An Angel sent to Leiah

I mentioned the other day that I was going to write about something special regarding my oldest daughter Leiah.

We moved to this town two weeks before Samantha was born because the previous school district would not allow her to go regular ed kindergarten. They basically tried to make me think that their school was so advanced that Leiah could not possibly keep up, that no one was capable of assisting a child in the bathroom (teachers I mean), that all the children would be mean and pick on her because she was different and that she absolutely would NOT get an aid to help her.

So, it was a challenge to find a house, get a loan, and close on it in two months. But, by the power of God and our faith in action, we got it.

So many things have pointed to us that we did indeed hear from the Lord and we were meant to be here. We have wonderful neighbors, some which we already knew before we moved. The school is absolutely wonderful and they love Leiah and have made it a point to tell me so.

Back in September, on Grandparents' Day my mom went to school to eat lunch with my girls. When she saw Leiah's class coming, Leiah was walking down the hall with a group of girls surrounding her and holding her hand. Leiah's aid pointed out a little girl named Chloe that loved Leiah and was always holding her hand and helping her with everything.

After lunch, the little girl came to my mom and said that Leiah was her very best friend!

We all cried over that one. So the next day was Open House and I met her and her family. The NEXT day, I went to Target way far away and lady asked me if I was Leiah's mom. I said yes, and then I recognized that she was Chloe's mom. We talked and exchanged phone numbers and have been getting to know each other. I told her how much I loved her little girl for proving that Leiah can be in regular society without being ridiculed. Not only that, Chloe broke her arm shortly after that, but she still continuously holds Leiah's hand with that arm, and always has her arm around Leiah.

Last week they went to the Pumpkin Patch farm and I got to see Leiah's class and little Chloe in action. She is an angel. Here are some pictures and I'll point her out when I get there.


The main little 'auditorium' where they did a little skit and talk about the pumpkins.



Part of the farm.

The skit about growing pumpkins. The little blonde girl with flower petals on her head is Chloe.


Pickin' Punkins!



Now are the pictures of Leiah and Chloe. Getting arranged for the picture... (they're on the left)



Give me your hand Leiah...


Isn't so sweet?! Thank you for loving Leiah Chloe! There were other little girls that were quite possessive of Leiah. Yeah, she's a freak no one likes huh?

Kitchen Happenings

So what's been going on in my kitchen lately? I actually took some pictures last night!!

We had homemade chicken noodle soup- super for immune boosting.




And delicious whole milk yogurt topped with this berry sauce- raspberries, blueberries and blackberries sweetened with sucanat and thickened with arrowroot powder.




Here's my brewing cupboard- an every growing kombucha mushroom that I need to pull out of there and make a new batch of! And a jar of kefir, almost ready to refrigerate.



I have 2 cups of steel cut Scottish Oatmeal soaking in water and whey for today's breakfast. Yum. No comparison to regular rolled oats.




Here are my herbal brews! I finally got them going! I have two large jars of immune booster and 1 of sleepy time. I'll give the recipes later.



I also made a large pitcher of herbal tea since the tinctures aren't ready yet. This is a mix of elderberries, echinacea tops and roots, yarrow, mullein and catnip. I HIGHLY recommend buying herbs from www.bulkherbstore.com You get a LOT of herbs for the price. I was absolutely floored when I saw how much I got in each bag!!!


And here is a kitchen tip. When I open a bag that doesn't have resealable thingie, I use clothespins! Works great- much better than the little twist ties and cheaper than buying 'Chip Clips'. I do also save the twisties from bread packages as well.


And I must close the post with a baby picture :)



And maybe another....

Unexpected Break

Apparently I took a blogging break!

Unintentionally.


Samantha hasn't been eating well and I've been really busy with that. She's going to try another medicine to see if it helps block acid from coming up the esophagus. I was gone on a field trip Wednesday, Thursday I had lots of housework to catch up on, I was out all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday then this morning Leiah woke up vomiting and I had Samantha's 2 month check up! Praise the Lord Leiah is fine now- it only lasted about 3-4hrs thanks to God answering our prayers. Samantha got some shots and is a little fussy, poor thing.

Baby has also been waking again in the early morning (4-5am) so I'm a bit sleep deprived as well. My eyelids are very heavy right now :)

Some day I will be a better blogger again. Right now things are just too busy.

I do have a new recipe to share- that's one thing I can do- COOK! I also have a very neat thing to share about my oldest daughter, Leiah's school experience. God totally brought us here.

