Archive for the ‘She Said’ Category

Here’s my darling princess, Jewel, age 5, climbing up the climbing wall at the Miami Children’s Museum.

She’s a brave climber, for sure.

But also, and more importantly here, it simply never occured to her to think that climbing a rock wall was something that you wouldn’t, couldn’t, or shouldn’t do in a dress.

Whyever would that stop you?

As proud mama watched from the shade…

Victory!

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Praises!

Mom had her cancer surgery yesterday. She’s now recovering in the hospital, and all went well!

Her doctor is very confident that they got everything, and the laproscopic procedure was uncomplicated. She’ll go home in a day or two to finish healing.

Final lab results will be back next week, but not a concern.

Praise the Lord for healing and mercy!

Ponderings…

After a lot of trouble getting connected, I finally went over to the mobile health clinic run by the pastor of our sister church, Kendall Brazilian. This was just a screening appointment, and I filled out an application to be sent to the County to qualify for free services.

Since I have been suffering, the doctor was kind enough to write me a prescription for my migraine medicine, to hold me over until I can actually be seen.

So I quickly headed over to my local pharmacy to fill it. Let me walk you through the result:

Fill: New (Self-explanatory, I hope)
Insurance: AMPLN (This is my AmeriPlan discount card, not insurance. It saved me $36.71!)
Quantity: 6 (Yeah, only 6. It’s 1 or 2 per headache, and they are closely guarded)
Status: Picked Up, Date Filled: 5/25 (Yeah…)

And… Did you catch that…

OUCH!

At $27.38 per pill, the stress of taking one is enough to give me a migraine!

It’s a non-formulary drug, so even when I’ve had various insurance overthe last two decades it wasn’t covered at all, or they paid a small percentage.

But it’s the only thing that works…

A lot of time and appeals for “medical necessity” have sometimes yielded fruit.

Hmmmm… What do you think my odds are of getting the military insurance to pay for it when Wolf is full-time active during his training?

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Today my mother will undergo surgery for her recently-diagnosed cancer. (12:30 pm California time, to be exact).

They’ll be doing a complete ovo-hysterectomy, as well as removing the cervix.

She’ll stay overnight in the hospital and go home Wednesday. Hard to believe she doesn’t stay longer, but with the laproscopic methods they use now they can throw you out sooner… Good for the bill, but I’m not sure it’s best for people’s healing.

Her doctor is very confident that they will get everything and she’ll be “clean” when this is over. A pathologist in the room will confirm clear edges before they finish the procedure.

The hopsital is discounting her cost 75%, and the surgeon 30%. The total bill will “only” be about $50K, and she’ll only have to be off work 1-2 weeks.

Whew!!

I’m encouraging her to take at least a week off, then do another week of phone sessions. She’s anxious to get back (for her clients, and her income!), but I’m nervous she’ll push too hard and not let her body heal.

My sister is taking off work for at least a week to be with her.

Sure wish I wasn’t on the other side of the country with little kids!

Please pray with me for the outcome of the surgery, for financial blessings, and for my mother and sister to be drawn to the Lord through this trial.

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Today’s Modest Matron is – Tamara!

Tamara is a Reformed Southern Baptist, and describes herself as, “joyfully married to a godly man, recently celebrating our 9th anniversary, and have been blessed with 5 children- the 5th being due November 2010. We home educate our blessings and serve the Lord in a foreign land.”

Be sure to read through to the end, to read the incredible story of Tamara’s “silent witness” to her community of muslim women.

Her History:

I was not raised to dress modestly. I was raised by a single woman who, by default, took on the ideology of feminism and seduction that is so prevalent in this world. This was all that she really knew as well, and so it was all she could teach. I faithfully followed the world’s ideals of womanhood most of my life, but as I came to know the Lord as an adult, He began to faithfully renew my mind in every aspect of life. I praise Him for the grace to work with me, the desperate mess that I was, step by step, layer by layer. I did grow away from seduction to a great degree before marriage, but it was after marriage that the Lord began His greatest work of holiness and healing in my life.

