MS and CCSVI

MS has been a constant battle as of late.


I'm guessing it's due to all of the weather changes.


I can tell that I am going through restenosis, and am quite bummed about it.


I had dropped much of my medication, but have had to re-up some of it due to major nerve pain. I've felt like my left arm was literally on fire.


We knew that restenosis was a strong possibility, but had hoped that it wouldn't happen so soon.


I have no doubt that MS and CCSVI are connected, and no questions as to whether or not there is a vascular link to MS. I am certain that there is.


I'd do it all over again. God did some amazing things during my time in New York! In addition, having gone through the initial surgeries, I hope to be on the list of patients that will be able to undergo new and more advanced procedures for CCSVI as they are made available.


As far as my blog goes...


Yes, I'm reading the Word and am loving what I'm learning...just haven't been in much of a mood to write as of late.


In addition to my family having been sick for 6-8 weeks, I think I'm going through a bit of a mourning period over my short lived successes.


Would cherish your prayers.


I haven't really told the kiddos yet. I'm thinking that it might just be best to let them figure it out as we go along.


God still remains on His throne.


What joy and peace I derive from knowing that!

Much love to you tonight,
Jes

This Man is Set To Be Executed Within 3 Days - Church, Please Pray!

His crime?

Confessing with his mouth Jesus as Lord

and believing in his heart that God raised Him from the dead. (Romans 10:9)

Said Musa is a married father of 6 who converted to Christianity from Islam 8 years ago. 

He is imprisoned in Kabul, Afghanistan.

He is set to be executed within 3 days!

If you go to persecution.com or prisoneralert.com or dennyburk.com, you can read the details of his story.

Per Pastor John Piper's example, Dr. Burk suggests sending a tweet to President Obama on behalf of Said.

Please, PLEASE pray tonight for Said, for his wife, and for his precious children.

I read the testimony recently, of a believer who had been released from an imprisonment based upon their faith in Jesus, and they wrote that they could actually feel the prayers being sent up from across the world, on their behalf!

Remember the story of Peter's imprisonment? 

God is still a miracle making God! He may not set Said free, but I'm asking you to pray fervently, asking that He would, if it be His perfect will...

Much love,

Jes

Planned Parenthood Exposed - Again, This Time Exposing Sex Traffickers

What is it that we call it in this country... a women's health issue?


Did you know that abortions are tax deductible? I kid you not...look on the irs.gov site.

Just Because I Thought You Might Need Some Love Today...

For that reason, I'm sharing one of my FAVORITE songs of all time with you.


If only all Christian music today could be this good.


What would life be without brass?


I had a blast doing ZUMBA to this song in my basement a few weeks ago!


Enjoy!

YouTube Video of 2 Months Post Surgery!

Abortion Outrage - a blog entry from Dr. Denny Burk

Please go to the below link and read about the Philadelphia "women's health issue doctor" (isn't that what we've been trained to call abortion...a women's health issue?) who will at best be spending the rest of his life in federal prison, and who at worst will be given the death penalty if found guilty of the charges against him.


The wisdom with which Dr. Denny Burk speaks about this tragedy and the issue of abortion truly defines the insanity surrounding the sinful act.


Please, come quickly Lord Jesus. 


http://www.dennyburk.com/abortion-outrage/#more-11322

I'm Sorry.

Hi Friends,


To those of you who wanted to work through the Bible study together, I'm so sorry.


December was such a tough month. It was one of those times where it felt like every time I turned around I was fighting with yet another health issue. I'm downplaying it, but between doctor and hospital visits, I was there 7 or 8 times!


I know that a few of you wrote to say that the month was turning out too crazy for you to be able to focus anyway, but I'm wondering about now. Are you at the point where you'd like to get started now?


Chaundra, would you be willing to send me an email at whatilearnedfromthewordtoday@gmail.com with your phone number? I really want to call and talk with you.


Again, I'm really sorry that I dropped the ball so bad. 


I have finally figured out how to post videos to YouTube, so if we do go forward I'll most likely do several of the posts via video.


There are other superb options, though.


Precept Ministries is doing some wonderful online studies that I could tell you about. They'll be much more polished than mine, and will be guaranteed to be on time. (wince)


Much love to you tonight,
Jes

Fourty and Still Figuring It Out...and Christmas This Year

Do you ever wonder when the day will come that you finally have life figured out?

You'll wake up early in the morning and have a super workout, after which time you'll eat your wonderfully healthy breakfast and trot right into your day. 


You sit down to feast at the Lord's Table as you dig into His Word. It's rich and delicious, but you NEVER have all of it that you want! 

By 8am, you'll have all the laundry going, your bed made, the kids fed, devotions done, the dogs brushed, floors swept, and all of your special handmade birthday and thank you cards will be written and in the mailbox.