So, I need to go get the crying baby quieted and at some point I'll be back to talk some more :)

Love you all!

A Recipe and organization

What lovely wonderful fall weather we are getting! Such a huge blessing! The mornings and evenings are cool enough we need to turn the heat on, but by midday it's in the 70s. Last night the kids were outside playing in the dark while their daddy was burning some trash-cool out, but not cold.

For us autumn doesn't really feel real until late October and November. I know in more northern states it might even start in September. We're still getting summer heat then!

Last week I bought some fresh fall veggies and wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. Well, boy did I come up with a winner of a recipe! I don't really just love butternut squash and sweet potatoes, but when I cooked them this time I LOVED it. This is what I did:

I cubed 1/2 a medium peeled butternut squash (my veggie peeler was sharp enough to get the strong hide off it), 2 medium sweet potatoes, 2 green apples and 1 large onion. I tossed them in a large baking dish and seasoned them with dried rosemary, dried thyme, a sprinkle of cayenne, a sprinkle of nutmeg and ginger, garlic powder, salt and pepper and olive oil. I had a whole chicken that I nestled in the middle and covered the chicken with the same spices and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. THEN, I poured about 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar and 2/3c real apple cider of all of it and roasted it.
WOW!! I served it with some saffron flavored rice (yeah from a package). The veggies got slightly blackened around the edges, so I turned the temp. from 425 to 350. I cooked them for a total of about 45 minutes-1 hour. It was so good I wished I would have made it for my mom's birthday party. Which, by the way, went very well, I was just too busy to take any pictures. I made the chocolate layer cake and the girls decorated it with candy corn, candy pumpkins and 'halloween' sprinkles. (orange black and purple)

I have the rest of the squash and a sweet potato left this week, so I will either make it into a smooth and creamy soup or baby food :)

Organization

I mentioned I was working on a new binder. I will take pictures of it in a bit. I just bought a little skinny one and built like the control journals on the Fly Lady website. Basically all I have in there now are my daily routines, a weekly plan, a few things about cleaning and my girls' daily routines and my menu plans/master grocery list.

It's helped me out a lot.

The Weekly Plan is like this:

Monday- some cleaning (vacuum, dust, sweep and mop) and laundry (clothes from the weekend, sheets if I can manage it) Plus just regain the house from the crazy weekend.

Tuesday- Projects, towel laundry and whatever else needs washing. Today I have lots of towels and I MUST wash my clothes. A project would be sewing, decluttering something, decorating something, deep cleaning...Today I plan to cut out some fleece into a cape/poncho for Leiah. Should be quick to sew, and she needs a jacket!

Wednesday- Errands/shopping; wash diapers
you know, groceries, library etc. However tomorrow is the pumpkin patch field trip with the girls' school, so I'm going to that and will try to do my grocery shopping tonight.

Thursday- food preps : baking bread and granola and whatever else, soaking beans, grains etc., culturing kefir and kombucha, maybe cooking some meat for the freezer, washing produce....and possibly clean something in the kitchen like the microwave, bleach the sinke etc. (since it's white)

Friday- more cleaning and laundry- windex screens and mirrors, bathrooms, change trash, febreeze furniture and finish up the laundry for the week. (except more diapers on Saturday)

Yesterday I was able to do all my day's tasks and my routines pretty well, without feeling overwhelmed and overworked and my head wasn't spinning with all that needed doing. I didn't have to worry about baking because that is scheduled on Thursday and if I need something before then, then I have license to buy it :)

Of course I will rearrange things as needed, but it really helps me a lot to have a set day for certain things. It's not so jumbled up in my head. Also, my daily routines aren't set in stone. For example, in the morning this is on my list of things to do:

make bed and tidy room
wipe down bathroom
(get dressed of course)
begin laundry
unload dishwasher
make breakfast and lunches

However, this morning went something like this: Matt wakes me up telling me it's 7 am (Samantha got way off schedule yesterday and woke up at 3:30 to eat and then stayed awake awhile). I get out of bed, barely conscious and make lunches. Then I fix the girls' hair, make a pot of coffee, make Samantha's bottle (must stay on schedule today!) and feed her. Then I change her diaper, tidy up a bit, make myself some breakfast and sit down at the computer. My bed is not made, my room is not tidied, the washing machine isn't going yet and I am not dressed! As long as I get to it by 11am, that's still considered morning :)

I have an afternoon routine in which I put away laundry, make sure the dishwasher is started so I can unload it for dinner, make snacks, check the girls' folders when they get home, start dinner and clean up etc.

