Tidbits

After watching "A Great Awakening," I was looking for an accessible book about Whitefield.  I asked one of our pastors, and his reply was not encouraging: 

"Boy, an “accessible” bio on Whitefield, not sure it exists. I have three more scholarly works on him in my library plus Dallimore’s two volume massive work. This latter one is excellent, but it is very long."

Then I was purging some of our books to donate and spied this one on our shelves! Looks similar to the movie.

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In cleaning off my many piles on the dining room table, I found my favorite CD (Embrace the Cross by Chuck Swindoll).  I've been listening to it while I work on said piles of paperwork. :) 

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After weeks of being greeted with the message "Sorry you can't access YouTube with your account," I finally figured out the problem. BK was signed into his school gmail account on my phone. At least we know the limits were working!

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I learned this week that a missionary who stayed in my childhood home back in the 80s (and whom none of us have seen since then) is good friends with Jim's brother & his wife!

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The best way to keep your dishes always clean is to have an ant infestation and watch each and every dish by hand the moment it touches food!

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Not everyone likes rhubarb, so find yourself a friend with a patch! A friend mentioned on the local town FB page that she had some for sale.  I purchased a small amount. Later when I ran into her in the library I asked if she had sold it all, and she said I was the only one, so I purchased some more! ($1/4 stalks)

Once and done

I often think of the adoption information meeting I attended one Saturday afternoon years ago in a city near us.  I mistakenly thought it was about adoption in general, but it was about adopting from China. I decided to stay, since I had driven all the way there, especially since there was only one other couple in attendance.  And I figured I would probably learn something.   

The presenter explained the definition of special needs adoption as being on a spectrum from medically fragile to hearing loss, and added, "If the child has hearing loss, you get hearing aids, and it's once and done." 

I am here to say respectfully that there is nothing once and done about it.  Infants require new molds to be made frequently for new ear molds. (And then when the mold is returned from the factory, it requires an appointment with audiology to fit the mold to the hearing aids.) The mold tubing can break.  The child's hearing can change, so there are frequent hearing tests to stay on top of that.  

BK was always good at letting us know when a battery died, and by the time he was 3 1/2, he was changing his own batteries (with supervision). 

He graduated to rechargeable hearing aids just after he turned 6, and started keeping them in his room, putting them in his charger at night and in his ears in the morning. 

(He also had 6 or 7 years of speech therapy and he - and we - had 3 years of commuting 70 miles to school.)

At 9 he graduated to hearing aids with domes instead of molds (this is the more invisible type).  But with technology comes technological glitches. 

When we travel, I take a hearing aid troubleshooting bag along with our first aid bag. 

I cannot count the number of times I have shipped a hearing aid to the pediatric audiology clinic to be repaired or (more frequently) to be shipped back to the manufacturer for repair or replacement.

One was in for repairs for a few weeks, and then we were gone 10 days.  When we got it back, we discovered it needs to be reprogrammed. We attempted a remote programming appointment, but the app wasn't working.  That required a 70 mile (one-way) trip for an appointment in-person.  

Hearing loss is not once and done. It's a lifetime of appointments, strategies, and potentially anxiety.  One morning in church, BK said he wished there were a laser pointer so he would know what words the congregation is singing at that moment. :( 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 7, #84

811.  our small group, our adult Sunday School class, our church, our pastor, our church's leadership

812.  another week of the Lord's watchcare over us, protection on the roads (550 miles for me last week), protection in the fields & with the equipment, etc.

813.  regular reports that my mom is thriving!

814.  a few hours of relaxing in front of a (very difficult) 1000-piece puzzle at Jim's dad's on Saturday afternoon

815.  speech therapists, tutor, swim team coaches, post office workers, librarians - just some of the people that serve us so well

816.  6th grade boys stopping by ... to be 6th grade boys :) 

817.  another year of life for Jim!

818.  aunt, uncle, cousin, & grandparents to keep BK &/or LM when we go to small group or take another child to an appointment

819.  our summer calendar is filled in (and by filled in I mean both decided & registered and also FULL!)

820.  we serve a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God!

Opening Exercises

I was thinking recently about Sunday School opening exercises. I think it's a thing of the past.

