My Weblog

Another song for today..........

This is the song that came to mind today and I can't seem to think of anything else to sing:

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

The story behind this song is touching. It's short and you might enjoy it. You can find it here:

http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/i/hiseyeis.htm

Just a little while ago.........

I made the startling revelation that I think I am being raised from the dead, one little piece at a time. And, then, I ran across this:

God made my life complete
      when I placed all the pieces before him.
   When I cleaned up my act,
      he gave me a fresh start.
   Indeed, I've kept alert to God's ways;
      I haven't taken God for granted.
   Every day I review the ways he works,
      I try not to miss a trick.
   I feel put back together,
      and I'm watching my step.
   God rewrote the text of my life
      when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

Suddenly, God, your light floods my path,
      God drives out the darkness.

2 Samuel 22:21-25,29

(The Message)

Appropriate, dontcha think?

We, in Christian circles, call stumbling on something like that

Confirmation.

Celiac's Disease

As I've often said, life is nothing if it's not an adventure. 

Just the other day, I was having a conversation with my Father in Heaven.  I was reminding Him of promises He had made to me through His Word.  Promises that were not being kept in any way that I could see with my human eye. 

Today, a strange twist of events has brought some interesting things to light.  For several years now, Jennifer has been told that, for reasons unknown, her body was not capable of absorbing iron.  She's been seeing a hematologist, having transfusions to replace iron in her system.  Then, Atticus came along and after a while his growth just kind of slowed to almost nothing.  And, again, there was some speculation that perhaps he was not absorbing iron properly and that might be the reason for his failure to grow.  I did some research on the internet and eventually stumbled into Celiac's disease.  I am not a doctor and I don't have the ability to produce an official diagnosis or run medical tests.  But, I did discuss Celiac's with Jennifer and suggest that she be tested for it.  There were a number of indicators both in the research I'd done and in personal stories I'd gotten from women who had experience with the disease.  Just recently, Jennifer and Atticus had blood tests.  Today, they received the official diagnosis:  both have Celiac's.  

In case you're not familiar with Celiac's, it destroys the villi in the intestine.  This hampers the body's ability to absorb nutrients from food.  The doctor believes Atticus will heal entirely with the villi re-growing over a period of 6 months or more.  The doctor believes Jennifer may have had too much damage to her system and that she may never heal from it.  But, the doctor doesn't know my Jesus!

I have no idea where in my family line this all started, but my mother, when I was a young kid, was diagnosed with diverticulitis.  According to the research I found, Diverticulitis is the frequent mis-diagnosis for people who have Celiac's.  I have an auto-immune disorder of the thyroid.  I have also had crazy bouts with digestive upsets.  A few bouts with gas pain so bad I honestly thought I'd ingested some kind of poison or had food poisoning.  Jennifer has had similar pain.  Another symptom frequently associated with Celiac's is tingling/numbness in the hands and feet.  For more than a year now, I've had tingling and numbness in the outer two fingers of my left hand.  I've had ongoing bouts with diarrhea over the past year or so.  And, I've been diagnosed with osteopena, the precursor to osteoporosis, another condition frequently associated with Celiac's.  Finally, I have, since I was a young teen, retained water and bloated in the upper abdomen, below my breasts and above my belly button, another classic sign of Celiac's.  Celiac's is passed down genetically.  So, I'm wondering about my own possible case of Celiac's as well as the possibility that my mother may have it. 

So, today I got a call from Jennifer.  She was emptying her fridge, freezer, and pantry of everything that contained gluten.  I was invited to come and pick up everything and bring it home with me.  I've only brought a few (3) bags in from the car and I can't seem to wedge another thing into the freezer in the garage.  Joe promised to bring in the rest of the bags when he comes home.  Jennifer said something about 15 bags when we talked on the phone.  I don't know if that was an actual number or an estimate, but let me just say that we have more food in this house than I know what to do with at this moment.

Immediately on seeing the amount of food we'd been given, I remembered the promise I challenged the Lord to fulfill.  Luke 6:38  "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."    The King James version of the Bible says "shall MEN pour into your bosom".  Joe and I have always been faithful givers whether it be in the form of tithes to the church or money for missions, supporting children through Compassion International, and so on.  Yet, we have, over the last two years experienced lack and more lack.  Well, if you remember, just a couple of weeks ago a friend/client of mine decided to go gluten free.  She brought over three huge trash bags of food, soups, canned goods, and more.  Now, all this food from Jennifer and Jason.  Truly, we now have more food than I can store.  I have at least 25 pounds of flour out there!  And, while God may have helped my friend/client to think of giving food to us, all this food was given to us by humans (shall MEN pour.......). 