My before bed routine includes tidying the house, finishing dishes and cleaning the sink, prepping for breakfast and next day's dinner, prepare bottles and set out clothes, take bath/shower etc.

Last night I forgot to turn the dishwasher on, and there were a few things not put away or bottles made (dh needed some quality time with me, so those got put aside) but overall I did everything else. And the main thing, it wasn't HARD! I don't know about you all, but the time between dinner and girls' bedtime can be a real challenge. My energy is lower, the baby is usually a little cranky, the kids needs baths and to clean up their messes and they're tired and don't want to. My husband is usually wiped out too, yet we both gotta keep going. Hopefully this will change soon as I create chore charts for the girls' so they can keep track of what needs doing and if they get stickers for doing it, they'll be excited! I also learned something new about boosting energy for us that I'll blog about soon.

So, things are coming together a bit better. Samantha is adorable is you can see on the video, but I still get a bit stressed about the feedings. I'm going to keep her on the medication until her well baby check up next week. Hopefully the doctor will listen to me then and we can figure out if she even needs the medicine.

Time to go and do what I'm talking about :)

My Sunshine Baby

Hi everyone! Here is a video of Samantha. She is really starting to smile and notice things around her alot.

Guilt and Perfectionism

We homemakers and mommies are in a precarious position. Especially those of us who blog and read blogs. I think the majority of us greatly desire to be the best we can in all areas. Yet being the best doesn't always look the same in each family.

I have always struggled with a fear of failing. I don't want the bad grade on my job. I don't want to fall short in any area of my life. Well, this sets me up for failure because I am human. If I start slipping in some area, then I begin comparing myself to others, or even worse, my PAST self!

" I wish I could do _______ like I did before the baby."

" I used to do _______ and __________ but now I just don't have time."

I remember reading a post on another blog, describing a woman like this:

This particular lady grinds her own wheat and bakes all the bread, has 8 children, breastfeeds them all, homeschools, keeps her house spotless, sews all the clothes for her family, raises chickens and milks her own cows, makes her own butter....Yet how would you feel about the lady if you knew she was an unbeliever? Suddenly it doesn't look so attractive does it?

The most important thing we can have for our families is a heart that is sold to the Lord. When our goal is to shine His light everyday in every way, then that is more important than that list of accomplishments up there.

Still, I get into the 'perfectionist' trap and then feel guilt. When the laundry is backed up again, the floor has junk all over it, the kids' rooms are a disaster, the dishes get piled up, the fridge is stinky, the windows are all smudged, the yard is littered and the kids are half naked when daddy gets home, I feel some GUILT! Big huge time guilt. I also get to feeling guilty for not being able to focus on my husband and the lack of time/ability to exercise and lose weight. Yet, it can't be helped right now.

And when I find myself getting stressed because the throw pillows aren't in the right place, or the cooking utensils are in the wrong drawer, then Miss Perfectionist has taken residence. Where is the balance?!

I don't know! I do know that having a plan each day helps. But then the to do list can sometimes mock you when you've worked hard all day and not ONE single thing got done on that list. I also know that if you get up earlier, things go so much better. I am in the process of creating a new home management binder. It's smaller, or skinnier, as I am leaving my recipes in the older big one. Basically I am working on daily routines for myself and a weekly plan, because I have lost track of things a lot lately. Life will go much smoother if I can focus on these things. And then one day, suddenly things will get easier, and there will be more time for those things.

And then, I'll think wistfully upon my baby's newborn days, my three year old's cuteness, and be sad that it's gone :) Why do things work this way?!?

Anyways, if I am doing my absolute best, then I shouldn't have anything to feel guilty about. If I do, then I need to go to God's Word and read what He thinks about me, and resist the enemy. He'll leave if you resist and take the guilt with him.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

I'm back to my old self again!

Posting here is hit and miss, eh? (That's my yooper coming out)

Well it has been an exceptionally busy week with extra appointments and stuff. Stuff like me deciding I should throw my mom a birthday party on Friday night. I decided it Sunday :)



So, my mom is such a giving person, and never expects anything for her birthday or Christmas nor acts like she wants anything- EVER! Because she has been such a huge blessing to me the last several months I really wanted to do something nice for her.



