Truth!

I had an "ah-hah" moment in my bible study last semester.  I have lots of those moments, but this one particularly pertained to my health.  There are moments where I get discouraged and watch others eating freely or envy those in great health.  Oh...to be perfectly healthy!  I never thought much of my health until I didn't have it.

Being a Believer and a Jesus-lover, I pray a LOT....and a whole lot for my health.  I know that God can heal me on the spot.  I know it.  So, I often wonder, "Why not me?"  "Why don't You heal me?"

In my Bible Study I got my answer knocked over my head.  God ALWAYS answers your prayers.  He either gives you a "YES" or a "NO", but He always uses it for His Glory.  To which I was stopped cold in my tracks.  I am being used for God's Glory!  What greater privilege is there than that?   Truly.  Let that sink in.   Along with so many praying friends, friends of friends, friends of my family,   and perfect strangers, I have been praying for my health going on 15 years.  FIFTEEN YEARS of praying to be healed is a long time.  But I know that God is on my side, I know that He hears us and I know that his purpose is so much bigger than me.  I AM being used for His Glory.

Then this came across my email today.

Amen.

Praise the Lord for a Broken Body

My family made a big decision to leave our very comfortable life and take a leap of faith.  It was truly our hearts being lead by prayer that went against everything our brains were telling us.  We wanted more land and space for our 3 boys to play, we wanted to get our hands dirty again.  We wanted to simplify our lives, our children's lives and reconnect with our small town roots.  BUT...we left great friends, fabulous neighbors, our elementary school, the home we built and loved.  As prayer would have it, it ALL worked out and we love our new home and school even more than we thought we could.

Last weekend was gorgeous and it was time to commence the first of our many outdoor projects.  It was time to get our fingernails dirty!  So, we began to move thousands of pounds of river rocks.  There is a flower bed next to my house that I want to turn into my herb garden and it was filled with layers of river rocks.  {far more than we thought at first glance!} Our plan was to remove the rocks, till the soil, add compost, plant herbs and line the bed with some of the river rocks.  It was a big job and a back breaking job.  As I plucked those rocks from the ground and threw them into the wheelbarrow, I hurt.  I pushed the wheelbarrow to our back yard over and over again and couldn't help but to praise God for my broken body.  

My body is, indeed, broken and I have rough days...sometimes days that are intolerable.  But, praise the Lord I was enjoying that gorgeous day with my family.  All the boys were helping with the River Rock cause and we were having a fabulous time together getting dirty, sweating and moving rocks.  What a joy!  I often think back to that less-than-encouraging Mayo Clinic doctor who looked at my studies and looked me in the eye and told me I should be in a wheelchair.  He told me my insides were so debilitated that he didn't know how I was standing in front of him with a smile on my face.  Even though my body was tired and moving river rocks is certainly not at the top of my list of things I would like to do, I was doing it!  I was using my arms and my legs and that alone is a HUGE blessing.  I should never take that for granted!

Fast forward a few hours.  Our two-day job was complete, we were beat and I headed straight to a hot bath.  As I sat on the couch relaxing, my old sprained ankle started to swell.  The longer I sat, the more joints started to ache.  Then, my sniffling nose that I had been fighting became a full-blown cold.  Very quickly I became miserable.  For the next two days I couldn't get out of bed.  I blame every bit of this reaction on being on the Humira.  It's purpose is to take my immune system down to nothing so my auto-immune disease doesn't fight my own body.  That is wonderful if you are just considering my Crohn's Disease.  But if you consider my ability to rebound after a really hard days work....its no fun.  My body was so depleted and tired that it just couldn't fight off the cold any more, and it took two days to repair the joint and muscle pain.  But PRAISE the LORD, right?  Indeed!  Humira has bad consequences for me.  BUT....it got me out of the hospital and out of excruciating pain.  Joint and muscle pain and a cold are not fun, but from my perspective it is cause to praise.  I am here!  I am enjoying my family.  My children have a mother who can participate in their life and we can be together as a family.  

Praise the LORD for a broken body.  For a broken body is better than no body.

I Believe in Thieves!

