Ozark Entertainment

Vacation has been wonderful. It has been hot but not too humid. We have gone skiing a lot, having wave runner fun, visiting restaurants and relaxing! We love our Ozark Family Vacation! 

This week I have been on the sidelines but my family sure does give me a lot to watch! 

Mom Skiing with a shot of the driver 

Aaron

Tera

Kyle

Dad 

A video of Aaron wakeboarding...he is getting very good! 

Mom and I on our way to Coconuts for lunch 

Tera and I on our way to West Marina for dinner and a swim

Kyle and Aaron on our way home from skiing 

Ever heard the saying no pain no game? 

These gents proved it. 

Kyle injured his toes three times, look closely one blood blister, one scrape from the ski on his big toe (still bleeding) and the last he broke his nail in half... outch! 

The sign of a true wave runner man, they must have a blister. 

Can you tell who the die hards are in our family? 

Kyle, Aaron, and Kevin

A couple of highlights on my end, I have been able to keep up pretty well, the heat isn't bothering me too much I believe the ten day medicine really helped and I'm excited to take it again. I drove for the first time this week since February! Of course it happened to be a boat, but I think it still counts! 

I choose in February to stop driving because of my symptoms; my eyesight was worse, my depth perception was off, it was hard to hear, I was dizzy, and I had memory problems. A couple times I forgot where I was going and then once I remembered I couldn't remember how to get there, so I pulled the plug on the car and let a friend use it. With my head stuff clearing up I will get back into driving prayerfully this week! Praise God! I can't believe how long I went but it was needed! 

I am excited to gain back a little freedom but I am so thankful for all of my friends and family who carted me around the last couple months, you will be rewarded in Heaven! 

I also finished my online class! This class was a test to see if I could remain a student while on my lyme medication. Every month will get easier but I passed the test! I have been approved to continue on in my 2+2 Program this fall. For now I will enjoy a whole month without homework! 

We have two days left of our vacation and then were headed home, tonight we are going to our family favorite on the lake, if you are ever in the area It's a must go... Docknockers they serve crab by the bucket and they have no dishes. It's a yummy and messy meal! 

Prayer Requests: 

*That we would have safe travels on the way home (all of us; Tim, Kevin, and Kyle included) 

*That the travel would not make me sick

*That Dr P. will be able to keep his practice in Iowa and turn to the Lord in this time  

Safe and Sound

 So everyone is here safe and sound; Tim, Kevin, Doug, Kelli, Tera, Aaron, Kyle, and myself.  Our first day here I was not feeling the best, I think it was a mix of a busy week getting ready and the car ride, anyway I slept most of the day yesterday. It is hot down here and the humidity is pretty high but I have found that on the boats its pretty easy to breathe because the wind keeps the humidity down. Today was my first time out on the boat this year Aaron, Kyle, and Tera went tubing! 

Mom and Dad holding Mable down

Aaron and Kyles first ride of the season which resulted in two bad wipeouts...they are crazy on the tube!

Tera and Kyle tubing 

Aaron is about an inch taller than Kyle

These gents are getting so tall! 

So far our vacation is going great, enjoying family time, great food, boating, sleep, and rest! I have had quite a bit of time to do some homework which is wonderful because my class is done on friday, I only have one paper left to write! Tonight we are headed out to dinner by boat to a new restaurant, so we are excited! 

I was reading today in Isaiah and found a beautiful promise. 

"Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; the recompense of God will come, but He will save you." Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy." ~Isaiah 35:4-6

What a promise this is, one day the Lord will be returning and on that day He is going to judge this world but for those that see their need for a Savior, for those that humble themselves, they will be saved. The day the Lord returns, for those who trust in Him, our world will be turned right our pain taken away and we will shout for joy. There will be a day when we will see the Lords faithfulness before our eyes, the day He will come to take us home. How excited I am for that day! 