Friday night my sister's family will be here as well, so 6 adults and 7 kids will be piled in our home. The weather is supposed to cool down quite a bit, so I decided to make Ina Garten's cheddar corn chowder, sausage dogs with creamy mustard sauce, a cheese ball with crackers and apple slices, mulled cider (crockpot) and an insane chocolate layer cake decorated with candy corns and pumpkins.



And if you know me, there will be a fall tablecloth, pretty little pumpkins and mums, birthday candles on the cake and possible balloons and streamers.

Thoughts on Halloween

I was very staunch about absolutely no Halloween anything for our family. I am amazed that people get so excited about it! I mean honestly, let's compare it to Christmas.

Halloween- celebrate ghosts, monsters, skeletons, DEATH!!! Nasty, evil things like witchcraft, blood and guts, and just plain horror.

Christmas- hope, love, giving, joy, light...

The only thing in common is candy and the seasonal movies that come on TV.

So, we don't do Halloween. However, we love fall and decorating for it. My girls adore dressing up in beautiful dresses and anything princess/fairy related. And for some reason, I really like Jack-o-lanterns, even though he isn't totally innocent either...I still like them though.

I also dislike them getting lots of candy. They just do not understand moderation or sugar crashes.

Dilemma! So, I do allow costumes. In fact I really wish I could make them some this year, but it probably isn't going to happen. I did let them go 'trick-or-treating' last year to our surrounding neighbors' homes. Lucky for us, this year, our annual church hot dog roast is on Halloween, so we don't have to do anything regarding trick or treat. Still, they will be decked out in their princess rig unless it's cold. I admit, I was glad we didn't celebrate Halloween as a child (well we did until my mom found out the origins), but I did wish I could dress up and get candy.

So, because we take joy in giving our children joy, they will get costumes and a moderate amount of candy provided by the church I'm sure. If we did celebrate Halloween and get all into the scary stuff, we would have an awesome place for a haunted house/woods thing. Saturday I finally explored the rest of our property, and it's like a little forest back there! There's lots of low hanging branches and vines that would probably look pretty creepy done right.

But, we don't, so instead we'll clear the back out, and I have Christmas light plans for the little forest in the front yard! So exciting :)

Healthy and tasty Bread, plus other stuff

I am so excited! Yesterday I experimented with making 100% whole wheat bread and it turned out perfect! I tried it last week, but used the bread machine to mix it, and it turned into a brick :(

I got the original recipe from Heavenly Homemakers blog. Here is the original:

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

6 cups whole wheat flour, divided
1 ¾ cups warm water, divided
1/3 cup honey
1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)
1 t. sea salt
3 T. melted butter

You soak half the flour in almost all the water for 30 minutes, activate the yeast in the rest of the water, then combine all ingredients, adding the rest of the flour to get a good dough, then knead till smooth and elastic, set to rise for an hour or so. You know how to do bread, most everyone I think.

Well, if you know me, you know I altered the recipe, of course :)

I didn't have honey, so I substituted molasses. I upped the salt to 1 Tablespoon, upped the yeast to 1 Tablespoon, added 1 T wheat gluten and 1 T soy lecithin, and while I was adding the rest of the flour to make a dough, Samantha woke up wanting to eat, so I tried entertaining her in the bouncy seat while I hurriedly kneaded the dough. Finally she wasn't waiting any longer so I just covered it and left it. After about 1.5 hours, it had risen, but I had to go somewhere. So I punched it down,kneaded it better this time, made into a pretty ball, put it back in the bowl and covered it, then stuck in the fridge. When I got back and hour later, it had risen perfectly. I shaped it into loaves, put them in oiled pans and let rise, almost 2 hours till risen enough.

It baked up nicely, not too high, and it's soft and the crumb is nice and even all throughout the loaf. By the way, the soy lecithin helps keep the bread soft, like storebought bread soft, and is a natural dough conditioner. The gluten helps the whole wheat rise better. Oh and the pre-soaking of flour also activates and breaks down the gluten.

So, to recap the recipe:

6 cups whole wheat flour

1-2 cups water, I had to use more

1/4 cup honey or molasses

1 T sea salt

1 T wheat gluten (I'll add more next time, but that was all that was left)

1 T soy lecithin

1 T yeast

3 T butter, melted

Soak cups flour in 1.5 cups ore more of warm water. Let sit for 3o minutes. Combine remaining water, sweetener and yeast and allow to stand 5-10 minutes or until foamy. Melt the butter, and add it along with the lecithin and salt to liquids, then add to soaking flour. Sprinkle on the gluten and add enough flour to create a soft dough. Knead 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic, cover and let rise till doubled in size.