Sunday morning, we listened to the most amazing sermon we've heard in a while.  Contained in that sermon was reference to our dominion over the forces of evil and instructions on how to use that dominion through the blood and the name of Jesus.  So, we will make "war" on Celiac's disease, in just the manner we've been taught.  And, the food in my kitchen and in my car and in my freezer in the garage is just a sign that His promises are true, just days before we need to use a greater measure of our faith in this particular fight now facing us.  Psalm 103:3 says He is the Lord who heals all my diseases.  I'm holding Him to it!  My faith is renewed in the face of this "bad" news.  The enemy has a name and I plan on defeating Celiac's for my family.  Celiac's is going down.

Not long ago, I wrote here about the inspiring story of a family who sat in the Emergency Room and sang praise songs when the doctors were telling them one of their children would probably die and if he didn't die, he'd be damaged for life.  I told how he is completely healed and has actually tested brighter on IQ tests than he tested before the accident. 

Now it's well past my bedtime and I need some sleep.  And some prayer time.........  And some time to sing some praise songs! 

Lock Down

BLOG TRAIN FREEBIE IS ONE POST DOWN!  HAPPY SCRAPPIN!

Praise Report of the Day

I recently read an article the gist of which I want never to forget.  It rocked my socks and I wanted to share a bit of the story with you.  A young man named Adam had just gotten his drivers license.  He and his mom got in the car, mom riding shotgun, to go to the neighborhood video store to rent a video.  Their car was hit broadside on the driver's side.  Adam asked his mother what they should do next and slipped into unconsciousness.  Mom prayed that God would send an angel to help them.  Immediately, a man in scrubs with 7 angel pins on his shoulder appeared at her side of the car, asking to speak to her son.  Not asking to help her son.  Not asking how her son was, but asking to speak to him.  She got out of the car and circled the car while the man leaned over and spoke into her son's right ear.  Then, he disappeared.  Not one of the witnesses gathered around the car had seen the man and no sound was made on the crunchy gravel accident site as he walked away.  They were taken to the hospital where the family gathered in a disorganized overwhelmed emergency room.  They didn't know what to do next so they began to sing "Look what the Lord has done.  Look what the Lord has done.  He healed Adam's body; He healed Adam's Mind.  He saved Adam just in time.  I'm gonna praise His name.  Each day is just the same.  Come on and praise Him--Look what the Lord has done."  They held a praise-fest in the hospital.  After 9 1/2 hours in surgery, they were informed that Adam had a torn aorta, a ruptured spleen, one collapsed lung, one pierced lung, internal bleeding, a hole in his diaphragm, a broken collar bone and two breaks in his pelvis.  The doctor reported Adam might not make it through the night and if he did he faced up to 5 months in various hospitals and the possibility he'd never walk again.  They sat by his bedside and read healing scriptures to him round the clock.  At first he couldn't talk clearly, but he persevered.  At the beginning of the second week in the hospital, he got himself a walker and went up and down the hallways of the hospital, dragging his right leg behind him.  At 13 days, he was discharged to a rehab facility and sent home one week later on crutches. 

He went back to school that fall.  At first getting around the multi-level school complex was difficult, but by early November, he did his full school day and then RAN home.  He was tested by the staff to determine if his injuries had effected his ability to learn and he tested 10 times brighter than before the accident.  He is currently in Bible College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

Moral of the story:  Give Him praise.  Then watch and see what He does with it.

My life

Well, my computer is in lockdown again.  Mozy is "reticulating splines".  I came wandering out to the office about an hour and a half ago to find Joe complaining about how slow the computer is.  Apparently he'd e-mailed me a letter he wanted to print on my laser printer again and it took him 15 minutes to get it to print.  I think I can top that.  I just spent 7 minutes (yes, I actually timed it) waiting for an unwanted e-mail to be deleted.  It is so very aggravating.  But, it will pass and if it doesn't, I'll go back to bed for an hour.  I didn't get all that much sleep and little sleep and a load of aggravation will eventually result in screaming high blood pressure.  Better to go back to bed and fix the lack of sleep and avoid the aggravation.

Yesterday was the big blog train.  As of 6:50AM this morning, 282 people have downloaded my contribution and 9 have left thanks.  Hmmmmm......  I supppose I will just be happy that 282 people will be enjoying my work.  This time, I REALLY liked the color scheme.  At some point, I WILL do a full kit with that color scheme because I like it so much.  Normally I would have done so already, but this time of year, I just didn't have time.  107 designers signed up to participate in this blog train.  As I was trying to download goodies myself late last night, I was shocked at how many failed to follow through.  The blog train is a great way to get your personal scrap stuff into the hands of potential customers so they can see the quality of your work.  I counted 22 designers who totally spaced the blog train.  That's a pretty poor showing and I'm literally embarrassed for them.  I know one lady takes care of her elderly mother who has been in the hospital and she's been sick herself.  If it were me, I'd have at least posted a big apology and explanation on my blog.  Oh, well.  I only have to be concerned about keeping my own commitments.  There was a threat by the lady who organizes these blog trains that anyone who didn't have her contribution up within 2 days of kickoff would be banned from future participation........