Well....It has been awhile since I have posted.  For the most part, I have been well.  Typically when I travel is when I start to feel bad.  I get out of my routine, tend to eat foods I don't usually eat and then I get bloated and the pain starts.  So...as long as I stay at home...  No, I still get sick because I am no where close to being perfect.  I KNOW what to do, though, when I start to feel bad and for that I am SO grateful.  I just get really strict with my diet and within 24 hours, my body is singing.

As of November 2013, I have been on Humira for a year.  I resisted it for years, but, in the end, I had the choice of the Humira or removing my stomach.  I opted for Humira.  I resisted it for the fear of the side effects, namely cancer.  However, once I started it, I slowly but surely returned to my old self.  The pain in October of 2012 that took me to the ER and ultimately my untimely hospital stay was the most excruciating pain I have ever endured.  I had moments where I fought passing out because the pain was so great and no amounts of Vicadin came close to touching it.  I welcomed the morphine each time I re-entered the hospital.  It was a dark place to be.  Ironically, it was also the brightest place I have been in a long time because of the friends and family and prayers that surrounded and sustained me.  God is good...even in the hardest times!  But truthfully, the Humira did work, too.

Right at one year, I started having some wonky symptoms that I know have to do with the Humira.  Humira basically suppresses my auto-immune system and after being on it for a year, I think I am just about suppressed.  Again, a blessing that I have not contracted all the flu's and viruses  I was warned about.  Another reason I am so grateful that my friends and family continue to keep me on every prayer list in town.  We have truly been sustained by prayers for the last year.

My first weird issue was that I had a blocked salivary gland under my tongue.  It was more a nuisance than anything.  I read to eat lemon drops to make your salivary glands secret and it actually hurt more!  They were secreting, but they weren't unclogging!  The dentist finally told me if it didn't go away, I would need to get it lanced.  Seriously...one more additional visit to another -ologist just might put me over the edge.  I was determined to rid myself of that thing by myself.

A friend of mine introduced me to Essential Oils and Thieves Oil was one of them.  She told me to put a few drops of Thieves oil in water and swish it every night.  I kid you not, after weeks of the dentist-recommended mouth wash and tricks not working, every night I swished Thieves.  It got smaller and smaller and then it was gone!

Since then, I have acquired strange happenings with my gums.  I am fanatical about brushing and flossing my teeth and always get excellent reports for my cleanings. I LOVE getting my teeth cleaned.  But in November, my status plummeted. My gums were very sensitive and bleeding.  They actually started to burn when I ate anything with sugar in it.  {hence no sugars for me!}  They made me do the below the gums cleaning three times.  By the last cleaning they were stumped as my teeth had zero plaque and they were still bleeding.  My dentist said that Humira is really hard on your gums and that was the only answer.  By cleaning #2,  my dentist told me to get a waterpik and use a specific mouthwash.  No improvement...or not much.  I decided it was time to try the Thieves again.  Each night I brush my teeth and use the waterpik and swish with Thieves oil in water.

My last follow-up dentist appointment, they couldn't believe how great my gums looked!  And the only thing I changed...Thieves Oil.  After all the drugs I have been on...that haven't worked  and even those that have that have had further side effects, I want to be natural as possible.  When I first started this whole diet change, the detoxing I went thru was brutal.  I fully believe that I detoxed years of anesthesias, harmful drugs and all sorts of toxins remaining in my body.  I really don't want to add more!  Thieves Oil is my new saving grace.

I will admit that I joined Young Living so I could get the oils at a discount.  We are learning how to use all the oils for varying symptoms including, colds (Oregano Oil kills viruses!), upset tummies (Peppermint Oil), allergies (Lavendar)  I fully believe that God made plants to use medicinally before we ever had prescription drugs and insurance companies!  There is certainly a place for modern medicine, but if I can eliminate the overuse of modern medicine for the little things, I am THRILLED to be healthier and keep my kids healthier.

Baby steps.  I have learned about my food and the dangers of processed foods and am working to eliminate those.  Now, I am learning about essential oils and the oils used in the Bible  {remember Frankincense and Myrr?}  So excited to be finding new ways to help heal my body.  It's been thru the ringer.  But I do believe that I am on the up and up!