For now, I am doing this blog for myself, to remind me of what works, what I am trying, and to hold myself accountable and encourage myself! : ) Someday I may have the courage to let someone see what I am doing.
I have a useful tip I would like to share. First heard this from an herbalist that I and the Faith folks used to use. He lived in Colorado and had several wives! lol! Crazy! One of his wives shared this with us...: ) When you go to sleep at night, pay attention to the tension you carry in your body, especially your face. You will be amazed how most of us have our faces scrunched as we are thinking about the day, about tomorrow, about our troubles. Once you are aware, deliberately relax your facial muscles, especially around your mouth and your jaw. I have terrible TMJ, and this practice at night has really been helping me. Continue that relaxation all the way down your body. Some people get weird with this and chant things, but I pray! : ) Its not long at all before I'm sleeping! Now I still have major sleep issues, but when I wake up I do the relaxation thing beginning in my face, pray and again and try not to worry that I'm not getting enough sleep! lol! I really don't! I close at Starbucks almost every night, my girls often open at Starbucks, and they aren't really quiet getting ready! So besides my insomnia there is always something going on. I figure I can sleep when I'm 55 or so! lol
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
His Grace is Sufficient
Was reminded today of this verse in 2nd Corinthians:
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
I've always been interested in health, at least the last 25 years or so. But more important than health is my relationship with God. I really came under conviction today that if the Lord should never heal me from my afflictions, I need to rest in His grace, and glory in my afflictions. Accepting what is and realizing it may be from God for me to bear this. Well, either way....I'm quite sure I will continue to eat properly, exercise and all that good stuff...but make sure my hope stays centered around Christ and Christ alone. When I eat right, exercise, watch stress, etc....I feel so much better, more energy to do what needs to be done, greater patience with my kids and work situations.
Had a great visit at Exodus Chiropractic today. Those of you that live in the Knoxville area really need to consider these folks. They are caring, Christian people that believe in the power of God and prayer, along with the proper care of our bodies. I have so much hope since going to them. I have seen a lot of positive changes, some yet to be seen, but some things take time. Before going to Exodus, Sundays were the hardest days of the week for me. I think it is because I go, go, go all week and Sundays I'm generally off of work. Well the last few years, many days I couldn't get out of bed on Sunday mornings. Every bone in my body ached and I was mentally exhausted. Well that is a thing of the past since going to Exodus. My energy has increased, clarity of thought, thats a big one for me. When Dr. Barrett did my adjustment today he noted that something was different, I was in better alignment than usual. I don't understand everything about what they do, but I know going in today that I felt better and different than usual and he saw that. They have a precious lady there every day that just walks and prays for the patients and work being done there. Most days one of the Dr.'s prays with me. Okay! Done bragging on them today! : )
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
I've always been interested in health, at least the last 25 years or so. But more important than health is my relationship with God. I really came under conviction today that if the Lord should never heal me from my afflictions, I need to rest in His grace, and glory in my afflictions. Accepting what is and realizing it may be from God for me to bear this. Well, either way....I'm quite sure I will continue to eat properly, exercise and all that good stuff...but make sure my hope stays centered around Christ and Christ alone. When I eat right, exercise, watch stress, etc....I feel so much better, more energy to do what needs to be done, greater patience with my kids and work situations.
Had a great visit at Exodus Chiropractic today. Those of you that live in the Knoxville area really need to consider these folks. They are caring, Christian people that believe in the power of God and prayer, along with the proper care of our bodies. I have so much hope since going to them. I have seen a lot of positive changes, some yet to be seen, but some things take time. Before going to Exodus, Sundays were the hardest days of the week for me. I think it is because I go, go, go all week and Sundays I'm generally off of work. Well the last few years, many days I couldn't get out of bed on Sunday mornings. Every bone in my body ached and I was mentally exhausted. Well that is a thing of the past since going to Exodus. My energy has increased, clarity of thought, thats a big one for me. When Dr. Barrett did my adjustment today he noted that something was different, I was in better alignment than usual. I don't understand everything about what they do, but I know going in today that I felt better and different than usual and he saw that. They have a precious lady there every day that just walks and prays for the patients and work being done there. Most days one of the Dr.'s prays with me. Okay! Done bragging on them today! : )
Monday, September 20, 2010
Quote for the day.....