Punch down dough, knead a few minutes, shape into ball, allow to rise again till doubled.

Butter/oil two loaf pans. Shape dough into loaves, put in pans and allow to rise until the top of dough is level or slightly above loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees 30-35 minutes.

Cool, then slice. I wrap one loaf in plastic wrap and freeze it and keep the other out.

Because it takes awhile to rise, the prolonged soaking time helps to break down the whole grain and make the nutrients more available. If I used buttermilk or something similar, that would make it even more nutritious.

Let me tell ya, I have made so many whole wheat bricks in my past I could fill the deep freezer! Dough enhancers are awesome!

I am still struggling with organization. I am backed up on the laundry again and the floors are looking pretty sad. Yes, I put baking above cleaning. But it makes me feel good, and it's productive. I'll get to it :)

I haven't started my eating plan yet. I've barely had time to read the book since my husband has been working late so much, there's no extra hands to help with other stuff.

Alright, since I can't help but be real and honest on my blog, there is something going on. Sunday we prayed over the baby, as it appeared she had reflux. She started doing better. Well, on Tuesday I noticed her not wanting to eat and it was really a struggle to get more than 2 oz of milk down her gullet. So, I decided to call the doctor and let him know how the soy stuff went and how she was doing. He felt we should try zantac.

So, here's the deal, I am sitting in the chair trying to feed her and she's resisting it. In my heart, I just felt I should do what the doctor says and am at peace about it. I called my husband and we both agreed to give her the medicine. At least then we would know for sure.

Did God fail us? Hardly. Sometimes when we are standing and believing on several things, we get stretched thin, and it's hard to remain strong. In this instance, God wants us to use medicine. We're fine with that. When my husband was sick, he used medicine while we were believing for his healing. Using medicine isn't in place of the healing, in some instances, it's the catalyst to healing. There are Christian doctors out there (which hers is an awesome one) that God uses to help people. A lady at church was diagnosed with advanced cancer. Her and her husband prayed about the right course of action, and God told them to do the treatments. She did and at first was very ill, but then it got better and better and finally it was gone. But they stood firm on what they were led to do by the Lord. It's not always the same every time.

So, I also felt totally released in my spirit from making her formula. Before I felt like it was so vital and that if I didn't do it I was a bad mom. But, that moment, I instantly felt calm and that it would be fine.

Samantha is taking 1ml of zantac three times a day, is using Carnation good start formula with probiotics, the Dr. Brown bottles and rice cereal twice a day. (to weight the formula and help it not slosh in her belly) She spends a lot of time upright- in the bouncy seats, the swing, the carseat and we elevated the mattress in her cradle. She is happy and smiley and adorable. She has days where she's really hungry and times when not interested. I just monitor how much she eats in a day, and if we're lacking, I spoon feed some cereal and sometimes she'll want the rest of the bottle. It may take a few weeks for the zantac to work- it helps the acid from coming up into her esophagus and keep the sphincter closed so it isn't coming back into her throat.

So, there ya go. I might get a lot of flack for one, not breastfeeding for long, and 2, for giving medicine, and 3, for feeding solids early. Do not judge lest you be judged is all I have to say :-) You gotta do what works, even if it isn't popluar.

Better?

Much better don't you think? I loved the other background, but the text part was just too dark I think. This is much easier on the eyes :)

New Eating Plan

Last week I blogged about all the confusion I was in regarding how to eat to lose the extra weight I've been carrying around for several years. I wanted to do something that worked without compromising my standards of food quality.

Well, I found it! I don't even know how I got there- it was a complete accident or miracle. I choose to believe God led me to it since I've been praying about it for awhile. Anyways, oddly enough, the plan is written by a body builder and it's called The Truth about Abs.

It's an ebook detailing basically how to lose belly fat and make your ab muscles stand out. While that's good and all, I just want to get rid of the fat for now! So, I paid approximately $4 for the 21 day trial and read as much as I could. I was SO impressed! His 'diet' is filled with raw milk, quality fats and meats, real food! Yea!!! So many of these types of people do not eat very healthfully. I know I've checked into several.