In my childhood church, during the first 10 minutes or so of Sunday school, before the children's classes were dismissed, all the children sat in the pews on the right side of the sanctuary.  The adults sat on the left. 

The single school teacher whom we all adored led the opening exercises. There were multiple components including offering, prayer, birthday recognition, etc., but the one most memorable to me was the singing. 

She held up visual songs. Some were purchased from CEF, and she turned the pages of the oversized booklets. Others were ones which she had handwritten (in her perfect teacher writing) on poster board. Some were laminated at her school.  She tried to add cut out pictures from Sunday School papers on each side, to add interest. It took real talent to flip the poster boards so that the right side was showing (especially if a song took the front & back of two poster boards, and she had to return to the chorus)! 

Some of my favorite childhood memories involved these songs! Do you know any of them? 

Stop and let me tell you

Why worry, when you can pray?

28.30

 

 I sing the mighty power of God

Did you ever talk to God above

 

I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God 

God's power (The illustrated song which she held up had a photo of a wave on the front.)

"My God is bigger than I am

Strongest of all

He is able to make

The summer turn into fall

He controls all that happens

His power is plain to see

And I know I can trust Him

For with His power

He cares for me.

God speaks to me in the Bible

Shows me His love

He tells how the Lord Jesus

came to earth from above

He tells how I can please Him 

and teaches me His ways.

Yes, the Bible will guide me

and give me strength for all my days."

Jesus is caring for you

(Verse 1) Don't be afraid Jesus is watching you. In the dark night He is protecting you. Talk to the Lord; Ask Him to make you brave; Jesus will hear when you pray.

(Chorus) Jesus is caring for you; Jesus is helping you too.
Jesus is always there keeping you, for He loves you. (Repeat chorus.)

(Verse 2) You're not alone, Jesus is there with you. He can't be seen, but He is there, it's true. He is your friend. He'll keep you in His care He goes with you everywhere.

(Chorus) Jesus is caring for you; Jesus is helping you too.
Jesus is always there keeping you, for He loves you. (Repeat chorus.)

O-b-e-d-i-e-n-c-e

Happiness is the Lord

34.30

  

My favorite "national holiday"

Every spring my sister-in-law and I usually go garage-saling in a certain small town about 15-20 minutes away. 68 garage sales in a town of 2300 people! My family has many useful items in our home which I have purchased over the years from those townwide garage sales. One year we ran into her friend who had taken a day off work, claiming it's a "national holiday!"

When you have babies and toddlers, garage sales are the best. And you buy things you didn't even know you "needed." Books, toys, puzzles, snow suits, and more, so much more!  Now, we're more in the purging era, and tweens and pre-tweens don't grow as quickly as newborns.

Now I try to have a list and I pray. In fact, the morning of the townwides, when Jim asked us each what our prayer request was, I said, "That I'll find things we need at the garage sale - shoes & jeans for BK, a bicycle for LM, and work clothes for Jim." When I picked LM up from school her first (& very enthusiastic) words were, "Did you find a bike for me?" Alas, no.

But I did (amazingly) find jeans for BK!!

Last year I only found one pair of jeans for him. American Eagle Outfitters. And they were marked $10. I hesitated, but they have been his only pair of jeans this past year.  He is definitely at the age where it's tough to find any clothes at garage sales.  But! But the Lord provided 3 or 4 pairs of the same style jeans (at $3 to $5/each!!).  

You can see all my finds below ...

• 2 pairs of shoes for BK
• 1 pair of shoes for LM
• jeans, shorts, t-shirts, and two long-sleeve shirts for BK (all good quality)
• 5 pair of work pants for Jim (Haggar $2/each; nice enough he could wear to church if he preferred)
• several nice shirts for BK & Jim
• new with tags Eddie Bauer wind jacket & fleece for LM to grow into
• a puzzle for Grandpa
• a Tervis cup
• a gluten-free cookbook (it may end up in the donate pile, but for $1 it's worth it)
• roll-up crayon pouch for LM's church bag
• a garden flag

• two clipboards for the van bag to replace ones that have broken on road trips
• Usborne telling time flashcards
• a desk organizer
• a fun sweatshirt for LM
• a nice fleece for BK

and some fun purchases for Mom: 

• some Rae Dunn items (mug, Christmas candle for my windowsill, and a "Blessed" pillow cover for fall)
• a Kate Spade purse (for $15) - that had been on my Christmas list last year, and I had suggested Jim look at Clothes Mentor, but when I looked, the prices were too high for me to swallow
• a Vera Bradley backpack-style purse  

Oh, and a half-empty can of Bar Keepers Friend. I have one in my Walmart cart, but they were giving half-empty cleaning products away at an estate sale. The Lord provides!

