Sunday, February 26, 2012

A Prayer for Today


God of wilderness and water,
your Son was baptized and tempted as we are.
Guide us through this season,
that we may not avoid struggle,
but open ourselves to blessing,
through the cleansing depths of repentance
and the heaven-rending words of the Spirit.
Amen.



Prayer & Image from Revised Common Lectionary

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Stream of Consciousness Sunday ~ 2/26/12

socs


Welcome to the Stream of Consciousness Sunday link up which I co-host with my BBF (best blogging friend) Shari from Rain Into Rainbows! Find out more information about SOCS here.

By the by, I'm writing these things as the week progresses, so if things seem out of order or strange for it to be occurring on a certain day, it's because I've been working on this post for a week. :D

It's so amazing to be back in Abilene after 2.5 years and feel like we never left. That's what home is supposed to be like!

Just my $0.02, but if you are a large retail store, you should really have more than 1 wheelchair/electric cart available to customers. It's really frustrating to go to a store to pick up some things and then not be able to because the 1 wheelchair you have available is currently in use.

Was at the coffee shop today with Russ and Damaris. Saw a guy on a Segway drive by. Totally threw me. Didn't think Abilene was big enough to necessitate the use of a Segway!

Went grocery shopping with Russ and Damaris today. Why must healthy food be so much more expensive than unhealthy food? And two, why are people who use motorized scooters or wheelchairs invisible? I was run into by two people with their shopping carts and lost track of the times that I had so say excuse me more than once to the same person and when they finally responded, they were shocked to see someone trying to get through the aisle. Makes no sense to me!

Got amazing strawberries and grapes at the store today. Loving that so much fresh fruit is coming into season. Yummy!

Grab the Stream of Consciousness Sunday button and use it in your post and if you'd like, we'd love it if you would put the button in your sidebar as well!
socs




So what have you been thinking about this week? Let's hear your random thoughts!






What Inspires You?



A little over a week ago, my BBF (best blogging friend) Shari wrote a blog post titled What Inspires You?. I told her I was going to "steal" from her and write a post of my own.

So, what inspires me?
Family most especially Russ and Damaris. Russ works so hard to provide for us and then comes home and takes care of me. 14+ years of mostly sickness and not much health and yet he continues to walk this journey with me. Damaris is such an amazing daughter. She does so much to help me and continues to love her Mamma even when I don't feel up to doing what a healthier Mamma would be able to do. So grateful for my Bubba & my Mare! <3
Friends who pray for me and encourage me and love me.

Blogging and the amazing friendships I've made through blogging. Especially my two BBFs (Best Blogging Friends) Shari and Jamee.

Scripture, quotes, and beautiful images. I have them hanging on our walls, framed on our shelves, and even have a Pinterest board of things that inspire me.

Fellow spoonies who keep fighting day after day with their own chronic illness.

Now, your turn! What inspires you?


Image credit: http://texaspreacherponderings.blogspot.com

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Is Normal Grief a Mental Illness?


A few weeks ago, Russ sent me a few links of articles he thought I'd be interested in reading. As I read through them, it was with a great deal of shock. Here's the articles:
Is Grief An Illness?
Shyness, grieving soon to be classified as mental illness
Defining Grief

The latest revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also known as the DSM, is to be published by the American Psychiatric Organization in 2013 (this is the current edition: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR Fourth Edition (Text Revision)). The bottom line to these three articles is that among other things, the way grief is dealt with is facing a change.
Specifically, the criteria for diagnosing depression would be broadened to include bereavement. Previously, bereavement was excluded from the diagnostic criteria for depression if a patient had experienced the loss of a loved one within 60 days. The revision to the DSM would change that and allow physicians and therapists to bill for treatment of depression during the first 60 days following a death.


So, let's think about this. If one of my loved ones died, then with the change to the DSM, I could be diagnosed as depressed within days of the person's death. That doesn't really make sense to me. Now, I am not saying that a person cannot become depressed after the death of a loved one. But what happened to being allowed the time to grieve? In Ecclesiastes 3, we read:
There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:
A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

Grief is a journey. The journey is different for every person. Some journeys will include depression and the need for medical help. But not all journeys!

So, is this potential change just a ploy to be allowed to prescribe more medications? Did pharmaceutical companies have any impact in this decision? Why is such a change being proposed when it will most certainly only increase diagnoses that are false-positives and increase people being prescribed medications that are not necessary? I am glad to see that a coalition of more than 32 organizations has formed requesting that this and other potential changes be reevaluated. Hopefully this will occur and soon!