He also gives lots of tips on how to find your best metabolic rate, as in maximizing how fast you burn food and target it. Half the book is pictures of him showing the exercises, which I am delighted to learn that I do not have to go to a gym or run myself ragged doing aerobics hours each week. No, all I need are some dumbells and 30-45 minutes three times a week. Wow!

I was really impressed with the sincereity and honesty he presents, not to just make money, but to really help people. To find out more you can google the title of the book, The Truth about Abs.

So, basically I am supposed to eat 5-6 meals a day, balancing the amounts of protein, fat and carbs. If I want to lose really fast, then most of my carbs should be fruits and veggies. But it's not required, it's up to me. I get to eat real eggs with the yolks, real whole fat yogurt and fruit, and it's even recommended to drink tea! This is great!

Anyways, I haven't started it yet because we are out of food and that's what I'm doing today. I will get stocked up and prep as much as I can in advance so it's easy for me to eat on time. I'll let yall know how it goes. I m-i-g-h-t take a picture and chart the progress. That's scary though, although I did write an email and tell them that if I get a tight waist they'll want to put me on the cover of the book! Brave huh?

Ok, gotta get the girls ready and get out the door!

P.S. Samantha is sleeping all night now. At the age of 8 weeks, and really, more like when she was 6-7 weeks. Babywise works again for the 4th time!

Feeding Issues

I have been so busy with our little baby. The past week she started decreasing the amount of food she was eating. Then she starting fussing through feedings, get really burpy and gassy, spit up more, and finally just started totally refusing to eat. She eat about 1-2oz, then cry when we burped her and tried to give her more. She didn't fuss afterward, just looked around and smiled and such. It was really a puzzle.

I took her off the homemade stuff and tried a commerical formula with a lot less lactose and broken down whey protein. She did a little better, but then did worse. Finally, after going all night with only about an ounce of formula and then refusing to eat early that morning, I called the doctor. They wanted to check her out.

She was gaining weight well, she was 10lbs 1 oz, and fairly happy. No sore throat or anything, but based on what I described the doctor felt she had reflux. He gave me SOY formula. I didn't want to give it to her, but I wanted her to eat! So I did and she started eating better. I researched reflux in infants all day Saturday and she had all the symptoms and had had it for awhile I just didn't recognize it. She was doing better with the soy that day too. (wow that stuff stinks!)

Well, here is where my faith comes in. See I was praying all throughout the pregnancy that she would not have any digestive issues. So, this was really a surprise. I was stressing out about it and what to do because I didn't feel right about the soy. All night Saturday night I was stressing about it. And then I was like, duh! Do what you've been preaching to everyone woman! So we prayed over her and began standing on the Word for her healing. I felt that we should have our church anoint her with oil and pray as well, just to support me and because the Bible says that'... if any two agree in my name it shall be done." ( I'll have to find the reference later)

She didn't eat very well at all the rest of the day. So, I felt in my heart that I should act as if she was completely healed. I got a few ingredients for making a slightly modified formula, a Dr. Brown's bottle, came home, made it up and fed it to her and she loved it. She ended up drinking 3 bottles worth in 4 hours time!( 6pm, 8pm, 10:30 pm) No spitting or fussing or lots of burping. A sweet happy baby enjoying her food is what we have.

I praise God and give Him the glory. It wasn't enough for us to manage her symptoms so she didn't have to take medicine. I didn't want to have to try all different formulas or put lots of rice cereal in her bottle. I had already tried almost all the types of bottles and nipples at the store. (except Dr. Brown!) I wanted her complete and whole just the way I had been praying and believing. I wanted the best, and I can have it because His Word says I can. She slept all night, woke up at 6am and drank 4oz happily, no spit up, and laid down next to me and went back to sleep.

Big relief!

My girls are out of school today for a teacher thing, so we're all at home together and it's cloudy, rainy and wet outside. We're all in the jammies and they're watching Diego :) We'll get around here in a minute and get dressed etc. Maybe I'll get some pictures!

Going Deeper, Topic 2

I have been rather silent on my blog the last week or so. It's not entirely because of lack of time, but rather, I've been putting my time into something else. I just don't know exactly how to put it all into words.

For long time 'readers', you know my stance on the Bible. We are told we must walk by faith and not by sight. We must look at what is unseen and call things that be not as though they were. I believe that the bad things that happen are from Satan, not a tool God uses to teach us things.

The Lord has been bringing me deeper and deeper into understanding faith and His Word. More and more is being illuminated to me and it's awesome. I had no idea how much fear I dealt with, because it was so subtle! Fear is the opposite of faith- fear drives it away.