To give an example to show how the Lord began working in my life, in college, I began to understand that the way which I dress can affect a brother negatively. I was broken over this fact, and asked a few brothers in Christ to come and search my wardrobe and tell me the things that might make them or another brother stumble, and those things were thrown into the trash in shreds. However, I still had MUCH to learn about my own heart and how deep my ideologies were held and why, and the repentance and growth have been constant and increasing the older I grow in the Lord. He is faithful to renew our minds with His Truth.

Being a first generation Christian, the undertaking of the Lord’s growing me in holiness and Truth has been a large one. Though I can say that I *am* free, I must also profess to be ever growing in the freedom for which Christ has made me free!

Her Mission Story:

My husband and I desired to be missionaries from the time of our courtship. Much work was to be done in our lives- understanding right doctrines, ridding ourselves of debt, repentance of sin, understanding biblical order in the Church and biblical order in the home, what true ministry even is, what is a godly man, what is a godly woman, what the Bible says to all of these things. We had a long road of seeking, searching, failing, repenting, rejoicing in abasements, being broken and chastened, being strengthened, growing, praying… and the culmination of our prayers was an answer of discipleship among a precious body of believers in Spring, TX a little over three years ago.

For 1 1/2 years we were among a true fellowship who strived to honor the Lord- something we’ve found to be uncommon amongst modern Christianity at large. This church was a place where the focus was not on the lost, as though they were the very Lord of the church, but where true discipleship of believers, Titus 2 and edification in love could be found. Disciples were made in order that they would be strengthened to GO OUT and make more disciples in the world. We soaked up much, and this is really where the greatest paradigm shifts began to occur in most all areas of our lives. None of the principles were radically new to us, but rather added to our understanding and to our ability to walk out the direction which we already were headed, striving to serve the Lord. As a woman, I saw truly godly ladies and learned much from them. And, after 1 1/2 years of that- BOOM! We were sent.

As we came to the place where we were sent, not by a group, not my a man’s will, but by the sheer hand of God to do dominion work, we grew even more grateful for all the ways that the Lord had transformed our minds, our family, and us as individuals especially in those precious 20 months we had at our home church.

Tamara’s daughters with a family friend

Her Testimony of Modesty:

Pertaining to modest dress, we were sent to a place of absolute religious legalism. It saddens us to see women who are so oppressed, or who adopt cultural norms blindly without fully grasping their implications or origins. Prisoners who do not know they are behind bars. And yet, they are drawn to us.

Freedom is beautiful, and Christ can shine through those whom He has set free! Everywhere we go, people take our pictures, pet our children and kiss them, watch us, and more than several times, we have seen groups of women following us- watching us in awe.

I am every bit as conservative as these women, but I am different: I am free, because of Christ my Lord. I may not cover all the way down to my wrists and ankles, and all the way up my neck, but my clothing frames my face and not my body. My face is not wildly painted, as some women here feel the need to do in order to assert themselves. I am not oppressed. My husband and I are always together, and I am the only apple of his eye!

Where we live, everything about us is drastically different, yet similar in certain aspects of principle, and it has struck me being here how blessed I was to learn what biblical beauty and femininity are and how to let those things shine for God’s glory. As we- my daughters and I- dress modestly, chastely, and yet beautifully and femininely, the glory of God shines through us and that is one way to lift up the Lord so that He can draw all men unto Himself!

Our freedom in Christ is not to do whatever we want, but a freedom to finally be enabled to do as we should and live to glorify God on whatever mission field we are placed!

I can bring God glory just by being His free woman; His lady- amazing!

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R.T. had to have some major dental work done on Tuesday. And with that much to be done on someone his age, they do it under full anesthesia in the Operating Room. The child is still, as well as getting pain relief, and everything can get taken care of.

You take your child in, and nurses and doctors come and check them and talk to you. Once all is determined to be well, they are given an oral medication that is a sedative and anxiety-reducting medication (related to Valium).

Once the medicine takes effect, they are wheeled back into the Operating Room, monitors are attached, and the the complete anesthesia is done. The preliminary medication is really just to ease the separation from Mom.

So R.T. had been given this medication, and was starting to act “dopey.” I suggested that Wolf take Jewel out to the waiting room, to remove the added distractions and help R.T. relax.