All in all, I am very pleased with this year's "national holiday!" To be able to outfit my children and husband for such little money, and also to get some extras (that will add beauty to our life) for pennies on the dollar is such a generous gift from our loving Father.

Have you been garage-saling this spring? 

On growing up

::From the archives - January 2019::

Glad I fell into bed (& sound asleep) last night in between putting the children to bed... as one Little Miss awoke before 6 AM this morning, ready to party!!

At what age do children put themselves to bed?  Little Guy did so unintentionally last night.

At what age do children give themselves baths?

At what age do children cease to be traumatized by well visits at the pediatrician?  At what age does the mom cease to be traumatized? (Good news!!  No shots from 4-12, unless we travel out of country!!)

By mid-day yesterday, LG was begging to go back to school.  I was ready, too.  Hoping we make it through this day.  It's looking doubtful that one or two of us will be healthy enough to go to church Sunday, so the possibility of a break is fading fast ... {Sigh}

Well, seven years later, I am still asking some of these same questions...

We have conquered the bath/shower question (albeit within the past month!).

Many nights I spend 30 minutes or more in LM's bed to help her fall asleep. 

I am still falling asleep after putting LM to bed, but before BK goes to bed.  (But he usually wakes me up so I can at least go in and say, "Good night.")

Medical trauma is still real.  

And now LM is the one who is at the stage where she begs to go to school, and misses it horribly if it's a day off or she has to miss for some reason. 

Last Long Weekend of 25-26 School Year

Monday was our last day off school in the 25-26 school year. I can't even count how many long weekends we had. A LOT! 

LM slept until 10.30, so I had a good chunk of time to work on my to-do list without being interrupted (or ignoring her). 

I had a long boring to-do list with the stuff of life:

• sweep kitchen 
• change the battery for my van fob
• change the battery for an air tag
• update a medical provider
• call the pharmacy to renew a prescription
• answer an email re my mom
• mail a birthday card
• call the bank
• email someone else
• cancel a Subscribe & Save order I had for my mom

It felt good to get things done, and to pack a lunch for BK (who spent the day working at Grandpa's and on the farm). 

Around 2, LM & I set out on our errands ... post office, library, drive to town, pick up eyeglasses, speech clinic, Aldi. We were home by 5.15, and I was tired. 

Did I feed my family well today? Not really. 

Did I do laundry? No.

Did I do dishes? Yes.  

Did I love God & the people in my life? I hope so. 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 7, #83

800.  protection in the storms (up to 15 tornadoes in the central part of our state Friday evening)

801.  that LM didn't realize how bad it was (at one point we were inside THREE red boxes on the map, i.e. three tornado warnings) 

802.  fun out-of-the-ordinary experiences for both LM & BK this past weekend

803.  a 2-hour Sunday afternoon nap for me (the kind where you have trouble waking up) ~ Thank you, Jesus!

804.  seeing the Lord work to slowly improve (somewhat) a situation in our life which has been very very hard

805.  a friend to listen & give practical advice when I was overwhelmed one afternoon

806.  the SIXTH anniversary of Jim's dad & his second wife (married when he was 90!)

807.  excellent teaching in our adult Sunday School class... we are more than one year into Isaiah (I am still loving my Isaiah journal)

808.  making contact with a very helpful mom of one of BK's friends, a Christ-follower who also knows lots of the kids in their class *and* their parents

809.  slow steps forward in preparing to empty our room for the floor project (Yikes!)

810.  related to that, throwing away lots of things & filling bags to donate & bags to hand down to friends (Yay!)

Fruit

Years ago, my mom painted this bowl of fruit.  At some point she entered it in the County Fair and won a blue ribbon! 

Over time, she collected & displayed in her kitchen and back porch many additional paintings, prints, postcards, and hand-colored bowls of fruit.  Some were from coloring books, lovingly colored by her grandchildren. Some were pages torn out of magazines. Some were thrift store finds.  One particular thrift store find was vintage embroidery.  