Any thoughts on this? Is normal grief a mental illness?


Image from Pinterest

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Lent and Ash Wednesday



Am I the only one who feels like Lent came early this year? It feels like we JUST celebrated Christmas and the New Year and now it's already time for Lent. I suppose it's feeling this way because of the move and transition we're going through.

I did not grow up practicing Lent. In fact, I'd never heard of Lent to my recollection until we came to Abilene in 2007. It was then that I was introduced to the lectionary and the church calendar. It's only been a few years for me so I am truly still a babe in this part of my journey. I've been very pleased to see so much writing in the blogosphere this year about Lent. I wanted to share some of these amazing reads with you:

From Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience ~ How to Prepare a Family for Lent {Create a Forgiveness and Fresh Start Place}

From Rachel Held Evans ~ 40 Ideas for Lent

From Amy Laura Hall, guest writer at J. Kameron Carter ~ On Eating Chocolate for Lent

From Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience ~ What Lent Really Means

From Sarah Bessey at Emerging Mummy ~ In which [it is Lent] words need flesh

What does Lent look like for me this year? This year will be different than any of the other Lenten seasons I've journeyed through.

First, I am working to make my gluten free diet more consistent. With the move and such, I've not behaved very well and my body is paying for it.

Second, I am praying the daily offices (morning prayers, midday prayers, evening prayers, and nighttime prayers) using an amazing book, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.

Third, we began our Lenten journey this evening by participating in the Ash Wednesday service at Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest. We'll continue journeying with them the next 5 Wednesdays in Evensong, a choral service of Evening Prayer. Each week will feature the works of important writers including George MacDonald, Dorothy Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkien, T.S. Eliot, and C.S. Lewis.

Those are my plans. What about you? How are you journeying through this Lenten season?

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Moving Day

My mom made this video of pictures she took on moving day last week. Thought I'd share with yall!
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Sunday, February 19, 2012

A Prayer for Today


Holy God, mighty and immortal,
you are beyond our knowing,
yet we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ,
whose compassion illumines the world.
Transform us into the likeness of the love of Christ,
who renewed our humanity so that we may share in his divinity,
the same Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who live and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.



Prayer & Image from Revised Common Lectionary

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Stream of Consciousness Sunday ~ 2/19/12

socs


Welcome to the Stream of Consciousness Sunday link up which I co-host with my BBF (best blogging friend) Shari from Rain Into Rainbows! Find out more information about SOCS here.

You've got to love after holiday sales. Went to Target today & got a couple of cute things for 70% off! Wahoo!

It's really hard to move in the rain. So grateful for amazing friends who helped even though it was pouring rain!

I'm so in love with Chick-Fil-A's new grilled chicken nuggets!!! I think it's wonderful that more restaurants are offering gluten free options.

Figure this one out: when the to post office to get a p.o. box and was told we couldn't get one because we didn't have proof of local address. Now, if I had a local address, what would the probability be that I would want to get a p.o. box for personal use? Strangeness!!!!!!

Grab the Stream of Consciousness Sunday button and use it in your post and if you'd like, we'd love it if you would put the button in your sidebar as well!
socs




So what have you been thinking about this week? Let's hear your random thoughts!






Tag… I’m It!

My BBF (best blogging friend) Shari from Rain Into Rainbows tagged me in this blog challenge. So, to start, here's 11 random things about me.

1. We just moved back to where we consider home, Abilene, Texas, 2 days ago. We lived here for almost 3 years when Russ and I were in seminary. We're so glad to be home!

2. (totally stealing from Shari!) I really really really want to attend the 2012 Allume Social conference.

3. (again stealing from Shari!) Yes, I would LOVE a sponsor to attend Allume Social. How sweet of you to ask! ;)

4. I have a major thing for sweets. Chocolate is really high up on that list. Almost any candy. Cake, ice cream, brownies, pie...just hand over the sweets and nobody gets hurt!

5. I love TOMS shoes. I wear them probably 95% of the time. I really want the Fuchsia Crochet ones and the Natalia Rose Linen Ballet Flats. I wear a size 9 if anyone wants to buy them for me!!!! LOL! But seriously! :D

6. I'm a TV person too. I have to noise on most of the time and I usually fill that need with tv. SciFi shows are a favorite. Crime dramas too. Netflix Streaming and I are BFFs!!!

7. My 12 year old daughter Damaris is only about an inch shorter than I am (I'm 5'4.5"). She also wears the same size shoes as me.

8. I adore the color pink! And I like it so much that I wear it, decorate with it, paint my nails pink, etc., etc. I'm so blessed that I have an understanding husband!