When they started to leave, R.T. screamed, and tried to go after them. It was a weird, overdramatic reaction. They lovingly said goodbye, and I soothed him while they left.

Just moments later, a nurse came to take R.T. back.

I told her that he was not ready yet, and she seemed frustrated with me. She checked the clock – it had been the ten minutes she was “supposed to” wait; his head was bobbing, he was clearly feeling it.

But I held my ground, and she agreed to come back in another few minutes.

I laid R.T. in the bed, and reclined next to him. I stroked and soothed him, encouraging him to relax, even sleep. I reminded him that when he went to sleep, and woke up, he would be able to nurse again. (Yeah, it had been a long night fasting!)

When the nurse returned, R.T. didn’t even respond when I got up off the bed and raised the side rail. He obliviously watched the ceiling go by as she wheeled him down the hall…

Those extra few minutes made the difference between screaming trauma and total contentment.

R.T. being child #3, I am by now well-versed in trusting my mama instincts. I know God made us attuned to our children, and I don’t hesitate to use that fact to everyone’s advantage.

It is the one thing I most wish I could gift to new mothers.

Too often, people are quick to take the “advice” of others, even when it is not right for their child or their situation. This is especially true when there is some weight of authority – doctors, nurses, teachers, etc.

I am not discounting the value of these people, or their advice… I am simply saying that, as in the situation I just described, they do not necessarily know the entire situation, and they certainly do not know your child as well as you do.

Trust it, mama. It’s a God thing.

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Naturally, I was as skeptical as you probably are right now, when I first saw the ads for Great Taste, No Pain.

But, like most people who struggle with digestive issues, I’ve gotten a bit desperate, since nothing seems to help, and doctors seem clueless.

The author offers a free “sample” of the program, though, and a Money-Back Guarantee, so I figured I had nothing to lose! But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Allow me to begin at the proper Review Beginning…

With more than 1 out of 3 adults in the US (70 million) taking OTC or prescription pills for digestive disorders and the pain associated with them, as a nation, we have serious health problems.

What most people are frustrated with is that even if they eat how most health professionals consider to be healthy, they STILL experience digestive problems. And so most people resort to drugs, surgery or eating bland foods. Or they just continue to suffer.

That’s why the Great Taste No Pain System was developed.

This simple eating system is designed to dramatically reduce the acid pH measure in a person’s entire body — not just in the stomach. It does so by increasing the ratio of alkaline forming foods eaten and by showing you how to combine foods in a way that radically decreases the amount of acid digestive juices in the stomach and small intestines required to break down foods.

One of the primary components of the Great Taste No Pain System is the science of food combining, which was first introduced into the US in 1911. A basic knowledge of Junior High chemistry is all it takes to see the logic behind this science: Mixing foods that require alkaline digestive enzymes with foods that require acid digestive enzymes slows and can even stop the digestive process. This is incredibly bad for the body.

The Great Taste No Pain system alleviates this problem, speeding food through your body, allowing it to absorb nutrients from foods at a much higher level.

Great Taste No Pain author, Sherry Brescia, was a former Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) sufferer herself. In fact, in 1991, she spent 7 days in the hospital with bacterial colitis.

As a health insurance researcher and Chief Underwriter, she was able to research the benefits of an alkaline- balanced body and over the next 15 years perfected the system she now calls Great Taste No Pain.

What Attracted Me to The Program

• Taste/Variety: Great Taste No Pain cannot actually be called a diet, because it allows you to eat even great volumes of delicious food as long as you combine it according to the guidelines. It truly requires very little willpower, since you don’t have to give anything up. Would you believe that you could eat McDonald’s food and not suffer gassiness and reflux? While meat is not something people with digestive issues usually tolerate well on a daily basis, it turns out the problem isn’t so much the meat as it is what you eat with the meat. And broccoli, lettuce, cucumbers and other veggies that can create havoc suddenly will not!
• Start-up Speed: It’s terrific that you don’t have to read 300+ pages before learning what to do. In the first guide, ‘How To End Stomach Pain Forever, Even If Your MD Says, “No Way,”‘ it provides a brief background on the science and then quickly moves on to the step-by-step ‘how to.’ And even before you get that under your belt, she has a four day menu plan (with options) in the free “Pain Free in One Day” report, so you can start feeling better even before you know how!
• Clarity and Tools: After explaining the theory, GTNP provides a ‘What To Eat With What’ guide that is a massive compilation of how to combine just about anything. There’s even a ‘Pocket Guide For Pain-Free Dining Out’ to help you choose pain-free food at restaraunts, until you get the hang of the system. And with a recipe book full of dishes combined properly, you can shift your way of thinking about meals around without disturbing your routine any more than necessary.