Then you'll start your homeschooling day, changing subjects exactly every 30 minutes, teaching the trivium, taking your daily nature walk, teaching your kids to journal, and making sure that they're at least 2 grade levels ahead of their public schooled peers so that YOU can prove to all that homeschooling is the end all be all.

Oops! I forgot...your homemade wheat bread is ready to take out of the oven, and you've baked enough loaves to have some leftover to sell at the farmer's market, where of COURSE you spend at least one day a week because your family has to eat everything in it's most raw state.

By noon, your children have been around the world in their geography lessons, aced their math lessons on the first tries, learned 20 new words out of the dictionary, and polished their latin and spanish.

Time to grab a quick lunch and get ready for all of your afternoon fun!

Piano lessons are first.

Then soccer practice.

Play practice.

Scout popcorn sales.

Exercise time at the YMCA.

Chores...of course you're teaching your child to do EVERYTHING around the house that you do..you want them to be prepared for life, after all. (No mention of the fact that this apprenticing program makes your chores take 2/3 longer than they ever did before.)

Time to make dinner...Daddy will be home soon!

Rush, rush, rush....little Susie needs to do a lot of the work...she's being trained to be  a homemaker...gotta teach her everything! (Nevermind that she's 4.)

In comes Daddy, time for family hour around the table. 
Talk. Chew. Talk. Chew. Argue. Chew. Talk. Chew.

All during dinner, you're thinking about your beloved blog...it's been so long! You've got comments to attend to, and dangling conversations that you have simply abandoned because you've been so busy.

Now it's time to wash dishes, get little Johnnie ready for his shower (prepare for throwdown over the "to shower or not to shower" for that really is the question), and talk Susie Q into taking a shower instead of a tub bath so that both she and Johnnie can get ready for bed at the same time. (Otherwise Susie will dawdle until at least her 13th birthday!)

Two showers running at the same time will work.  One tub bath would drain all of the water from your hot water heater.  


Susie is ticked about missing out on a bath, so look forward to 2 hours of complaining over this!


Looking ahead at your week you have:
Scouting
Homeschooling Full
Homeschool Co-Op (all day event)
Church - Midweek service, you haven't made ONE yet...
Horseback riding lessons
Bible study class
Errands day
Sabbath Saturday (if you're lucky!)
Church on Sunday - morning and evening


You look over your schedule, thrilled that there are SO MANY great opportunities for you and your children!


But, truth be known, you are wiped out!

And, as you review your week, your heart is pierced when you hear your child tell another adult...well, what we do during the week is....* rattle, rattle, rattle* 
and then Mom reads the Bible to us about twice a week.


YIKES!


TWO days a week?!


What?!


How did that happen?


How did the daily time in the Word together turn into 2 days?


And then you stop and realize...life is upside down.


It's all good. So very many of the opportunities are GOOD ones.


BUT....


Oh, how I love that word.


BUT...


A term of contrast. It might as well read, "STOP RIGHT HERE! Something REALLY important is coming up and you DO NOT want to miss it!"


But, if Susie and Johnnie and Mommy and Daddy are so busy with all the opportunities that they are missing time together in the Word of God, then something HAS to change.


The Word of God...


Living.


Active.


Sharper than any two edged sword.


Used to divide...even to the joints and the marrow; the thoughts and intentions of the heart; the soul and the spirit.


Really.


As a mother, if I allow opportunities to cloud discipleship, I will stand before Jesus and find that I have failed.


My job isn't to rear a wonderful soccer player.


My job is to train and disciple world changers for God's Kingdom.


Period.


How much of Jesus do my children know?


How much of God's Word do they know?


Simplify.


Simplify.


Quit striving.


Simplify.


These will be my reminders to myself as we embark upon another homeschooling semester.


I was so stressed these past few days, worrying about trying to make our Christmas look the way I thought it was supposed to, and then I realized...no one here cared if we ate on the good china or not.


No one cared if I had a Christmas table cloth and a pretty center piece.


What mattered this Christmas was that we were together. 


Who mattered this Christmas was a dear friend of mine who needed someone by her side.


What my children will remember is the great Mexican food we had at a restaurant on Christmas Eve, the cookies we baked together, the time they spent playing in the snow with their Daddy, and the sharing of all we have to be thankful for...each of us thanked God for something important to us before the opening of each present.


Then we told of something we'd learned from the Word this year...with every single gift.


It was a precious time of sharing.


When it came time to eat dinner tonight, we realized that all we had to choose from was bean soup (which had been paying it's dividends around here for 2 days...p-you!) and corn dogs.


So I decided to whip up some potato soup instead.


And guess what?


From that soup, a new family tradition was born.


Brennan loved it so much that she said she wanted to have it EVERY Christmas night!

It was a sweet, low-key Christmas, and for us...it was perfect!