When going through my parents' house, I found these four antique postcards, never sent or written on. I think one was from Belgium, and the others from France. I saved them for Mom. A quick trip to Hobby Lobby led me to these delightful frames, and voila! Our birthday gift for Mom the next year was ready! (After one of my brothers-in-law hung them in her room.) 

Recently, the activity director at assisted living had the residents paint with watercolors.  Two of my sisters, upon seeing Mom's work in her room, thought someone had brought her a gift. Aren't these amazing?! 

I hope when I'm 91 1/2, I'm starting new hobbies. :) 

Today's list

We are at the point in T-minus-summer-vacation where my to-do list includes: 

• get dressed 
• use inhaler
• brush teeth
• wash face.

I am happy to report that those tasks were crossed off my list today. :) 

Lunch had a question mark next to it on today's list, but I rallied and put some frozen salmon in the air fryer & heated some frozen green beans.  We had salad if desired. Good enough. :) No time for "Kate eats a fancy lunch" of Naptime Kitchen fame on IG. 

I filled two laundry hampers with dirty laundry found on a child's bedroom floor (!), washed & dried them, refilled my pill box, called the pharmacy, and picked up four prescriptions. 

I pursued three volunteer opportunities for BK ... several phone calls & emails. 

I stopped by the grandparents' after the pharmacy for a 10-minute visit. 

I did not do a lot of other things, but we are surviving.  

What was on your to-do list today?

Cousins

How many cousins do you have? I have fourteen. (Interestingly Jim does, too.) 

Jim's family had very specific times each year when they saw their cousins. In addition he went to church with five or six of them. And even rode to church with two of them! 

I saw my cousins more organically, but it was always exciting to see them!

One winter during college, two of my adult cousins came to visit. One was traveling through with his wife and infant son. We ate at Burger King or Arby's and then walked around campus. Another was an alum, and coming back to visit with his fiancee. I had probably only seen him two or three times in my life. But he called and said they would like to take my roommate and me out to dinner at a locally famous place. 

Both visits were the best!! Around that time I read an article in Reader's Digest about cousins, and I realized that those two visits represented the first time I had interacted with those cousins as an adult and without my (or our) parents around. 

Of course, I have lived decades since that winter, and I have enjoyed countless occasions with my cousins (individually & in groups) in various places around the world! 

I thank God for my cousins!

Schedule Adjustments

Second shift on Monday only involved four hours of being on the road (2-6 PM, but it felt long. It was pretty tame, compared to many second shifts I have known, but I am out of practice (which is a good thing). 

• Pick LM up from school 20 minutes early. 
• Go to the university speech clinic. 
• Do a really quick Aldi run on our way home. 
• Stop by home & put the food in the fridge and freezer.  
• Continue on to the grandparents'. 
• Leave LM there. 
• Take BK to his haircut. 
• Go back to the grandparents'. 

And then:

• Collapse in an easy chair. 
• I was ready for bed.  

But ... onward, ho! Home. Supper. Get LM in bed. 

And this is where the schedule changed from A Farmer in Winter to #Plant26.  Jim actually didn't start planting until Tuesday, but he worked late (until long after I was in bed) on Monday.

Now it's time for story time. Back in the day, I spent a summer or two as a camp counselor. (I worked at camps many summers, but was only a camp counselor on rare occasions.) Why did I not like being a camp counselor? Because I had to stay awake until everyone in my cabin was asleep. 

Why do I not like #Plant26? For the same reason.  I cannot in good conscience go to sleep before the children are in bed. (I also miss Jim tremendously.) 

My mother-in-law called today to see if I got any rest. In spurts! I am definitely still not over pneumonia.

• Take the kids to school.
• Lie down. 
• Pick up LM, drive 30 minutes to orthodontist, appointment, drive back.
• Lie down.
• Take lunch to Jim in the field (#Plant26!)
• Lie down. 
• Pick LM up from school.
• Lie down. 
• Pick BK up from school. 
• Lie down. 
• Cook supper. 

What will Wednesday hold? Only the Lord knows. Thankfully He is also holding me!

