Old becomes new!

Lately I've been on a decorating, refinishing, repurposing kick. I've been having a great time and am quite pleased with my efforts, so I thought I'd share some pics here! (Edited to add that I'm terrible at adding pics, so they're a bit out of order - do your best with figuring out the before and afters!)

Health update

I am praising the Lord! I went back to see the dr again to follow up on the treatments prescribed; and we were all disappointed to find little improvement. So, he decided to prescribe an antibiotic on the chance that I could have "an a-typical bronchitis or walking pneumonia". Unfortunately, I apparently don't tolerate Zithromax very well, so I had a rough couple of days. But, after that I have noticed an amazing improvement in my breathing and coughing! So much so that I have stopped the nebulizer treatments all together - about which I am very pleased. The Zofran seems to be helping still and has backed off my 'all-day-sickness' to a constant nausea with very little throwing up. Because I thought the tylenol with codiene was upsetting my stomach even more, I've also cut that out almost entirely, and am just taking ES Tylenol for the rib pain. I've gained back about 2 pounds and am starting to see my tummy pooch out a little again. I've felt an amazing peace too about the safety and well being of our little one, which I really count as one of the more important answers to prayer. Thanks to all who have been holding up my family in prayer!

Caution - long explanation of health!

As most of my readers know (because probably 6 out of the 8 are family!); I've been suddenly bombarded with some rather frustrating health issues. At the end of August, we were very excited to learn that baby #5 is on it's way! Thus far, all seems to be well with the little growing one; I saw the little peanut in an ultrasound and heard it's heartbeat -what a blessing! About the same time, I started with a deep chest cough that never really turned into a cold or anything, but I just couldn't shake it. I did see the NP at my dr's office who thought it was allergy induced asthma and gave me an inhaler. I didn't use the inhaler much because #1 I was worried about the effects on the baby #2 I didn't like the shaky feeling I got afterward and #3 it didn't seem to have that much good effect to make it worth while. Then last week, my constant 'morning sickness' took a turn for the worse and I couldn't keep anything down for 4 days. After the continual coughing and throwing up, I also developed a rather severe pain in my side. So, off to the dr again. After spending over an hour with the dr, he prescribed four different things. A medicine to control the throwing up - which is great. And some tylenol with codeine for the pain in my side, which seems to be a fractured rib. An inhaled medicine; and a nebulizer treatment every hour. My major concern was the nebulizer, because when my heart races after a treatment, the baby's does as well. So, by the second day, I'd cut the nebulizer back to a coupla times a day. I've been praying for safety for the baby and peace for myself very much over the last week. Sunday, I asked for prayer at church and Denise had a word of comfort for us. She said that she saw a picture of hands wrapped around our little baby; and felt the word "filter" - that my body is doing it's job of filtering the medicines before it reaches the little one. What an answer - as that was exactly what I'd been praying for! Then at my follow up appointment yesterday, the dr was very understanding about my concerns with the nebulizer and suggested I do half treatments to cut back some of the bad feeling afterward; and is also trying an antibiotic (safe for baby) to treat what may be "an a-typical bronchitis or walking pneumonia". I'm still a bit frustrated at the very slow speed of recovery; but feel that my dr's care and concern have been an answer to prayer as well. I'm still in quite a bit of pain, as my rib will take several weeks to heal and I'm still coughing from the tightness in my chest- but the dr assured me that my pain meds were ok for baby, so I don't need to hesitate to take them. So, right now, I lay and watch a lot of the DIY channel, and nap quite a bit too. I hate not feeling like I'm contributing to my family, but my kids have been wonderful and we've been getting a lot of extra snuggles. I'd appreciate continued prayers for my recovery, the health of the baby, and some rest for poor Joey, who has been Super-dad. I apologize if this came across as a long complaint; but Denise challenged me to blog through this tough time, so I had to start somewhere!