My Results?

I have only had the books for a couple of days, and what I have done so far could best be called “dabbling.”

I have not cooked any of Sherry’s delicious-sounding recipes, due to my limited kitchen facilities, and my family is still dubious about the whole concept.

So I have simply made different choices for my own meals, avoiding the mis-combinations that are a mainstay in the way we tend to do things in America.

This is really just one of two important factors in GTNP (the other being the overall acid/alkaline balance), so truly I have no right to expect to see any huge dramatic results just yet.

But boy, let me tell you what a difference this has made!

I literally cannot remember the last time I ate a meal at a restaurant (and most at home, as well) that did not leave me with pain and problems.

Well, guess what?

My very first GTNP properly combined meal… and every one since? NO PAIN!

No kidding.

What a relief to be able to eat a meal and not have to worry about the digestive consequences! This alone is more than worth the cost of the GTNP system.

I’m excited to get the rest of the program on track, and see if it lives up to the rest of its promises of increased energy, reduced migraines, and so on.

You can be sure I’ll keep you posted! But in the meantime?

You can sign up for Sherry’s free newsletter, as well as downloading the FREE Quick-Start / Trial program, “Pain Free in One Day.”

And if you do decide to jump in and give Great Taste, No Pain a try, there is a Money Back Guarantee if you’re not 100% satisfied. (Although I certainly won’t be asking for my money back!)

What have you got to lose… Except the pain?

.

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This is something I hear all the time – from everyone from middle-aged women wearing low-cut shirts, to moms explaining their daughters’ too-short skirts.

(Seems to me that if you have to explain (justify?) something, that’s a sure sign of a problem!)

People say that they would like to dress more modestly, but “this” is all that they can find at the store.

I don’t buy that excuse for a moment.

I mean, yes, “that” is exactly what you’ll see if you look at the prominently-displayed items at any mass-market retailer these days… But it’s simply not as though there aren’t any other options.

Theoretically, we all know that people could sew their own clothes, but I realize that it’s not a realisitic option in many cases. Heck, it’s not a realistic option for me right now, living in the RV with my sewing machine in storage!

But there are still several viable options.

• Shop major retailers online. That same store you were just visiting in the mall? They have a much bigger selection online.
• Shop boutiques and specialty shops. There are both online and brick-and-mortar stores that cater to very specific needs, including modest clothing (defined variously!). Just type “modest apparel” or “long skirt” or something into a search engine, and away you go.
• Order clothing directly from a seamstress/small business. Bonus – you can often get things made to your exact measurements, as well as having “off the rack” options. My favorite store is Katie’s Mercantile – and it’s almost as cheap as buying garbage locally!
• Finally, and the thing that got me started on this post today: Think outside the box.

I was at one of those local stores, hoping to pick up a couple of inexpensive short-sleeved tops for me, to replace some that were just plain worn out.

The women’s section was very frustrating. Almost all the blouses had the exact same neckline – a collar, then plunge front down to the first button waaaaay down there, for a streamlined version of leaving the top few buttons undone.

Except, of course, that I don’t leave that many buttons undone!

How frustrating that they want to design away the very possibility of being modest.

Needless to say, I did not buy them, even though “that’s all there was.”

Instead I strolled across the aisle to the men’s department.

In no time at all I had a cute textured grey polo shirt, and a button-down shirt in a small green plaid (similar to this):

It’s not “girly,” of course, but I just needed a top to wear under the jeans jumper that Jewel and I just got in matching versions from Katie’s!

(I’m pretty sure that’s her in the photo. Click it to visit the store and check the selection!)

So now Jewel and I can step out together in modest style, on a budget, with no sewing required!

