Courting...A Game of Tennis

Alex and I met our freshman year at DMACC in August 2008. We met because both of us were apart of DMACC Campus Fellowship and members of Walnut Creek Downtown Church. We didn't interact much our first year but were always at the same events. 

This picture is from our freshman year at DMACC with the Campus Fellowship group. Alex and I are right in the middle of the group and at this time didn't really interact much! 

This is Campus Fellowship on a mission trip our freshman year, March 2009, to Manhattan Kansas. Alex and I were assigned to the same travel group and this is when I began to notice his attractive character and love for the Lord.

As time progressed Alex and I became close friends. We were given many opportunities to serve together and lead together by being on the same planning committee and leading different lifegroups. As we interacted more I was able to see his strong love for the lord and his strong desire to share the Lord with the world. Alex was always pursuing men and sharing the gospel of Christ with them.  

Time went on and Alex and I graduated DMACC with some close friends. 

Here is a small group of the many people that graduated DMACC from Campus Fellowship in Spring  2011. 

Alex and I were now done with DMACC but had both signed on to complete the 2+2 Program through UNI. We both desired to be a teacher and wanted to stay with Campus Fellowship. This program allowed us to complete a UNI education while at DMACC Campus in Ankeny. 

These are our classmates. The program was three years long, part time classes. We are all in the final stage now completing our second placement of Student Teaching! Graduation is so close! 

Gaining much more time together, through school, Alex and I continued to grow in our friendship. Since we also had the same class schedule Alex was one of the people who constantly helped me out when I was sick by driving me to appointments and ensuring I was caught up on homework when my memory was bad. I truly don't think I would have completed the program without his help and support. How thankful I am for his friendship and brotherly care! 

Here are some more photos of DMACC Campus Fellowship. 

This is a photo of Campus Fellowship at the yearly Faithwalkers conference in December 2013. 

We had the opportunity to take a small getaway to Minnesota in March 2013. This is a group picture of us after church. 

 This is also in Minnesota at an art museum we visited. What a wonderful group of friends! 

Alex and I had been friends for close to five years by now. As time progressed and I saw his faith I began to be attracted to him and develop strong feelings for him.  I continually brought those feelings before the Lord and prayed He would remove them. 

The Lord did not remove those feelings, but He continued to increase them. Little did I know, God was working on Alex in the same way. On March 29, 2013 -my birthday- I was approached by Alex Deeter. He showed up at the school I was doing a field experience at and asked if I would pray about pursuing a relationship with him. The purpose of dating would be to get married, we call it courtship at our church. 

After a few days of prayer and seeking counsel from friends and leaders, I told Alex yes on April 2, 2013. Since then we have had some wonderful times growing closer together and closer to the Lord. Alex has encouraged my faith in so many ways. I am so thankful for his strong desire to pursue the Lord and endure through trials. 

As we began to announce our courtship we were met with many friends commenting they wondered when that would happen. Many claim to have "called it" years ago. I am just so thankful for the Lords work behind the scenes as He grew Alex and I together. 

This picture was taken (I believe) our second year at DMACC Campus Fellowship. We often went swing dancing and at this particular time Alex and I were dancing...the first time we danced together I believe. I am sharing this photo because friends have commented when they saw it, they knew we would date one day. I am thankful they kept their feeling to themselves until Alex and I were courting but it is a fun memory to have. :) 

A few months after we began dating we transitioned to a Walnut Creek Downtown Community group. Although sad to leave our DMACC Campus Fellowship friends we were excited to transition together and see what the Lord had in store. Another huge blessing was that Nathan, Stephen, Katelyn, Jake DePenning, Alex and I were all able to transition together. Most of us had served together at DMACC for five years and I am so thankful to continue serving with them! 

This picture is of our new Community Group and the wonderful men and women we are serving with today. 

 "Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart." 

~Psalms 37:4

The Blessing of Healing

Every time I think that life will slow down just a little I am surprised with less time than before! Time has again flown by and I hope you had a delightful summer. My last blog post was in April when I was concerned about a jaw infection, shortly after I posted we went in for the check up and I was completely infection free! What a blessing it is to be rid of the infections and have the surgeries behind me.

This summer I saw wonderful progress in my health. I am feeling the best I have felt in years and I am continuing to heal. I can do physically more than before although I still limit myself and try not to push my healing body too far. I don't wish illness on anyone, I but I wish everyone could experience the beautiful healing of the Lord I have the blessing of experiencing everyday.

"All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful: yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed."~Hebrews 12: 11-13

My life has been full of illness and pain physically. Before accepting Christ as Savior I was broken not only physically but spiritually and emotionally. I was at a dead end with no where to go. More and more I realize how this world is far bigger than me. What is there to live for if we don't know the Lord? We waste our time working, our money on items that will fade or break and our energies pursuing our own interests that will not satisfy. What do we have to turn to?

"For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." ~ 1 Peter 2:21-24

Do you know Jesus Christ? He is the only thing that satisfies, the only thing that brings true joy. It is Christ who I met through my pain. It was only when I was broken that I was humbled enough to see His salvation. It is these experiences many people have, and many people have the blessing of watching spiritual, physical and emotional healing in their life. Although it is painful, you have a rare blessing I wouldn't give up for the world. 

