The Lyme Life

I went in to my hand specialist and a decision has been made, surgery is scheduled for April 5th. The history: in December I noticed a little bump on my right hand ring finger and it became almost useless immediately and stayed that way for over three weeks. The first time I went to the hand specialist she exploded my cyst and said that there was a 50/50 chance it would come back. The relief was great for the time but its back,  for now (Praise the Lord) my hand is still usable, I simply have to do things in moderation. The hardest things to do include typing and writing which the Lord is very gracious in with me because that consists of most of my life as a college student who loves to journal about her quiet times! 

My doctor is a little concerned about my hand, she thinks it may be more than a cyst. She thinks I may have trigger finger where my tendon bulges up and gets stuck which limits movement or the start of tendinitis. Hopefully it is simply a cyst but those are two things that she is concerned about that I am praying against. They will only know during surgery so I will keep you updated as I get them. 

One of my friends regularly asks me 'Hows livin the lyme life?' and I have come to enjoy the question! 

My lyme life is going well, although I made a mistake I will NEVER make again! I ran out of sleep medicine before I ordered more online, so the last few days I have been getting very little restless sleep but again the Lord is seeing me through everyday with just enough energy. However, I am very excited for that package to come in the mail! 

Other than that I am doing well, not too many updates on that part of life but more BIG news!  I got a new job! Its a part time nanny job for a family from North Ankeny, they have two little ones that I will be spending my tuesdays and wednesdays serving and loving on. One is 15 months and the other will be 4 weeks old. I start this wednesday and am so excited for the next step of life the Lord is leading me through! 

"But seek first His kingdom and all these things will be added to you." ~Luke 12:31

"For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also." ~Luke 12:34

These verses remind us that this world is temporary, and I do not want to pour my life into something that will fade. The Lord promises us Heaven and with that He gives us the option to live for Heaven while on earth. Where is your heart at? Is it with the Lord, is He your treasure? One thing I am praying for this year is that my heart would be fully surrendered to the Lord and my will fully submitted to God alone. That I may life for His good and His glory and not my own worldly gain. What a blessing we have to be apart of something so much bigger than ourselves! May I be reminded of that everyday. 

Prayer Requests:
*Peace for hand surgery (I'm a little nervous and its a month away)
*That my sleep medicine would get here soon!
*That my heart will be fully surrendered and my will fully submitted to God
*That I will live for the things that will last and not worldly gain

A Valentines Surprise

Every day I am feeling myself get stronger, I have had many people comment that I am even walking faster! A huge victory step for me! I have finally began to check off things from my long list of 'to do's' that I let slide while I didn't have energy to do more than the bare minimum. My life lately has been pretty consistent but I have some new exciting news!

I have gone five complete days without pop! This may seem like small news but for me this is huge! Before I began the supplement Plantzymes I was nauseous after every meal, and the only way the nausea would subside...pop. So I drank a lot of pop, and my doctors said that it was okay because I had so much other pain I could drink it to help relieve some of the pain. So I did and it helped a lot but now I don't need it! So I am seeing how long I can go without pop, without needing it for nausea, so far my body is holding up pretty good! I am excited to see how long I can go. 

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For Valentine's Day the gents in our Campus Fellowship group put on a dinner for the ladies. We are all single, and they are all single so they create a special evening for the ladies. As their sisters feel very loved by their work in creating a nice evening for us! Here are some pictures of the event. 

 Our table: Tera, Chasity, Myself, Brooke, and Elizabeth 

 Our fabulous dinner! With honey butter shaped in a heart...YUM! 

Now to the entertainment for the evening... the guys did three different songs that we very funny! Below are the recordings...watch only if you want to laugh! 

 Justin Biebers Never Say Never 

 Taylor Swifts Love Story 

(I think this was my favorite) 

And last is a song they found on youtube, the lyrics are hilarious so listen close! 