New Week

It's a new week, and I'm still rueing the fact that my phone calendar doesn't give me a week at a glance.  I am a pen & paper girl, and just wrote it down, and am happy to see there is only one thing on my calendar most days this week! And - I have zero medical appointments for myself this week. Woo-hoo! 

This Saturday night is a Daddy-Daughter Dance.  As LM's tutor says, "It's an agricultural community. Why would they plan it during planting?" Exactly.  I fear I will have an inconsolable girl on my hands Saturday evening ... But that's yet another life lesson. 

We attended 6th grade Orientation for Youth Group yesterday (!).  The Lord has blessed our church with longevity (current youth pastor has been there 20+ years) and a solid program, and by that I don't mean programming, but philosophy, volunteers, etc.  

Jim's phone apparently has an overactive Siri!  Yesterday the assistant pastor who was preaching got a little excited (& loud) at one point in his sermon. Siri started talking back! This morning as Jim prayed that the kids would have a good day in school, Siri said, "I hope you have a good day, too." Oops!! BK quickly disabled Siri on Jim's phone ... as Jim has never used it intentionally!

I printed all of my Mom's tax forms (see reference to pen & paper girl above), but our printer must need toner or something. Normally I would just go to the library to print, but a minivan drove into our little village library the other day & the library is closed until further notice. I could not make this up! 

Thankfully, the voucher to mail with Mom's tax payment is mostly legible, so I can be a good citizen & get that in the mail. Whew! 

My biggest rock today is no doubt checking fridge/freezer inventory, making a meal plan, and placing a Walmart order that I can pick up after LM's orthodontist appointment tomorrow morning. 

I saw this online the other day: 

No one warned you that getting older basically means having to decide what to make with ground beef and chicken every day the rest of your life 😂

My sister replied, "And then hope that people eat it."

True!

I'm inspired by Debt Free Mom's simple meal plans. But I'm still confused how to cook what my people will eat. :) 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 7, #82

791.  springtime!

792.  spontaneous lunch date with Jim :) 

793.  summer plans (more hopes than plans at this point - ha!)

794.  time to rest & recover

795.  listening to Japanese hymns on youtube - something relaxing about it

796.  bearing one another's burdens - through prayer, cards, etc. 

797.  others who let us in to their struggles & burdens

798.  Jesus draws nearer in our time of need

799.  great book I read over Easter weekend (To a Different Drum) and book I'm looking forward to (The Teacher of Nomad Land)

800.  my righteousness does not depend on all the things on my to-do list! Amen!

Plodding onward

It's a season of plodding.

I had my infusion yesterday, and I am just wiped out, even though I slept soundly for 2.5 hours of the infusion. 

I aim to join a monthly prayer meeting for Japan (6 AM my time), and had missed for several months, but got up today so I could participate. What a blessing! But I do not feel awake yet at 9.30 AM.

We had a lot of storms the past few weeks, and that wears on a person (a mom of anxious kiddos). 

Every day is touch and go with a certain situation in our life. 

I spent five hours Wednesday by the side of one of our children who was having a difficult time. Afterward I felt like I had been through the wringer. 

I had to drive to & from Wednesday night church (Awana & prayer meeting) for the first time in 4 months, as field work is slowly beginning and Jim was working. 

Jim wants to do more in the fields, but it has been rainy & there is a lot of rain in the forecast. 

I'm feeling nervous about preparing our house (emptying these rooms) for new flooring in 4 rooms + bathroom, closet & laundry room. 

I'm feeling apprehensive about the transition from school year to summer vacation (6 weeks to go).

My body is still not fully recovered from pneumonia.  

For this we have Jesus. And He is real. And He has all power. And He can answer seemingly impossible prayers!

1000 Gifts, Vol.7, #81

Whew! It’s been awhile since I’ve recorded any gifts! 

 781. It’s not stormy today!! 

 782. Easter!! 

 783. Our hope, resurrection power, a clear sermon, beautiful orchestra 

 784. Extra opportunities to be with extended family lately - Grandpa’s birthday, an uncle’s visit, March Madness games, Easter 

 785. It’s spring (hopefully!) 

 786. I’m not panicked by the ant invasion in our kitchen 

 787. Very specific (& big) steps of independence for LM 

 788. Partnership with the IEP team 

 789. Looking forward to another growing season 

 790. The first yard mowing of the season Sent from my iPhone

Easters I have known

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

::Repost::

I remember jelly beans, dying eggs, and (real) egg hunts in the front yard.

