I have been blessed...

I can't believe it's Friday already!! The week flew by. My wonderful help arrived Wednesday night after church in the form of 2 sisters, Laura & Amyrose.




I had a list of things I was hoping to get done with their help and they did so much more than what was on there. They did have some down time--





They stayed until this evening -- what a blessing from God they were to Paul & I. Not only with all their help around the house, but allowing us date time. I also had 2 doctor's appointments this morning that lasted until 12:30 and because they were here Paul was able to drive me to the appts. I had fun talking with them and hearing Laura's dating stories from college last year! :)


On Thursday evening my husband took me on a date. We used to do weekly dates until my friend lupus showed up. For several months we've still had our dates but at home. I was so looking forward to going OUT with him! First he called and scheduled me a haircut with my hairdresser. He heard me mention the day before that I felt I needed a cut and he took it upon himself to see that it happened for me before our trip. He is extremely busy and just as we were walking out the door he received yet another phone call and I teased him that this was how we were going to spend our date...






He did finish the call and we left. We couldn't stay out too long and by the time we got to Walmart (every great date ends up at Walmart!), I was riding in one of those motor scooters. They are definitely not my favorite thing, but when it's either ride those or sit in the car while my husband has all the fun of finding the clearance, then I'll set my pride aside and ride ! :)


Thank you for all the prayers and comments left. It has been a better week. After our date last night I was in extreme pain, but when we left for this morning's first dr. appt., I was walking again. I have been fasting for several days again and that always makes a big difference. It keeps my pain level manageable and when the pain does get out of hand, I can usually bounce back quicker from it if I have been fasting. I am eating mostly raw now with some organic, unprocessed, non dairy, gluten free etc... thrown in there, but the fasting is still necessary at this point in time. Mainly this fasting is to prepare myself for our trip to Indiana. With 28 people going, I won't be as free to do what I need or stop (or not stop) when needed, so I'm praying that I'll not just do o.k. traveling, but be all that my husband, kids and teens need while on the trip. If you could pray with me about that, I would certainly appreciate it!


Hope you all have a great weekend. We're having evangelist Bob Holmes with us this Sunday. He is an amazing man -- you can read about him on his website here.


If you stop by, please know I'm praying for you,

Sarah

Bits & Pieces...

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th and great weekend. A family in our church hosted a picnic for the 4th and I had been praying for a few weeks that I would be able to go. I couldn't stay very long, but it was wonderful to visit with some ladies from our church while we were there. My legs were still too bad to go to church Sunday morning, but by the evening I was walking well enough to go. Praise the Lord!! My husband preached an incredible sermon (the only kind he knows how to preach!! :D ), and just being there was wonderful! I expected to be down the next few days due to the activity of Saturday and Sunday, but the Lord blessed and it's been a good day. Even got some cleaning in so I can dream about other things tonight and not cleaning! :)

On Mondays it is my husband's "day off" and he tries to stay close to home. This morning we took it slow and I let my children stay in their jammies. I needed to make a phone call and Paul & Stacey were noisy during it. They know the rule, so I when I got off I had them sit on their hands for a few minutes. (They have to keep their mouths closed when sitting on their hands.) Katie walked in the room, saw her bother & sister sitting on the floor and promptly wedged herself in between them and sat on her hands! It was so cute. She wants to do everything that they are doing. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few pics. As you can see, she doesn't shy away from the camera!




I noticed after I took the picture that my husband's Bible was in the chair in the background. I loved that. That was where he spent time with the Lord early this morning while the rest of us slept. God knew I needed a man with a consistent, close walk with Him to help see us through all He has in store for our lives. I find much strength from the Lord and my heart fills to overflowing with the knowledge that I can also lean on my husband and the strength he gains from the Lord for both of us when I am doing poorly.


We leave to take our teens to Youth Conference in Hammond, IN on Sunday. We're leaving after the evening service and driving through the night. There are 28 people going. This is always a life changing time for our young people and I look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for them this year. I won't be able to attend much of the Conference, if any, but will be seeing my doctor there who has helped so much. My days this week will be filled with pacing myself to get everything done before we leave. I am excited to have 2 of our teens staying with us for a few days to help me -- they're the kind that just dive right in and not only help, but find things that I didn't even know needed to be done!! :) Most of all I look forward to the time with them. They are a joy to be around!


Thank you for all the encouraging comments I've received. Many of you have asked what exactly I'm doing different with our eating and life style changes. I'll try to answers those ?'s this week in a post. Thank you for the prayers. I see that there have been many people that have stopped by and I know that you are praying and I can't tell you how that helps me keep going.


Thank you for taking the time to read and Pray,


Sarah

A better day...

First of all, thank you so much to all of you who took a few minutes to leave a comment on the previous posts. I can't begin to tell you what encouragement each one of them is to me. Each time I read a comment I felt like I am receiving a hug.

Philippians 4:13 has been very real to me these past 8 days. It has been a particularly hard time. I have a long way to go to learn my body with lupus and what effects it and triggers greater pain. When the pain gets this bad and I've tried everything I've been taught to do, I start a lengthy fast. (I do not talk about spiritual fasting, but I will refer to fasting for health reasons from time to time.) Today was day 3 and I found some relief last night. I was euphoric!! I wanted to jump up and clean the house! Since it was 1 in the morning, I didn't think my family would appreciate that, nor would my body. You know how it is when you've been sick and start feeling even just a bit better, you want to do everything that has been left undone and you land yourself right back where you were and sometimes in worse shape!! :) Ever laid in bed and mentally cleaned your house room by room? I even threw in some re-decorating this time! :D

Today was my first appointment w/ a new doctor that my doc in Indiana urged us to go see. This one is about an hour away and won't replace our IN dr., but will be able to help us.





One of our college girls, Jessy, (pictured above) who is home for the summer came over to babysit so my husband could take me. She does a wonderful job with the kids and we're not concerned about them when they are in her care.

What a beautiful ride it was to the dr.'s!! We crossed the bridge to Jamestown, the bridge to Newport, and then the bridge that took us into Bristol, RI. The dr. was great and Paul & I left feeling as though the Lord directed again to someone who can help. I was concerned about the financial aspect of this visit as I knew it was going to be quite costly, but Paul assured me that we needed to do this and that God would provide. When we went to pay the bill, it cost less than a third of the price they had originally told us! Praise the Lord!!

Thank you again for all the prayers, love, support and encouraging words -- whether through cards or the comments left. I appreciate you all.

With love,

Sarah