While everyone else was collecting blog train goodies, I was doing tax stuff.  One of the things I find difficult to deal with this time of year is people who can't figure out what they did with their copy of last year's tax return and want another copy.  At the moment, printing another copy is not a major problem; it's the time involved in fielding the phone call, printing the return, calling the client to let them know the copy is ready, and then dealing with their crazy requests as to how/when they want it.  I had one woman who wanted me to scan and e-mail it.  Ma'am, I'm working off a little 3-in-1 scanner here.  Do you have any idea how much time is involved in scanning something as thick as your tax return, one page at a time, hand fed????  And, most of these people have been clients for 20 years or so, so if they come to pick up the copy, I lose 1/2 hour or more to conversation.  Not the best use of my time right now.  It would be less of a problem if I had a receptionist, but, working from home on a shoe string budget, I don't.  So I get to handle these fun requests personally.

The whole tax season thing is heating up.  The phone is ringing and Fedex is ringing the doorbell.  I'm grateful for the business.  But people are quirky and we all have our own version of real life with which to deal.  One group of 3 ladies (Mom, Aunt, Daughter/Niece) has rescheduled 3 times so far.  It IS good that most clients are getting ready earlier this year.  I'm hoping that will mean a saner April!

Designing

I have finally finished previews of the paper packs and gotten them all uploaded so my CT (two ladies now) could download them and look them over.  Last night I did the preview of the Buttons and Bows.  That took a while--50 buttons and 10 bows.  I "mounted" the buttons on 2 x 3 pieces of white paper, just like you might find buttons sold at Jo-Anne's.  Then arranged the "button cards" on a background for display purposes and added in the array of 10 bows.  I wish I'd used a slightly smaller piece of white paper for the buttons so that I'd have had more room for the bows, but I surely didn't have time to re-do them when it turned out the bows were a squeeze.  Now I'm working on a preview of the birdies and butterflies, 10 birdies and 9 butterflies.......  My goal was to have all of this uploaded to the store this week, but with tax returns stacked on my desk to be done, I'm not so sure I'll make it.  I still have several kinds of elements to make in 10 colors.  Once they're made, they'll still need previews and packaging.  My Lord, I really bit off a big bite this time!

Scrapping

This is a yes AND no question.  Scrapping my own personal photos?  No.  Creating Quick Pages for sale?  Yes.  I did a set of 4 quick pages with LaWanna Desjardin's latest kit and uploaded them to her over the weekend.  That's as close as I can come to scrapping right now.  If I'm honest, I owe her 3 or 4 more sets of quick pages.......  Well, I checked last night and of all the pages I've done for her, she has only put two sets in her store so far, so I suppose I can take comfort in the fact that she's not hurting for things to put in the store!  But, still, we have a deal and I do want to keep up my end of the bargain.  I'm hoping to grind out another set within the next two weeks.

I have got to give this up.  It is terminally slow and my patience is worn.  I'm going back to bed for a while.  I'd rather work on some of the tax returns stacked on my desk or on digital previews, but that is terminally slow as well.  So, I'll sleep an hour and pray that Mozy is out of "reticulating splines" and into backup by then.  Then I can work at a normal pace.  Have a good day!

I'm about to burn up!

We listened to one of our favorite pastors on the internet last night.  He told a story that just about toppled us out of our chairs but which we loved.  I thought I would take a moment and share it with you.  I want you to know that this pastor says he has personal knowledge of this happening..........

There was a woman who for many months ran a fever.  She went to several doctors, took antibiotics, had medical tests, did the whole doctor gamut.  No one could figure out what was wrong with her.  Finally they decided to attach a recording device to her for two weeks to see if there was something going on that she had failed or forgotten to tell them about.  What they found was that she repeatedly said aloud "I'm burning up" or "I'm about to burn up".  THAT was the only clue they had.  Not having any "better" advice, they told her to stop saying that.  Over a period of months, as she broke herself of the habit of saying that, her fever went away.  The fever has never recurred.

What an amazing thing, to think that our words have such an impact on our lives.  I've long been aware that when we say things aloud, the fact that our ears hear what we say magnifies the effect.  For example, if we are about to give a speech and we are afraid of speaking in front of people, one of the worst things we can do is keep saying aloud how very nervous we are.  That simply involves another sense, the sense of hearing, in verifying that we are indeed very nervous.  Or, if we want to remember something, say we're studying for a test, it is good to read it or repeat it aloud because of the function our hearing plays in the learning process.