"Worry is unbelief". What are you worried about?? You have life. You have God. That is all you need. (I'm opening myself up here to looking like a spiritual weakling, but this spoke to me....that morning my mind was racing with so many worries and cares, Pastor George looked out over all of us and quoted those words, I felt my dear Saviours love and care wash over me. Felt kinda silly when I realized how simple the Christian life can be when we simple trust and obey God in all areas of life, casting all our cares upon Him, Cathy)
Pastor George Mohammed, Trinidad.
Pastor George Mohammed, Trinidad.
Plans for this blog
This is my plan for this blog..
1. Day by day progress report on my battle plan for health
2. Encouragement in the Lord on the way
3. recipes!
4. News and views in the health world
5. Supplements and superfoods that work
1. Day by day progress report on my battle plan for health
2. Encouragement in the Lord on the way
3. recipes!
4. News and views in the health world
5. Supplements and superfoods that work
Do you want to get well?
This is Dr. Asa's mantra. But it is an essential question. Many of us will never really get well because we don't want to do what it takes to get there. We don't want to deny our flesh, to walk past that donut, to exercise instead of taking a nap. We want a quick and easy solution to our problems, not to examine how it is that we got here. The fascinating thing that Dr. Asa points out is that our body has the ability to regenerate itself. Each day our old cells are constantly dying, and new cells are constantly forming. So essentially we eventually get a new body and its parts! We HAVE to take responsibility for our own health.
In the past I was motivated by the wrong reasons to pursue health. Now my major motivation is first to please Christ in everything I do, second to feel well enough to care for my kids, to be there for my family with energy to spare. You can push and get by with a lot when you are younger, but when you hit 40 things begin to break down and you simply can't keep doing what you've always done. 8 out of 10 of the major diseases in America are diet and lifestyle related. As Dr. Asa if fond of saying, if you can lifestyle your way into something, you can lifestyle your way out! Okay, enough on this thought for today! : )
In the past I was motivated by the wrong reasons to pursue health. Now my major motivation is first to please Christ in everything I do, second to feel well enough to care for my kids, to be there for my family with energy to spare. You can push and get by with a lot when you are younger, but when you hit 40 things begin to break down and you simply can't keep doing what you've always done. 8 out of 10 of the major diseases in America are diet and lifestyle related. As Dr. Asa if fond of saying, if you can lifestyle your way into something, you can lifestyle your way out! Okay, enough on this thought for today! : )
You are not your disease!
I have recently discovered a doctor, author and radio broadcaster named Dr. Asa Andrew. I highly recommend his book, Empowering your health. My thought for today from Dr. Asa is you are not your disease. Do not name your condition in connection to yourself. In my case, I should never say MY Hashimoto's. My body is reacting in ways consistent with this condition, but I choose to take care of body, focus on getting well and living in obedience to Christ. I'm not going fall under the weight of this diagnosis and call it mine. Its not living in ignorance, its choosing hope. Doctor say I have arthritis in my fingers (boy do I wish I could make that amount of money telling people the obvious!!! lol) but it is simply my joints swelling BECAUSE of an autoimmune response in my body. Doctors have names for everything but it doesn't mean you have to keep that name as yours.
How I got to where I am today.
Alrighty, I'm gonna lay out how I got to where I am today healthwise. Then I have a plan on updates, research and encouragement along the way. I'm praying this will help me to stay faithful and perhaps help others.
This is the state of my health as of today: I have hashimoto's thyroid, several autoimmune problems going on...one of which is attacking my joints in my fingers. I have quite severe arthritis in several fingers, and it is slowly spreading. I have difficulty sleeping at night, and digestive problems. Basically my body is slowly attacking itself, medical professionals would say there is no cure for these problems, autoimmune problems are a mystery. I have always been interested in alternative medicine, and from my research there are many who believe that these problems can be reversed or at the least, dimmed. (One described a light switch dial in which you can slowly dim the lights. They believe you can hit the dimmer on autoimmune to where it would not completely ever be gone but dimmed to the point of barely noticeable).