Prayer Requests: 

*That my body will be able to handle the medicine

*That I will remember my limitations this week and not push myself too far

*That Dr. P will be able to keep his practice in Iowa and turn to the Lord during this time

Shade From The Sun

I finished the ten day medicine for the month of July on Saturday and I already notice improvements in my breathing. It is easier for me to breathe outside now, I don't need my inhaler every time I step outside which was my huge prayer for this medicine. On friday my family is headed to Lake of the Ozarks for the week where we spend almost all day everyday outside. It would be nice to join in on the activities, I believe the first dose of medicine will help me do more next week. 

Toward the end of my medicine a group of friends, my family and I headed to my Uncle Tim's pond in southern Iowa. What a blast we had!  Here are some pictures from the weekend. 

The whole group: 

Last Row-Jessica, Tera, Me, Stephanie, Laurie, Katelyn, Aaron

Second Row- Jake Nathan, Stephen 

Front Row- Jeff, Alex

Nathan, Alex, and Stephan canoeing 

Laurie, Tera, and Jess on the boat getting ready to anchor down and swim

Stephanie and Katelyn on the boat

Aaron with the best catch of the weekend

You can't forget the dogs Flicka and Oreo resting up on the boat

The whole group.

I am so blessed with the family and friends that the Lord has blessed me with. I am so thankful for them. This summer they have all been wonderful at making me feel 'normal.' There is a lot I can not do but they are so good at including me in everything, even if it is simply setting up a seat for me to watch on the sidelines. They are wonderful at keeping me involved in whatever ways I can. 

For You have been a  defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. ~Isaiah 25:4  

God knew before He created the world that one day sin would be prevalent and He knew exactly what He would do about it. He sent His son to die for us, He choose to die for people who didn't deserve it, people who were full of sin. He died for us because we were needy, we were helpless, we needed a refuge and that is what Christ died to give us. 

One of the medicines that I am on makes me burn very easily so I have to stay in the shade more often than not. At the pond we would all get on the boat and go anchor in the middle and jump in. After awhile I would begin to feel that I needed shade so I would get in the boat under the cover. How refreshing the shade was to me! I was thinking about how that cover is like Christ, half of the boat is in the shade of the cover and the other half is in the sun. Only when someone decides to let the tarp carry the burden of the sun for them do they move over to the shade. 

Just like that tarp is used to block the sun, so Christ died to carry our burdens.  He wants to take the pressure of the sun and desires that we rest in the shade that He created for us. Just like that boat in the middle of the pond. 

Prayer Requests: 

*That I will willingly move into the shade of Christ in all things

*That my body will be able to hand the medicine

*That Dr P. will be able to keep his practice in Iowa and find the Lord in the process

*That I will continue to see improvements

Never Ending Joy

My time at home has gone by very quickly, it matches the speed of everyday life. Sometimes I look at life and wonder where it went, and sometimes I look ahead and wish it would go faster. One of the blessings the Lord has given me through lyme disease is the understanding of my need to focus on today. What a joy it has been living life in today, not focused on tomorrow or next month but simply enjoying where the Lord has placed me. When I focus on today I see all of the blessings, when I look ahead I simply see the pain. 

I love the path of lyme disease, not because I like pain or being weak, I rather despise it. I am a country girl at heart after all, no matter how city slicker I look. But lyme has taken over my life, it tells me when to eat, when to detox, how many doctor appointments, what I can and can not do, but it can not tell me my joy. Six years ago is when my lyme symptoms began, lyme took my life away. I had to quit everything even friendships because you could not physically see my pain. 

I was physically wounded so that I may be spiritually healed. My life, everything I knew was taken away and because of that I realized that Jesus Christ is my life. 

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.  ~Psalm 119:71

Walking the path of lyme disease has made me who I am today. I may look weak to people and be a slave to lyme disease but that is temporary. I have never in my life been stronger than I am now. I can barely walk a block but the Lord has given me so much strength and taught me so many lessons through this I couldn't ask for more. 