 They even set up a picture set for us to enjoy! These are the women I live with :) 

Top Row: Elizabeth, Katelyn, Myself

Middle: Laurie

Bottom: Chasity, Stephanie 

  Myself, My sister Tera, and My roommate of three years Katelyn

The gents put on a wonderful evening filled with laughter and love, I didn't record the serious songs but they had a wonderful balance of goofy and serious. I appreciate them very much! They are single now but their future wives will be very blessed!

Prayer Requests:

*That I can keep up with school work

*That I will notice every improvement with my health and praise the Lord for it

*Ganglion Cyst: I have an appointment on Friday with the hand specialist, pray for wisdom and discernment for my doctor and that my hand would remain useful until then. Now its just sore, I can do everything, simply in moderation. 

Daughter of the King

Since the last time I blogged I finished reading the book of Revelations and every time I read it I am in awe of the promises of God. Here and now I feel blessed by the Lord in so many ways; my friends, my family, the hope I have been given, my health. There are so many blessings I have been given and there are so many more that the Lord has in store for His people that it is hard for me to even imagine the splendor of them! I will wait patiently but I am so excited to walk the streets of Heaven! What a glorious day that will be! This is one of the many promises that the Lord has given us. 

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain."

 ~Revelations 21:3-4 

One day this world will end, one day Christ will come back for us and He will live among us. Christ has conquered death for us and He has given us the opportunity to live with Him for eternity. He paid our price. Why can't we pay the price? For us to been seen as innocent before the Lord we must also be seen as perfect; no lie, no theft, no sin of any sort. The Lords standard is so high that it is one that we can never meet. So whats the price? The price is our life, an eternity in Hell. But God in His mercy sent Christ who came and died for us, who rose again conquering death. Christ has given us a choice, Christ is the only way to enter heaven and it comes from a humble heart that recognizes its error and repents. 

There are so many promises that we are given for life and for what is to come, for heaven, but those promises are strictly for the Lords people. For people who are thirsty, unsatisfied with this life, who want more and have found that satisfaction in our Lord. 

"I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son."

 ~Revelations 21:6b-7

God loves you and because of His love He made a way for you to perfection. That if you may choose, Christ will take your punishment and God will see you as Christ. Perfect. I am so imperfect, I am so unworthy but that is why Christ came and died for us. He is the one who makes us worthy, its not any accomplishment we have here on earth, its simply a humble heart. A person who realizes their need for a savior and accepts the Savior paying their debt. When we make this choice we have overcome, we are considered a child of God. We become children of the King and I am so excited to hear from the mouth of God that I am His daughter. For now, I will cling to this verse, because we are the sons and daughters of God.  Remember that, let us find our worth in the Lord.  

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I have been doing well health wise, I have been keeping up with my classes and my medicine. The Lord has been very gracious to me in that area! I started a new vitamin called Plantzymes and it is wonderful! If anyone struggles with nausea you need to try this! You simply take two tablets before meals. Since I began this my nausea has been drastically reduced! It is rare now that I get nauseous from food or medicine, when I used to be nauseous after every meal, I'm telling you its so worth it! 

I just got off of my ten day medicine for my breathing co-infection babisa, the co-infection was gone but during my big setback it came back as well. Its return has given me more opportunities to trust the Lord and rejoice in weakness because this medicine makes me sicker than normal. So I completed it for this month and I am excited for the break! My lyme has been pretty tame the last month, letting me get up earlier and have longer days. I even noticed I am walking faster! My hips are still my big pain spot but I trust they will get better as time goes by. 

I am currently going to a chiropractor for my hips and back which is going well, my chiropractor says my body is accepting and holding the adjustments very well. That was always my big problem before so it's exciting to see improvement! I am also doing water therapy, not as often as I would like but it is better than nothing. It helps me get moving and feel relief with the heat of the water. Overall, we are making progress and taking each day one step at a time. So for now I am counting every blessing and rejoicing over every small step of victory. Keep pressing, your reward will be great and so worth it! 

Prayer Requests:
*Healing for my family, we would grow closer to the Lord daily
*That I can keep up in my classes
*My cyst would remain little-not much of an update here; it hasn't grown but my hand is still weak and sore but it is usable so for now I am just waiting it out