The point is that our words, in and of themselves, have power.  So, if we continually say "I'm getting old and I don't remember very well" or "I'm getting old and I don't think very clearly anymore" we are passing sentence on ourselves, creating our own curse, so to speak.  The Bible says we have "the mind of Christ".  Christ wasn't old, forgetful or a foggy thinker.  So, perhaps we would be much better served to say what the Bible says about us--that we have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16).  Since we believe the Bible to be true, we could then believe that our thoughts are clear and expect to remember that which we need to remember. 

The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21 that "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."  If you believe that and think about it for a while, it just might change the things you say for the better.  Deuteronomy 30:19 says, in part, "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life...."  If we have the power of choice over life and death and the power of life and death is in the tongue, we'd be well served to watch what we say.  What SHOULD we say?  We SHOULD say what God says about us!  After all, if OUR words make a difference, imagine the difference God's words could make!

Thus, expect to hear from me that I am healed.  The Bible says so.  Prophetically, Isaiah says in 53:4-5, when speaking of Jesus Christ, that "by His stripes we are healed".  Therefore, my back is healed.  I may still have symptoms but those are sourced in Satan and I know who wins.  So, once and for all, don't expect to hear about my symptoms; expect to hear I am healed.

Nevertheless!

There is a mountain of conversation in the Digi scrapbooking world about picking one word and making it the theme for the year.  I've read a lot of posts about it on various blogs.  There's even a blog with a suggested lists of words.  The idea originated with Ali Edwards, a well known scrapper and Digi Scrap Designer.  None of the words I've read about grabbed me.  They just didn't seem to fit.  So, I've pretty much ignored all the hub bub.

Until this morning.  Once again I hurt.  It seems that daily I hurt.  Most days I start the day in pain.  As the day progresses it sometimes lessens or goes away entirely.  Most days it just beats on me all day long.  If I give in to the pain, I end up spending long hours in this chair, moving nothing but my fingers as I design or make a blog entry or scrap or whatever.  Or, I spend long hours in bed, praying that when I get up the pain will be less.  And, my physical condition will continue to deteriorate as I give in and remain sedentary, coping with the pain.  I had a vision of myself in one of those power chairs Joe helps load into his handicapped van each night.  Some days it is my head, throbbing.  Other days it is like a giant toothache pulsating and gnawing at me from my lower back.  And, then there are the days when my blood pressure ratchets up for no known reason.  And, this morning I realized that the pain is beginning to control my life; I am giving in to it instead of expecting it to be healed.  I can't do that.  It will sap my entire life if I let it.  I am already paying a heavy price for the pain and there's a problem with that--Christ already paid the price for my pain.  Double billing is not allowed.

So, finally, in February, I've chosen a word.  It is "nevertheless".  My back hurts; nevertheless, I will clean my kitchen counters.  My head hurts; "nevertheless" I will get a load of laundry going.  My back hurts; "nevertheless" I will go to work.  And, so the word for 2010 is "nevertheless".  And, it is a word of faith as well as a word of will.  When I hurt, I pray.  When I hurt, I ask Joe to pray.  When I hurt, I sometimes post about it here and ask you to pray.  If I EXPECT those prayers to be answered in accordance with Mark 11:24, then I cannot sit here and wait.  I have to get up and do "nevertheless".  (BTW, if you don't have your Bible handy and don't use Bible Gateway, here is Mark 11:24:  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.)  I need to proceed through my day as though I have received the answer to those prayers. 

So, the word for 2010 is "nevertheless".  Now, let's see if I can live it........

Fourth Purpose

This blog is already multi-purpose.  It contains family news.  It shows off scrapped pages I do as a CT member for other designers.  It advertises kits I've designed.  I've decided that I also need a place to record the ways in which God blesses us in 2010.  2009 has been such a hard year and we are expecting better things from 2010.  I think it will be encouraging to have a record of the good things that He provides.

Today Joe left early to get his paycheck.  It was for the pay period ended December 27th.  He had actually taken a couple of days off over Christmas, the first he's taken in 11 months.  For a LONG time, this town has had the reputation for being D.E.A.D. during the time right before Christmas.  And, that was exactly what it was.  So, for two weeks work, at least 96 hours, Joe's expected paycheck was around $350.  Yes, there were some tips during those two weeks, but so little.....  Nevertheless, we were grateful for the $350.  He just called and reported that everyone's earnings were so low for that two week period that the company had paid everyone minimum wage because it was more than they would have earned otherwise.  I'm sure there was some sort of legal requirement, but still it means more money for us!  So, by being paid minimum wage, Joe's paycheck is several hundred dollars higher.  What a wonderful thing that is!  Even with the extra money we got for Christmas and our birthdays, we have past due utility bills we've been wondering how to pay and now we have the funds!