Spiritual Metabolism

There's been this vague picture that's been rattling around in my brain for the last couple of weeks and I'm hoping that putting it here may help me clarify the idea. I've been contemplating lately the idea of God's word being my 'daily bread' and the lessons I've learned about what it means for God to by my 'portion'. Years ago, after my first miscarriage, when we struggled for months to try to concieve again, that experience bottomed me out. I struggled with depression, fear, and disappointment. Through that dark time, the foundational truth I received from the Father was the reality of what God being my 'portion' meant. When I first thought about it, the word 'portion' seemed so small, so exact, rather disappointing - like a Weight Watchers allowment! lol But, I felt like God revealed to me that it was exactly what I needed to get through each day. I had this picture of a refugee camp type place where each person had a certain ration; an exact amount that certainly didn't seem satisfying, but would be sufficient to make it another day. And in that time, God showed me that when I felt I had nothing else to lean on, to help me through another day - He was my portion. And for many years, and through many trials, I've returned to that revelation.
Lately, God's been taking it a step further. Looking back on the refugee camp picture, I thought about a person rescued from such a camp and the process of recovery they'd have to go through. It's kinda a reverse weaning process. After being undernourished for so long, you can't just take them to a buffet and let them stuff their faces. Slowly, you'd introduce more and more while their body adjusted.
Naturally, my train of thought turned to food, which we as a family - love! Joe can eat. Like few people I've ever met - he can put away a serious amount of food. But, he stays slim. Irritating to any person who struggles with their weight, but amazing none the less. I figure that it's his metabolism and how busy he is. Because of his job - he is constantly on the move. He takes in an incredible amount, because he's constantly using it up! Through that, I felt God challenging me to jump start my spiritual metabolism. I felt like God was reminding me that it's not good enough to take in as much of Him, His presence, His word, His grace as I can. I have to use it up too! Don't sit still and get fat on this spiritual meat - burn it off! Use it! I struggled with this - thinking, "what, I'm not at a place to do missions or evangelism or leadership", and I kinda stalled. Then, last night, at small group, we were talking about (amongst other things) not underestimating the little things. And, God brought this back to my mind in relation to my spiritual metabolism. Even little things burn calories - like laughing, walking - even kissing! So, even little things can be accomplished using the energy from the spiritual meat I'm consuming. Having patience with my children, quietly serving those around me, listening and encouraging my family and friends - all of these things are only accomplished when I'm being fed! If I neglect a health diet - physically and spiritually - everything around me feels the effects! I want to be able to take in more, so I need to up my activity level! I still feel like this is a slightly fuzzy picture, and I hope that it wasn't terribly confusing to read; but I also feel like I'm being challenged and encouraged!

In case anyone didn't get to see the pictures from our Birthday Celebration Circus and Carnival - you can see them here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016050&id=1224232508&ref=mf (You have to copy the address and paste it, I can't get the link thing to work!)
I think our party was a great success. We were a little disappointed to have it inside because of the weather, but it was fun regardless. The girls (and Joe) did a great job with their circus performances; which we had to do on the bar in the kitchen. Then there was games and lots of candy prizes at the carnival set up in the basement. Pin the nose on the clown; Knock down the milk bottles; Ping Pong ball toss; Toss the lion into the rings of fire; Feeding Henrietta the elephant with peanuts; and tossing frogs onto lily pads. Joey had done such a great job of building me the games out of scrap wood, and I had so much fun painting it all! All of the girls had a fabulous time (I do believe they enjoy being the center of attention!). Eventually the weather cleared up and the kids went outside to play and discovered a good sized black snake in our rock pile that entertained them for a while too. And we all got to enjoy a huge rainbow over our back yard too! It was a busy, blessed day

Pretty girls

Our friend Nathan Desch is a gifted photographer, and he had some lovely subjects to work with recently! Also - the newly updated pictures of the girls in my sidebar were thanks to him as well!

We're planning a big birthday bash for Saturday, celebrating all three of our summer birthday girls. And then, my three little ones suddenly got hit with crazy fevers and sore throats. So, we lined them up on the counter to annoint them all with oil and pray for them. After that, they went to get jommies on, and then came back to the kitchen when they decided that they should pray for us so we don't get sick either. So, they held hands around us on the kitchen floor while Lil prayed. How awesome was that?! (Lest anyone think we are too super cool and spiritual; this prayer circle was then sealed with an all hands in, "Gooooo Glicks - Break!") I am so blessed by my children.