Here's my recipe. I write these to myself, so you can disregard the personal notes. :)


Merry Christmas!




Homemade Christmas Night Potato Soup

I made this tonight on our very first White Christmas in our own home.

Brennan loved it so much that she said she wants us to have it EVERY Christmas night!

So this is how traditions are born! Thank You, Lord! 

8 Medium Sized Russet Potatoes, diced

2-3 Cloves fresh garlic

2-3 Leeks, root ends cut off

1 large carrot

Approx. 6 cups Organic Chicken Broth

Coarse Sea Salt

Coarse Ground Black Peppercorns

¼ c. salted butter

In All Clad sauce pan (or in a quality soup pot if I have one by the next time I make this) sauté chopped garlic and the ends of the leeks, which have been very thinly sliced and halved, in the butter.

Peel carrot and then shred with vegetable peeler, into thin strips and mix into the above.

Allow to cook over med-high heat until well done (though not browned).

Pour all the chicken broth into a large soup pot and add the sautéed vegetables, along with all of the potatoes.

Add approx 1 tsp. of salt and ground black pepper to taste. (8 churns or so.)

Bring to a boil.

Immediately reduce to simmer and allow to cook on low for approx. 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft.

Remove approx. 5 cups of the soup and put into Vitamix and puree until smooth.

Pour this pureed soup back into the rest of the batch and blend the two soups together.

(If one prefers more of a clear broth with potato chunks, skip the Vitamix. If one prefers more of a smooth soup, everything can be blended in Vitamix, but be aware that you’ll still want to put the pureed soup back into the pot on the stove and cook on low for a few minutes in order to get the air bubbles out.)

Give your praise to the Lord.

Thank Him for His provision and for coming to earth to die for your sins, and rise that you might have newness of life in Him.

Commit to walk in obedience to Him as your Christmas gift to your Lord.

Then…

Serve and enjoy!

:0)

Why It's Important to Me to Be in Church on Christmas Eve

I want to be there for the lost and for the hurting.


I want to go to serve those who only walk though the church doors twice a year. What a ministry opportunity! 


I want to shower others with the joy of the LORD, which is my strength.


I will pray before we go, asking the LORD to direct my footsteps to someone who truly needs to be loved on by Him.


I will ask the LORD to give me a fresh filling of His Spirit, that His very Spirit might be the One ministering to others.


I will pray for those who will be in our church tomorrow, that they might hear through our Pastor's words the very Word of Life...and that some might receive Christ as their Lord and Savior.


I want to share the true wonder of Christmas with my precious family...the fact that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us...


Because He was willing to obey the Father, Who so loved the world, including all 4 of us.


I love you tonight,
Jes

CCSVI Video #1 is Up

Hi Friends,


For those of you who are interested in the CCSVI Liberation treatment that I had in November, I've finally figured out how to post the before and after videos.


Video #1 is up and you can find it by clicking the tab ^^^^ up there.


I'm uploading the others, but it takes a loooooong time, so please bear with me.


Merry Christmas!


In the love of the Babe Who came to sacrifice Himself for my sin, your sin, and the sin of all the world,
Jes

A Long Overdue Update

Hi Friends,


Have you gone away?


I wouldn't blame you if you had at this point. 


I'm going to give you a brief update of the past 11 days.


Perhaps I should go back a little further.


Why it takes me falling flat on my face to realize that the grace I preach should also be the grace I walk in, I'm not sure.


When I arrived home from New York, I just didn't give myself the time I needed for my body to heal. I think that because there wasn't a warning label stuck to my forehead when I was shipped home, I just assumed that I'd be good as new and ready to hit life head on.


Stupid.


Although I was fighting hard, my body was revolting. I had two trips to the doctor because of leg swelling and two sonograms within a week of each other (this is boring already, isn't it?).


Friday night December the 3rd we had a wonderful women's event at our church, but it took every single ounce of pounce that I had in me to make it. 


With Lisa escorting me home, all I could think about was how ready I was to pile into bed. Yet when I got in the door, I saw on the the caller i.d. that one of my oldest and dearest friends from High School had called. When I listened to the message that she left, I could tell in her voice that something wasn't right.


"Red" and I have been friends since we were 17, and there's one thing I know about her...she doesn't call at night. Girlfriend works long, hard hours and loves curling up with her man in the evenings. 


And in a word, she cherishes her weekends.


I had no doubt that I was the last thing on her mind on a Friday night. So, although I would have normally waited to call her back the following day, I knew in my heart that whatever she needed to talk with me about couldn't wait that long.


Yet what she had to tell me when I called her back was something  that I wasn't prepared to hear.


My heart certainly wasn't prepared.


I guess the truth is that we're never prepared for these calls.


She told me that her little sister's husband had died suddenly of a massive heart attack just a few hours before. They and their son had gone to Gatlinburg to enjoy the Christmas parade together as a family, and it was there that it happened.