Everyone is slave to something; lyme disease, school, friends, work, money. What do you spend your life striving for? What do you plan your life around? Most of my life has been my health. How can we serve something that will last? The answer is so simple but so profound. 

Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. ~ Micah 7:18

Gods unchanging love brought Him to the cross where His son died so that we may have the opportunity to turn from the things that bind us as slaves. Christ makes us free. Look at your life, tell me what are you living for? Is it worth it? One day this world is going to end, every single person is going to die and what happens then? There is two options.

Choosing Christ will change your life, but let me tell you it is the best choice you could ever make. Not  only will you be given eternal life but you will be given joy. A joy that can last through any challenge because you know that it is God who gives us joy and because of the great gift He has given us we can rejoice in all things. That is why I am so thankful that I have lymes disease, that is why I can rejoice even in my hardest days. God never changes and He desires you. 

Prayer Requests:
*That whoever reads this will genuinely think about it
*That we as believers will take action in sharing our faith in a loving way
*That we will rejoice in all things
*That my body will be able to handle the medicine
*That Dr P. will be able to keep his practice in Iowa and turn to the Lord in the process

A Faithful God

I began the ten day medicine on thursday, my doc called the day before I started and changed up the dose so that life would be easier to live while on the medicine. For that I am very thankful, for the first three days I stayed in Des Moines and saturday night after a day at the lake with friends and family I headed home to my parents and upped my dose. 

I also learned more about the medicine, it is for one of my co-infections Babesia, this is the infection that makes it difficult to breathe. I will be taking this medicine for three months, ten days of every month. After the three months I will be retested for this specific co-infection, if its gone I will stop the medicine, if its still there I will go longer. 

For those that don't remember lyme disease can come with extra co-infections depending upon what tick bit them. Deer ticks bite three times, the first two are in smaller animals typically rats or squirrels, the last bite is a horse, dog, or human. It is the last bite that gets the infection. Co-infections are created based off of which animal the tick previously bit, and what diseases that animal had. Many people don't have any co-infections if they are bit, but some do. There are a total of six co-infections, all of which cause different symptoms this is one reason why lyme is so hard to diagnose, due to all the different co-infections and symptoms. I have the co-infections Mycoplasma, Babesia, and HHV6. So prayerfully the co-infection babesia will be taken care of through the medicine I am currently on. 

So far at home I am doing well, yesterday I started feeling sicker than the first couple days on this medicine but its not as bad as it could be so praise the Lord for that. We think the laser treatment is helping my body detox more and because of that I am not getting as sick, my body can handle the medicine easier. Afternoons are still the worst time of day for me but I am enjoying spending time with my family. 

I read my favorite book the other day, and this is high on my list of favorite verses; 

While I was fainting away I remembered the Lord and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple. Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness but I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving, that which I have vowed I will pay, salvation is from the Lord.  ~Jonah 2:7-9 

We serve a God who is faithful, no matter how low we think we have gone or how broken our world seems, God is still God. He has not left His throne and He has not forgotten us. Jonah was asked to report a message to Nineveh, that they would be destroyed because of their sin. Jonah didn't wan to report it because He knew God would have compassion on the people, Jonah knew they would repent and God wouldn't destroy them. Jonah was right, however he fled to Tarshish to avoid what he was asked and in the process had to be thrown overboard due to a storm. He was swallowed by a fish and for three days he was in the belly of the fish. 

Jonah didn't know if he would live to see daylight again, the verses earlier were Jonah's prayer when he was in the belly of the fish. Jonah remembered that God is God, and He is our salvation. No matter our circumstance, no matter our condition we can be faithful to God because He has been faithful to us. 

Prayer Requests:
*That my body can handle my medicine
*That I will stay encouraged this week
*Dr. P will be able to keep his practice in Iowa, and will turn to the Lord during this time

Love of God

Yesterday I took an inventory of my symptoms and was pleasantly surprised. My dizziness is mostly gone, my hearing is close to normal, and my eyesight is going back and forth. I am so thankful and excited that my head stuff is clearing up, before I started antibiotics the lyme began moving from my head to my joints again and is continuing to move which is such a praise the Lord! On medicine it would take nine months to get it out of my head, I praise God it's doing it on its own much sooner. 