9. I have piercings - 2 holes in each ear plus a cartilage piercing in my left ear and a nose stud as well - and tattoos - on my right wrist, I have the word grace and on my left wrist, I have the word peace (shalom) in Hebrew.

10. My 2nd toe on each foot is longer than my big toe. I've been told that means I'm smart!

11. I'm kinda crunchy - I don't wear makeup, I clean my face with castor oil & EVOO, I wash my hair with baking soda, I condition my hair with apple cider vinegar, I homeschool Damaris, I use lots of herbal/homeopathic remedies, on good days I eat organic/naturally, etc.

And here's Shari's 11 questions for me...

1. Do you have pets? If so how many and what kind?
Nope, no pets. Russ and Damaris want a Siberian Husky. I say no until we have a backyard.

2. Are you a city gal or a country girl?
Country gal but I need access to certain city things. I'd love to live in a town like Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls.

3. What’s your favorite fruit?
Strawberries!

4. How many countries have you visited/lived in?
Ummm, well, I visited the Bahamas and went on a choir tour in Europe. Other than that, only the US. I dream of visiting Prince Edward Island and other places in Canada.

5. How many states have you visited/lived in?
Lived in - only Texas and New Mexico
Visited - Arizona, California, Colorado, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, I think that's all

6. What’s your favorite color? (I already know for some of y’all!)
Now that's a silly question! PINK all the way!!!!!

7. Do you WOH or WIH? (I’m not even gonna say SAH, because we all know just how much work *that* can be!)
Work inside the home as a wife and Mamma

8. Are you married? If so, for how long?
yep, 14 years this past September

9. What trend from your teens makes you cringe when you look back?
those gigantic bangs

10. What makes you feel great about yourself?
I'm a caring, loving, compassionate woman who is fighting her way through a very difficult illness because life is about the journey.

11. What is your dream vehicle?
a pink Volkswagon Beetle convertible like this:


Tag Rules
Post these rules on your blog
You must post 11 random things about yourself.
Answer the questions set for you in their post.
Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
Go to their blog and tell them that you’ve tagged them.

I'm not going to tag anyone but if you want to do this, here are 11 questions to answer. Let me know if you do this. :) [*Cough, cough* Russ, Damaris, Mom, etc.]

1. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

2. What's your favorite sweet treat?

3. Do you name the inanimate items in your life (your car, your phone, your computer, etc.)? If so, what are their names?

4. What is your favorite song of all time?

5. Do you have any reoccurring dreams? Tell us about it/them.

6. What's the most serious illness or accident you've had?

7. If your life story was a book, what would the title of it be?

8. What's your favorite special occasion?

9. If you could trade in your car for another mode of transportation, what would it be?

10. What would your perfect day look like?

11. What's your favorite quote?

Sunday, February 12, 2012

A Prayer for Today


Divine Physician,
healer of bodies and souls,
stretch out your hand and touch us.
Cleanse our hearts from the sin
that separates us from you and one another.
Recreate us in your own image,
and restore us in Christ,
so that we may run the race
and receive the prize of everlasting life.
Amen.



Prayer from Revised Common Lectionary
Image from Already Empathy

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Stream of Consciousness Sunday ~ 2/12/12

socs


Welcome to the first Stream of Consciousness Sunday link up! Find out more information about SOCS here.

Why do student loan companies send you statements in a separate envelope for each loan? Wouldn't it make more sense to save postage and put all their correspondence to me in the same envelope? Strange!

Went to my least favorite store, but really the only option here, the other day to get some Rubbermaid tubs for the move. They had a section of Easter stuff that had some tubs in it. They were purple and had a huge sign that said something like purple Easter tubs. Maybe it's just me, but why would you need a Rubbermaid tub for Easter? Weird!

Prayer Request ~ We're loading up a Uhaul truck on Wednesday evening and driving to Abilene, Texas (about 5 hours from where we currently are) on Thursday. Russ has a job interview on Thursday as well. We will be temporarily staying with some friends and putting most of our stuff in storage. Pray for the right job for Russ and that it will provide what we need financially. Pray also for the right place for us to live, a safe and affordable place. We feel such peace from God about returning "home". Looking forward to seeing all our Abilene friends soon! And Abilene friends, if you can help unload the Uhaul, please let us know. We'll keep you up to date on what time we'll be there and when we'll be ready to unload.

Grab the Stream of Consciousness Sunday button and use it in your post and if you'd like, we'd love it if you would put the button in your sidebar as well!
socs




So what have you been thinking about this week? Let's hear your random thoughts!