"Red" and her husband, son and other sister were on the way to Gatlinburg at that very moment. 


Man, here come the tears again. It's still very fresh, and my heart still aches.


As you can imagine, the next several days were littered with bouts of weeping and a broken heart for my friend and for her sweet sister ...and for her precious little boy.


Her little boy who said in his innocence,
"Today was the best day I've ever had with my Daddy!
 We had so much fun together!" 


I just kept thinking, "We're all preparing to celebrate Christmas, and she and her 4 year old son are burying Daddy."


When I'm hurting like that, I just shut down. I wanted so to pop on here and write, but I was crippled. 


The visitation was Monday night. 
My favorite part about that time was that they let her little boy wear whatever he wanted to, and he chose a Superman t-shirt.


You know, the one that has a big "S" in the middle of it?


It was perfect...he brought smiles to so many of us who were in anguish. Seeing his little head pop around the corner with that big red "S" on his chest sent a message to many of us that he truly is in the hands of our Superhero and that despite how grim things looked, he was going to be lovingly protected and cared for.


I can't help but think that in a few years he may well be a superhero to his Mommy as well. 


My children sure have been ones to me these past few years. Kids rise to the challenges presented in their lives. I'm learning that as I watch my own grow through having a Mommy who has had health problems.


Tuesday was the funeral.
What an amazingly beautiful, God glorifying funeral it was!


Then that night, my body went into rebellion.


I was hit with the worst cold that I've had in years and I think that due to the physical stress my body had already been in, combined with the emotional heartache, things were just compounded.


Then Shane got sick.


Then Brennan got sick.


I'm hoping not, but it seems that now Caedmon may be getting sick. (Please Lord, keep him well.)


In the midst of all of that, 2 days ago I started having some pretty concerning gastro type things that landed me back at my new BFF's friendly doctor's office. I was doubled over in pain for 24 hours before I finally broke down and went, and when I did he gave me the happy news that I get to have a colonoscopy.


I was so elated! I really couldn't believe it. A colonoscopy was on my Christmas list, but never in a million years did I think I'd really get one!


I know, I know. Lucky me.


So, what to do with our study right now?


I'm going to do what I can, as I'm able to, and apologize profusely that I haven't been able to do what I wanted to, when I wanted to.


How about if  we just agree that the main goal is for us to stay in the Word... to keep Him the focus of our hearts and minds this month?
(And always.)


Now...


How are you, my friends?


How can I be praying for you right now?


Are you still working in the book?


If so, where are you in it?


Have you put it on hold until you could hear from me?


Will you update me?


Am I forgiven?


I'm going back to bed. I woke up at 4 am after just 4 hours of sleep, so it's time to get some more shut eye. If I can. My belly sounds like a pot of boiling soup...kinda hard to sleep through that. 


Sending much love your way this morning,
Jes

A Desperate Cry for Help!

I really, really need help with uploading videos into YouTube!


I've shot some from my phone and from Lisa's webcam, and the only one I've been able to post is that little short of Lisa on the train. (She loved being the star of the blog, didn't you girl?!)


:-)


I have several training style videos that I've recorded, but try as I may I cannot get them to post.


If you're a techno-whiz, or know someone who is would you please, please help me?


Many thanks!
Jes

New "Rules" for Our Online Blog Bible Study

1. No guilt.


2. Forget the previously listed timeline. Here's the coolest thing that I'm realizing that Leta Lou made me see about this study...if we all just work through it as we can during this busy season, we'll remain in the Word during the rush of Christmas! Yay!


And, if we will just faithfully post as we learn, then we'll continue the "discussion."


I'm rethinking how to make the comment posting as easy as possible...both on you and on me, and I think maybe the most seamless way to do this is for me to write a little bit about each day of the study...and then post application questions by the day of the study, according to the book.


That way those who haven't started yet won't feel behind, and if you or I miss a day in the craziness of all that we as wives and mothers are doing during our celebrations of our Lord this month, it will be easy just to jump in where we left off.


Also, it will allow Dawn and me to start fresh with our kiddos and keep on task. :-)   (I got your back, girlfriend!)


Today is Dec. 2nd. This is a 28 day study. If I end up not posting on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we'll should still be able to complete our study by the end of the month, Lord willing.


But if not....there will be grace.


Aaaah. Don't you just want to thank God afresh for grace every time you hear the word?!

Thank You, Lord...for grace!

Here's the other cool thing I realized Leta made me see...this blog study will be timeless!


A year from now someone could pop on here and go day by day through it "with us." How wonderful is that?!


I'm so thankful to have such a bright mind brilliant 
(and long-suffering) friends! I love you, Leta Lou!


OKAY...so I'm off now to get prettied up for my beloved before he gets home, and to do day one with my kiddos!


I love you all,
Jes