This is how I believe I got there. I've always been a type A person. Striving to be the best super Christian, super mom, super homeschooler, super everything. Literally kill myself trying. Ignored the advice to rest when my kids were napping when they were young. I was the mom who would race around cleaning the house while they slept. Pretty much lived on sugar and caffeine to keep going through most of those year. Had some health kicks here and there, but had my crutches to keep up the pace of life. I ended up having c-sections with all my kids which resulted in a complete hysterectomy 8 years ago because of massive scar tissue. Well I was stubborn, didn't want to use hormone replacement because of side effects, cancer risk, etc. So I used several forms of natural hormones through the early years, even tried the synthetic when I was desperate for sleep. Nothing really helped. I thought eventually surgical menopause would end. I went for years on 2 to 3 hours of sleep a night. I went to an osteopathic doctor that deals in anti-aging natural medicine. She had me on hormone pellets and discovered hashimotos thyroid on a blood test. Shortly after that my joints began swelling. Shortly before that time that these symptoms started, my beloved mother was diagnosed with inoperable stage 4 pancreatic cancer. This was a devastating time for me and my family, my brothers. My brothers, my mom's sister and myself cared for my mom the entire time of her sickness until her death 7 weeks later. Major stress events like this can trigger autoimmune responses which is very possible in my case, coupled with the other factors in my life at the time. Trying to find the root cause has been my mission, but it seems as though it is like a tangled spider web from the point where it started. But I have faith and hope in God, that He will lead and guide me. I want to share with you many things I have discovered and the things I have yet to discover in the future.
This is the state of my health as of today: I have hashimoto's thyroid, several autoimmune problems going on...one of which is attacking my joints in my fingers. I have quite severe arthritis in several fingers, and it is slowly spreading. I have difficulty sleeping at night, and digestive problems. Basically my body is slowly attacking itself, medical professionals would say there is no cure for these problems, autoimmune problems are a mystery. I have always been interested in alternative medicine, and from my research there are many who believe that these problems can be reversed or at the least, dimmed. (One described a light switch dial in which you can slowly dim the lights. They believe you can hit the dimmer on autoimmune to where it would not completely ever be gone but dimmed to the point of barely noticeable).
This is how I believe I got there. I've always been a type A person. Striving to be the best super Christian, super mom, super homeschooler, super everything. Literally kill myself trying. Ignored the advice to rest when my kids were napping when they were young. I was the mom who would race around cleaning the house while they slept. Pretty much lived on sugar and caffeine to keep going through most of those year. Had some health kicks here and there, but had my crutches to keep up the pace of life. I ended up having c-sections with all my kids which resulted in a complete hysterectomy 8 years ago because of massive scar tissue. Well I was stubborn, didn't want to use hormone replacement because of side effects, cancer risk, etc. So I used several forms of natural hormones through the early years, even tried the synthetic when I was desperate for sleep. Nothing really helped. I thought eventually surgical menopause would end. I went for years on 2 to 3 hours of sleep a night. I went to an osteopathic doctor that deals in anti-aging natural medicine. She had me on hormone pellets and discovered hashimotos thyroid on a blood test. Shortly after that my joints began swelling. Shortly before that time that these symptoms started, my beloved mother was diagnosed with inoperable stage 4 pancreatic cancer. This was a devastating time for me and my family, my brothers. My brothers, my mom's sister and myself cared for my mom the entire time of her sickness until her death 7 weeks later. Major stress events like this can trigger autoimmune responses which is very possible in my case, coupled with the other factors in my life at the time. Trying to find the root cause has been my mission, but it seems as though it is like a tangled spider web from the point where it started. But I have faith and hope in God, that He will lead and guide me. I want to share with you many things I have discovered and the things I have yet to discover in the future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)