This last week I have had quite a bit of good days, some things I was able to do; went out for lunch and shopping at Jordan Creek, went swimming at Raccoon River, and went to tuesday work night for the first time! 

My family also went camping this weekend, which was so nice to see my extended family and spend time with them but they were harder days for me. With my trouble breathing the humidity really gets to me, and due to lyme I was sick most of the weekend but did have many good conversations and relaxing time with family.  The inhaler I was put on helps so much! Along with the liver pills I started, it is helping my liver keep up, always a plus! 

I finished the book Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor and I would HIGHLY recommend it. He was a man who truly understood what it mean to rest in the Lord, to trust the Lord, and to let the Lord carry his burdens. The main lesson I have learned these last six months is resting in the Lord. I have been learning what it looks like to let the Lord fight for me, to let the Lord carry my burdens. 

This story is from the book Do You Think I'm Beautiful by Angela Thomas. 

A traveler was walking down the road laboring under the heavy burden he was carrying on his back. Along came a man with a horse-drawn cart. Pulling alongside the traveler, the cart driver said, "Sir, I see that you are carrying a heavy load and that it makes you weary. Wouldn't you rather ride in my cart than carry that heavy burden?"

"Yes" the traveler said as he got into the cart. "Now I will no longer have to walk with this burden." A little farther down the road the cart driver looked behind him and was quite astonished to see the traveler sitting in the cart still carrying his burden, held tightly on his back. 

"Sir, why do you still bend under the weight of your burden when you could simply set it down?" he asked. "You have helped me so much already," said the traveler, "I would not want to impose on you any further." 

"But don't you see," replied the cart driver, "it would not be an imposition on me for you to put your burden down. Look at my horse; he is strong and willing. He was made to carry heavy burdens. Besides, both of you are now carrying your load, yet my horse will carry your load wether you do or not! So please put your burden down or you will wear yourself out and make my horse feel unappreciated." 

This story about a man and a horse is true for our lives with the Lord. So many times we choose to hang onto our burdens when we could pass them onto the Lord. He is the one who was designed to carry them, He also carries us. We can either try and fight our way with something too heavy for us, or we can let the Lord carry the burdens of our life which He desires so to carry. 

You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.  ~2 Chronicles 20:17 

Our God fights for us, He carries our burdens, He meets our needs, and He loves us. One thing that I started doing that has changed my life is to write down every night one way that I felt loved by God that day. The Lord uses a variety of ways to make us feel loved, to give us blessings. So many people see them as a need in their life and they turn to an object or friend to be satisfied, but if we understand who the source of satisfaction is, we can see those blessings as the love of God. 

Love comes in a  variety of ways, some ways I have felt loved by God this week; I got an uplifting text message when I was down, I had an afternoon out with girls, when I was herxing I had the best lemon which made my medicine really easy to take. These are some of the ways that I have felt loved by God, some of them may seem silly but when we put this world in its place we can see all the blessings the Lord gives us on a daily basis. 

Tomorrow I begin a new medicine, it is one I will take ten days of every month, I'm not sure how many months. This medicine is supposed to make me pretty sick, so tomorrow I am headed to my parents house. This way I can have my mom close at hand if I need help. Please be praying for this medicine that it will do its job and make me sick but also that it wouldn't make me too sick. If I get too sick I have to do a lower dosage for a longer time. I will do my best to keep my blog updated while I am gone and am excited to return and see everyone once again. Feel free to text, call or visit :) 

Prayer Requests: 

*That I can handle the medicine in ten days-sick but not too sick

*That Dr. P will get to keep his practice in Iowa and may see the goodness of the Lord in the process

*That I can keep up with my online class and the homework due, especially the next ten days

*That I will continue to see the love of the Lord and keep this world in its place