I also believe in our words and the power they have. I did a study on this down in the left hand column called "Faith and Words". I don't have a lot of time to review, but basically Jesus says we can have what we say. How many people have you seen talking about something, like when they were a kid that they were going to be someone special or live somewhere particular someday, and they did! It's because they spoke it over and over again, and drove towards it, and they got it.

Mainly I want to talk about fear and the authority we have. Many times I have tried to stand in faith about something like healing, but still felt a lot of fear or anxiety inside. The fear was because in my mind I was honestly thinking, " I hope it works." or " What if God doesn't do it?" This is so off. What we have to realize is that God already did it.

In this verse that we know so well, everything we ever needed has already been taken care of.

" For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. " John 3:16-17

Saved in Greek is " sozo"~ Definition of sozo: to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction

a) one (from injury or peril)

1) to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health

1) to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue

b) to save in the technical biblical sense

a) to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment

b) to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance

Other words for " be saved" ~ 'save, make whole, heal, be whole'


So, Jesus already made us whole and healthy. It's a matter of continually standing on that and being fully persuaded that we are healed until the enemy runs off. If we keep it in our head that we already know the ending, he is already defeated, and we are filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. What can he do to us?

Many think, well that was Jesus, He was God. That's why He was never sick or poor etc.

"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Luke 10:19

"... assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17: 20

Sounds like Jesus empowered us with the same that He had.

So anyways, God has really been opening my eyes to a lot of little things I say or think that are a hindrance. And like I said before, I didn't realize how much of it was rooted in fear! Just in the last week, I have been miraculously healed from a burn, back pain and a bladder infection. I'm talking searing excruciating pain one minute and gone with no visible effects a few minutes later. All because I remembered what Jesus already did, prayed it and praised Him for it until it was gone.

Another thing we've dealt with is pests- mosquitoes and we heard that scorpions are bad around here. Well, Jesus gave us authority over those. We prayed in faith and not one person got a mosquito bite and there are no scorpions.

So what about finances and the current economic situation? First of all, we're in God's family if we are believers.

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have [it] more abundantly." John 10:10

Abundant~exceeding some number or measure or rank or need

a) over and above, more than is necessary

1) exceeding abundantly, supremely

2) something further, more, much more than all, more plainly

b) superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon

1) pre-eminence, superiority, advantage, more eminent, more remarkable, more excellent

How can we have a more excellent life if we are poor?

"...that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints..." Ephesians 1:18

Riches~ riches, wealth

a) abundance of external possessions

b) fulness, abundance, plenitude

c) a good i.e. that with which one is enriched

Another important factor is the giving of your tithe to the Lord. God doesn't need the money, but He wants us to show Him that we completely depend on Him in everything. And what is the reward for acknowledging that He is our source?

" Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it]." Malachi 3:10

We have lived in exceeding abundance the last few months. We bought a house! We had literally no budget. Now we do, but, God has opened up several things that will flood it all in again soon. And we aren't the only ones!

I honestly believe that time is very very short. I know there is to be a great GREAT awakening before Jesus comes for His bride. If I was chosen to live in this hour and this day, then I don't want to miss out. I don't want to be on the sidelines watching, I want to be at the front. It's going to take people who understand how faith works to do this. We cannot go by what we see in the world, or feel. I admit I get awful sad when I hear about what's going on in Washington, but then I remember, he was meant to be there. No longer can we depend on our government to do what it was designed to do, our dependency now is on God. The President doesn't save America, what America needs is an awakening to God. So I don't let it bother me, because my Saviour is Jesus, my home is heaven. My work here isn't done and how WONDERFUL to get to be a part of this!

The early church began it, and we get to finish it. Isn't that so special? We could have lived in any time on the earth, but we were chosen to live NOW. God is creating an army, a real army of faith that can destroy the strongholds the enemy has created. An army that has more faith in the unseen than what is seen, and is unafraid. Why should we be afraid? If we walk with God we are protected, healed, delivered, whole, saved...we have power and authority like Jesus did.

I know this is a lot of info, and you may think I'm a weird radical, but Jesus was considered a radical! I have so so much pouring out of me right now, so if this doesn't flow well or make a lot of sense, it's because there's so much and not enough time to write it!

It's time for the church to kick it up a notch. I believe that many are. What do you think?