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This book was an easy and enjoyable read, but somehow it just left me frustrated and wanting more.

From the publisher’s description:

Former Facts of Life star Lisa Whelchel shares her experiences of growing up without true friends and how she learned to find and develop them as an adult through God’s grace.

Not many people can say they lived their most crucial developmental years on the sound stage of a wildly popular TV show. But that’s exactly what happened in Lisa Whelchel’s life. As a child, she learned to guard her heart so tightly to avoid true hurt that she found herself unable to form lasting friendships as an adult.

Friendship for Grown-Ups details her experiences of learning to come out of her shell, to trust, risk, and become vulnerable by God’s grace and find meaningful friendships. Readers encounter her captivating story and refreshing perspective on life’s most precious gift—and they find practical tips for their own friendships along the way.

As an autobiography, this was terrific. Very personal, very honest, very well-written.

But, although Lisa specifically states that she’s not even trying to write a “How-To Manual”, I kept wishing for a little more in that direction.

In fact, there were enough good quotes from Dr. Henry Cloud’s books on the subject that I began to regret that I wasn’t just reading one of those.

So, choose this book with your eyes open, and it may be right up your alley!

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My mother was just diagnosed with uterine and cervical cancer. There’s also a mass, which they have yet to identify (benign fibroid, or scary tumor).

In addition to the obvious, this means putting off a hip replacement surgery to have a hysterectomy immediately (she can hadly walk from the hip pain), *and* she’s self employed (so the time off work means no income) and has no insurance.

She’s in California, so it’s not likely I”ll be able to go see her, and certainly nothing practical I can do to help. My sister lives nearby, but has her own physical and emotional challenges going on. Neither of them knows the Lord.

I would be grateful for your prayers for my mom, Susan, and also for my sister, Teresa.

Thank you!!

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Next year is going to be even more exciting than I anticipated.

Jewel will be five, and we will start doing more “schooling” with her. I’m not a believer in a bunch of “work” for the K set, but she is actually very enchanted with the idea of “doing school,” so who am I to argue? (We’re doing some now, of course).

But there’s a new dimension being added to the mix: Nick is coming home.

After two years in the magnet music program at a high school in the area, he has decided that public school really is not such a great idea after all. This dovetailes with our ideas about having the family accompany Wolf for his Air Force technical schools, so we’re all agreed.

Now… How?

I’ve never done High School, and diving into the Junior year is more than a little intimidating.

We used Sonlight for 8th Grade, and really enjoyed it, so that seems the likely choice for the main chunk of curriculum.

He did AP World History in 9th Grade, and is doing AP Psychology this year. The natural progresson would be for AP English Language and AP U.S. History next year, which he is interested in doing.

I’m thinking the most effective way to accomplish that is through Florida Virtual School. It’s free as Florida residents, which is a nice bonus.

Then there are just a couple of open questions: Algebra 2 and Chemistry.

He didn’t care for the math we used in 8th Grade (ALEKS), so we’re definately looking for a new option there.

• Teaching Textbooks is the recommendation from Sonlight. I’ve also heard good things about it from others. A little pricey?
• Math U See is something a lot of folks use, but I haven’t heard much about their High School levels.
• I know there are tons of others out there… an overwhelming number of choices…

And Chemistry?

Sonlight offers the Apologia program, which is also the only one I’ve heard other High School homeschoolers mention.

Obviouly, a web search turns up a ton of options, but who knows what’s any good?

And do we do any extras?

It seems like an awful lot of work we’re committed to already.

But what about all those extra things we’d like to do?

• Bible is included in the Sonlight, so we don’t need anything else formal in that area.
• I guess he’s done with music, so we won’t worry about that.
• A homeschool co-op I follow is offering a great buy on Dave Ramsey’s financial class for High Schoolers. I think this would be such a valuable thing for him…
• We may try Spanish, but language learning has not gone well for us in the past. Rather than presenting it to him as “his” class, I’m thinking I’ll just have him work along as I try to learn with Jewel.

I’m anxious to get everything nailed down, of course. Even though I’ll probably wait and have it shipped to our address at the training base, I don’t like the “up in the air” feeling.

Any comments, suggestions, recommendations?

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