones that are similar.  And so I was not sure how I was going to like this book.
BUT...  The preface had me hooked!  I was drawn in and captured and never wanted to put the book down.
What these men went through is truly unbelievable.  Being the skeptic I am, if I hadn't seen a picture of the real person alive today, I would have thought she embellished at least some of it.  These men endured hell on earth.  There is just no other way to describe it.  And I just don't think I would have made it past the sharks!

The only thing I think I wrestle a little bit with is the title.  I know I may be treading on some toes here.  So maybe stop reading if you don't want to be ruffled.  But, I don't think Louie was completely unbroken.  For sure he was determined to stay alive and he fought, he fought hard, and he survived. But our goal in life is not to be unbroken.  If anything it is to be broken of our self will, our self reliance.  We are to grow more and more dependent on the One who has all that we need.


The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
Psalm 51:17


I feel like I could go on and on about things I learned from reading it, but I don't want to give any of the book away.  So I will refrain from making all the comments I want to on Louie and his brokenness vs unbrokenness.
SUFFICE IT TO SAY...
I think every person should read it.  It makes you thankful for the men and women who sacrifice and sacrificed their lives so we can be free.  It challenges you to think about what you believe and what keeps you from being broken.  What could you survive through? And, are you willing to be broken so that you can be whole in the One who sacrificed His life so you could be saved?
GO GET YOU A COPY!

Wait For Your Bo"az"!

Our Director of Young Adult Ministry sent this to me last week...

Made me LAUGH OUT LOUD!!!

For single ladies: 

Quick Bible Lesson: 

In the Bible, Ruth patiently waited for her mate Boaz. 

While waiting on YOUR Boaz, don't settle for ANY of his relatives: 

Brokeaz, 

Poaz, 

Lyinaz, 

Cheatinaz, 

Dumbaz, 

Cheapaz, 

Lockedupaz, 

Goodfornothinaz, 

Lazyaz or

 Marriedaz! 

And especially his third cousin Beatinyoaz. 

Please wait on your Boaz!

Isn't that AWESOME!  And I used the above picture from Google, because that's what Boaz made me think of!!

I Love You Too!

This past week in Breaking Free Beth shared something that really struck me.  She said one night as she looked at a sunset she was thinking and saying to the Lord, "I love you." And yet felt in her spirit the Lord saying... "You should be saying, 'I love you too!'" She then shared that God is always the initiator.  It really struck me and I want it to stick with me.
I am so taken with His creation and ways that He wows me with all that He does.  There isn't much more I like photographing than creation.  And I always feel SO loved when I sit and watch a sunset or take in the mountains or watch the waves crash.  And I had never thought of saying back, "I love you too." But I want to make a habit of it now.
I blogged in July that I went to Florida and would be posting some pictures that I took... here are ones that for sure make me say... "I love you too!"

What Are You Trusting In?

"Then Israel will no longer be tempted to trust in Egypt for help." 

Ezekiel 29:16

As I read Ezekiel 29:16, a couple of things struck me.  First question I asked myself is what is my Egypt?  What am I constantly looking to for help? or comfort? or satisfaction? Why am I so darn tempted to look to other things and not look to the Lord?  The most logical answer.... "because God has let me down when I've asked for help." And yet interestingly that is not the case.  Any time I choose to look to the Lord for strength, hope, joy, whatever I need... He always provides.  I know some of it is that I don't always believe that He will help me, or maybe even believe that He cares.  Which as I type that it makes me sound like such a fool, because He always helps and He can't not care.  But often I try other things first.  I call a friend before I look to God.  I try on my own before I look to the Lord for help.  I just quit and lose under the weight of, "this will never happen," long before I look to the God of the Universe who raises the dead to help me.  Funny how thick my skull is and how much my habits get in the way.

Second it struck me how loving God was to move Egypt out of the way.  To not allow Israel's attempts to trust Egypt to work.  I love that nothing can satisfy like Him.  I love that He is the ONLY ONE that can meet my needs for what He has put in front of me.  I LOVE that He cares and wants me to trust Him and let Him walk with me, guide me, lead me.  At first it seems arrogant and prideful that God would make this only work with Him.  And yet, the more you learn about Him and learn of His character and know His love, you realize that it is the most loving thing He can do is turn us to Him.  He is the best, most greatest answer.  What a gift.

And so I'm praying that I will not look to anything other than Him.  That my trust will be completely in my Savior and Lord.  And then, as Romans 15:13 says... I will be filled with peace and joy!  I'll take me some of that!

Video Thursday : The G.O.S.P.E.L.

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.