I remember sunrise service (indoors) and mouthwatering breakfasts in the church basement.

I remember the same Easter baskets that appeared each year, along with visits from "Aunt" M.

I remember my gap year in Japan - the all-day celebration at church, including my first time eating raw fish.

I remember college - one year visiting friends in Maryland, one year being included in my roommate's invitation to a family from her church.

I remember Fiji - my first hot cross buns and the ladies fanning the flies away from the food on outdoor tables.

I remember early morning prayer every day of Holy Week in Japan.

I remember singing, "When I Survey" a capella in Japanese with just a few others on those early mornings.

I remember sitting in a park after early morning prayer, before catching the train, and a cherry blossom fluttered down and landed in my pocket Bible (where it stayed for many years).

I remember teaching English class in the "cry room" while morning Good Friday service was held in the sanctuary, explaining why we call it "good," and fighting back tears as I saw a friend who had just delivered (and buried) her dead baby sit in the back of the sanctuary.

I remember how very special the communion service was at those Good Friday services in my church in Japan.

I remember year upon year and decade upon decade of remembering the cross, my Savior's sacrifice, and His victory over sin and death.

Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

Maundy Thursday

Have you ever been to a Maundy Thursday service? 

Back in the mid-to-late 90s, someone from my college church sent me a cassette tape of a Maundy Thursday service (it was a joint service with another church in the town). I listened to it many times over.

Our church doesn't have a Maundy Thursday service. In the first few years of our marriage, we attended a very moving Tenebrae service at a Lutheran church a few times, and also a Good Friday service at College Church in Wheaton.  

On Thursday this week I hit a proverbial wall and ended up spending a couple hours of the afternoon in bed. Jim reminded me of all of God's promises. My reply was, "I can believe His promises & trust Him and still cry."

Before bed I watched a replay of the livestream of the Maundy Thursday service at the aforementioned Lutheran Church. Good hymns!!

Good Friday was FULL of reminders of its meaning. For one, I was lost in reading cover-to-cover (almost) the biography of Pauline Hamilton, "To a Different Drum," which is the story of her radical obedience to her Lord. 

What is the cross if not our Lord's radical obedience? 

"he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!"

Midday we went to the movies, if one can call it that. We watched "A Great Awakening," and were inspired by the fervor of George Whitefield and the unmatched work of the Holy Spirit! 

While preparing my food to take to the potluck at our church, I watched the Maundy Thursday service & Good Friday service from "our" (E-free) Wisconsin church. 

Thankful for these recordings to help warm my heart! 

Especially because our Good Friday service turned into fellowship only. As we were all collecting our dishes from the potluck (& wonderful fellowship), and preparing to go to the sanctuary, phone alerts started going off with tornado alerts. 

The church does not have a large safe room, so most people opted to go home, as the storm was not headed toward the nearest city.  The storm was, however, directly between the church and our home. So, we went to friends' house and played a game while waiting. (The storm *might* have touched the NW part of the city, and they live in the SE.)

Chaos

I arranged for the housecleaner to come (it had been almost 8 weeks, with multiple trips and sicknesses in our family).  Actually I practically begged her to come even though I do not have energy to clear all the surfaces. I just asked if she would clean any surfaces that are visible. 

She texted me before coming that morning to let me know approximately what time she would arrive. 

I gave her a heads up that a furniture delivery truck was supposed to be here between 9 and 10 (Spoiler alert: they arrived closer to 11.30 of course) and that Jim would be here dealing with them. And that I would be ensconced in LM's room on a 2-hour telehealth appointment. And that she could interrupt me if she needed me (she never does).

She replied, as most sane people would, "Would it be better if I come tomorrow? My Friday opened up. Just wanted to make sure things weren't too chaotic at your house for you. :)"

My reply:

"Oh, we live in pure chaos. We need you to bring some order to our chaos." 

Counting Redbud

Even in my first month of blogging while staying in a small village on the northern island of Japan, I blogged about redbud! 

In my childhood I never would have considered counting redbud!

But I do so now on my way to & from school each morning & afternoon. I know where the three (count them) redbud trees are on my route through our village. 

And when I took LM to tutoring Wednesday afternoon, I noticed that a house on her tutor's street has three redbud at the corner of their driveway. And then I noted with some jealousy that there is a veritable grove of redbud in their backyard. And then I counted three more trees as I left that village. 

In my childhood, redbud (& dogwood) just dotted the woods on the hills across the road from our house and behind our church.  

Last week as we drove on the interstate through Kentucky, I kept exclaiming, "Redbud!" There were more than I could count (that's the way I like them) along the interstate.  I said to Jim, "You probably don't know what it does to my heart to see redbud." No, he doesn't. :) 

Have you seen redbud this spring?

 

A new month

It has been three weeks since I was diagnosed with pneumonia. And all I have to say is that the recovery is no joke.  The fatigue is real. I sorted the "laundry couch" the other afternoon, and then had to rest for an hour. I didn't even take the laundry to its home; I just sorted it.  

I have so many appointments that I have canceled and need to reschedule ... sometime. 

And there are bills to pay and my mom's business to attend to.  

Thank the Lord that the school wasn't able to have the meeting they had originally scheduled for this week.  

On spring break I was getting 9 hours of sleep every night plus taking an afternoon nap.  

I placed and picked up a Walmart order on Monday, thinking it would take us through the week.  I forgot that there's no school Friday or Monday, so I'm serving more eaters. :) 

Plus I need to make food for the church potluck Friday night (a family sized bag of Caesar salad and gluten-free chicken enchilada casserole).

We have been gathering at Grandpa's to watch March Madness (thanks to his cable TV). Two evenings we enjoyed (?) gas station pizza (Casey's, so it really is good & was 40% off). But for the Saturday evening game, we made a menu, and I'm taking chips, fruit, and vegetables. 

Sunday is Easter, and I'm signed up to take deviled eggs and oven-roasted green beans. (Frozen green beans in a 9x13. 1 Tbsp. olive oil. 1 tsp. spice mix. 3 slices cooked bacon. 425* for 20-30 minutes.) 

So, I have made another Walmart order. :)  

And there's another game on Monday night. :) Wonder what we'll eat? 

Primary Immune Deficiency Month

I have never just had "a cold." My body can't fight the common cold.

I couldn't even blow my nose until I went gluten-free. 

Instead of "a cold," I quickly develop a full-blown sinus & upper respiratory infection that requires antibiotics and often steroids before I recover.  And it often includes a lung x-ray to make sure I don't have pneumonia. 

I can put off antibiotics for up to a week if I do all. the. things. (Use Navage 2-3 times a day, take Mucinex twice a day, hydrate, drink rooibos tea with honey multiple times a day, get more rest, add another dose of nasal spray daily, and add in two more inhalers.) 

Doing all of that is time consuming (and not always possible), and it almost seems better to just start antibiotics, if that's the end game anyway.  

My official diagnosis is CVID, or Common Variable Immunodeficiency, a disorder where the body produces too few antibodies, leaving people vulnerable to recurrent infections, particularly of the lungs and sinuses. 

My original diagnosis (as is common it came later in life, after I was 40, though I probably have had it since childhood) was originally SAD. 

What's the difference? 

"CVID (common variable immunodeficiency) is characterized by low levels of immunoglobulins (IgG, and often IgA or IgM), while SAD (specific antibody deficiency) involves normal immunoglobulin levels but a poor antibody response to certain vaccines, particularly those with a polysaccharide coating. [I have had the pneumonia vaccine multiple times, but my body does not respond to it.] 

The main difference is that CVID involves a general quantitative defect in antibody production, while SAD is a qualitative defect where the type of antibody produced is the problem, despite normal overall antibody levels. Consequently, CVID is generally more severe and carries a higher risk of autoimmune complications, whereas SAD is usually less severe."

The treatment is infusions (every 4 weeks) of other people's plasma. "IVIG is an intravenous infusion of human antibodies used to treat various immune system disorders, infections, and autoimmune diseases by providing antibodies to fight off infections or by regulating immune responses."

Without treatment, I was on antibiotics monthly, and was told that (and had some experience with) the infections would become more frequent and more severe and possibly untreatable.  

Praise God for scientists who have learned all these things! Pray they will continue learning more and making breakthroughs for the good of mankind!

And thank God for people who sell their plasma!