We had a check up at Dr. Guss this August and I am doing well, seeing great improvement. I will continue on my regimen and go in for another check up in March. After our check up my family headed on a ten day vacation through North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. It was a blast with many new experiences. 

Here is a collage of some of our experiences in Montana, I will share more pictures later :) 

On a sad note, Dr. P has been closed down from both Iowa and Illinois. Please be praying for all the people who are now seeking a new doctor and having difficulties finding one. This is a very hard time for many of them. Also pray for Dr. P, I am not sure what he will do next but pray he would see the Lord through this. God uses all things, I personally think when we are weakest and most broken is when we are more able to see the Lord.

"And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." ~2 Corinthians 12:9

May our weakness, whatever they be, draw us closer to our Lord. May we live for eternity, that will never fade. 

Lastly, the time has come! I have begun student teaching, I just completed my first week and I am loving it. I begin teaching science on monday and am excited for the experiences that will occur in the next seven weeks. I love my cooperating teacher and the students are wonderful. It is a delight to work with kids all day! The Lord has blessed tremendously thus far in my placement and I am excited for what is to come. 

Prayer: 

*Continued healing, that it will continue drawing me closer to My Lord

*Wisdom and direction for those searching for a new doctor and they might see the Lord through this change. 

*That I would feel great through student teaching and be able to show and speak the love of Christ

Faithful Love

The last few months have been full of stories and blessings, I could write for hours about all the details but I don't quite have time for it and I assume you wouldn't have time to read it all anyway! So I am going to bring up the main points of the last few months. 

I had jaw surgery on my left wisdom tooth site in December, and I returned to St. Louis for a check up to see if the infection was all removed. The infection had been removed however I now had infection in the right wisdom tooth site, so we scheduled the surgery in February. The second surgery was much more difficult than the first. Before surgery my lymph node in the back of my neck swelled up and was causing a lot of pain, this was a sign of the infection. This among other reasons made for a difficult recovery. When I finally got the stitches out it still looked infected and I actually wasn't able to open my mouth fully for at least a week after the stitches were removed where with the first surgery I could open it fully with the stitches in. I go in for my next check up to see if the infection is all removed in a few weeks and would love your prayers that the surgery would have been successful and these surgeries are behind me. 

One thing I did not expect from jaw surgery was that it would provide a gateway of healing for my hand. After a year of struggle and lack of mobility I can not only flatten my hand on a table but I can also raise my ring finer an inch above the surface!!! This has been a beautiful example to me of how intricately and perfectly the Lord made us. 

"For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb, I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well." ~Psalm 139:13-14

I began physical therapy and have been thriving! I am currently taking time off of going in for therapy and working on designated exercises at home to strengthen my weakest muscles and will go in for check ups to monitor my progress. I am also able to walk much further than I remember walking in a few years! It has been such a blessing with the warmer weather to go out and walk, it provides such sweet fellowship with the Lord and friends. 

Towards the end of March I had my Level III Placement. This is a full time teachers schedule for a week in a school, I was at Woodside Middle School with Seventh grade geography/social studies. This placement is a taste of student teaching, we take on a teacher schedule and get as involved as we can. I had the opportunity to teach a full day as well as teach other parts of lessons. 

For the last few months I coated the week of my Level III Placement in prayer. I was still having difficulty with early mornings let alone early mornings and long days. But I trusted Gods timing and was waiting to see how He would provide. The result: God answered every one of my prayers far more than I could have imagined through this week! I was assigned to a wonderful placement teacher  who was very welcoming, encouraging, and teachable and I loved my time with her! I had no difficulties waking up early and only recall one moment in the whole week that I was a little nauseous. How the Lord blessed this time! I am still getting up at 6:50 without an alarm clock every morning and feeling pretty good all day! This is making my life far more productive, that's for sure! 

This March my family was able to take a get away to Walker Minnesota and stay at Chase on the Lake. We had a delightful time being together and relaxing. While we were there we also went cross-country skiing, had our own little bowling alley, went snowmobiling, and spent many evenings in the hot tub! 

Here is my parents; Doug and Kelli at the bowling alley

Tera, Aaron and I at the bowling alley 

Aaron, Tera, and I cross-country skiing...which is far more difficult in Minnesota than the gentle rolling hills of Iowa so if you go you have been forewarned! 

We had a wonderful time together and are looking forward for our summer vacation together! 

Lastly, my birthday has just passed and I would like to give credit to all of my friends and family. The last day of my placement was also my birthday I was given two bouquets of flowers; one from my parents and another from my roommate and dear friend Katelyn. These were a surprise sent to me at Woodside and made me feel dearly loved. I also was made a cake and given a card from the teachers who I had worked with for the week, something so sweet I never would have guessed or expected it! 

Heres the beautiful flowers I was given, my desk was very decorated and beautiful the last day! 

On top of all that I received  tons of happy birthday wishes from my friends, all this combined made this my favorite birthday yet! I am so thankful for the people the Lord has placed in my life and how He is so good at loving me through them. Thank you all for your support and friendship! 

"Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it." ~Psalm 37:4-5 

Prayer Requests:

*That my check up in St. Louis would be successful and there would be no more infection

*I have been getting nauseous this week from food, I would love prayer that the nausea would subside and I would be able to eat a health amount. 

Update: Dr. P. is still in Iowa and has not had his court date yet but it is looking like he may be able to stay. Please keep him in you prayers. 

Rejoice

Another Thanksgiving and Christmas have come and gone and it has been a time of rejoicing for my family. The last time I updated you I had leg pain they believed were stress fractures, and a useless right hand. I had an MRI and it came back that my bones are healthy. No stress fractures! That means no wheelchair! How thankful and excited we were and are for that news! 

So what is it? The guess is lyme build-up attacking certain parts of my legs. So I get to start physical therapy to help break up that build-up. I haven't started yet but I am excited, my prayer all along was that I would be able to start physical therapy in Spring 2013, I thought I was as far aways as I could be from starting it. Yet again I see how the Lord knows so much more than me or any of my doctors. 

I read this verse the other day, 

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." ~Isaiah 55:8-9 

This verse reminded yet again of how much God is in control, especially when things are going far different than I had imagined. I see and understand so little, but God sees and understands all things. How thankful I am for His guidance, even if I drag my feet at times. A fun fact: I can already walk farther and have much less leg pain than before and I can wear normal shoes! I am no longer limited to cushioned shoes :) 

The week before Christmas I went in for jaw surgery, I had an infection from a wisdom tooth surgery in High School. It was spur of the moment, but not at the same time. We found the infection the same time I got a positive lyme test, so we decided to wait till I was a bit stronger to do the surgery. So we decided it was now or never, not really but if it wasn't this Christmas it wouldn't be for another year. So we went ahead with it, and how thankful I am that we did!

Every tooth we have is associated with different aspects of our body, (Use this link to see the tooth site chart) I had surgery on site C17 which happens to correlate with the ulnar nerve, the nerve that has gone bad in my hands. Since surgery I have begun writing with my right hand, with very minimal pain, and I have been wearing my brace far less. I firmly believe the infection was having an impact on my ulnar nerve. How thankful I am to be able to use my right hand again! The pain is not all gone but it is far, far better than before. My ring finger is even getting a bit more mobile, I can almost lay my hand flat on a table now! Before my ring finger would stick and not straighten very far. Another reason our family was rejoicing this Christmas season. 

One update that is not joy filled news is that Dr P. is giving up Iowa territory, he is no longer able to afford the court costs. His court session is in early February and to my limited knowledge he will be begin full time in Illinois shortly after. Please be praying for him as this time has been and will continue to be difficult for him. 

We just ended the season of rejoicing in Christ's birth and I would like to share a verse with you...

"He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old." ~Isaiah 63:8b-9

Do you ever feel lonely? Do you ever feel that people do not understand? Or that life is too hard? I beg you to look elsewhere for life. Christmas is a time of celebrating the birth of Christ. Do you understand that He came to this world knowing that He would be rejected, ignored, beaten, and killed. He came to earth because His love for us is far greater than anything He knew He would suffer. He desired a way that we may have a relationship with Him, and the only answer to that was Himself, He became the sacrifice to bridge the gap between this world and Himself. 

One thing the Lord has revealed to me this Christmas season is that my whole life, this whole world is pointless if we do not know Christ. He alone is the only thing worth knowing. I pray you too will come to this understanding and choose to rely upon the one who loves you so dearly that He died, simply that you may know Him and be with Him for eternity. It is my prayer that we do not get stuck in the small details or trial of life but always keep our eyes on Christ, the only one who will never disappoint. May we always rejoice in this truth.  

Prayer Requests: 

*That I would continue to improve and get stronger every day, that I would be healthy enough to student teach in the fall

*For Dr. P, peace during this time and wisdom to know what to do next

*That all of us would realize the impact of Christ's birth, death, and resurrection on a daily basis, and seek an intimate, and personal relationship with Him

The Lord Gives, The Lord Takes

Yesterday, I had a lyme check up with Dr. P and it went really well. This last month my joints have been much sorer than any time I can remember in my past, but Dr. P thinks that could be due to the flu I had a few weeks ago still getting out of my system. Other then joint pain my Lyme has been going very well. The areas that have been giving me difficulty would be my hand, left foot and my legs. 

 I had my nerve test and it came back that my ulnar nerve is compressed, which means I have the rare form of carpal tunnel syndrome, only in my ulnar nerve. I recently had an MRI so we could look more closely at my hand and wrist and have not gotten the results back from it yet. However, there has been a new study done that found that people with Lyme have a higher percent of carpal tunnel, for some reason the lyme is sticking to nerves and creating compressed nerves. So this lack of healing in my hand could be from Lyme. I have been put on a new medication for inflammation that will prayerfully help reduce the symptoms in my hand.

When I was in high school I had very pronounced lyme symptoms for two years, when the symptoms began to decrease I picked up activities that I had quit due to the pain. I went out for the cross-country team again and over time I began having pain in my legs, everybody thought it was shin splints so I pushed through the pain. This wasn't exactly the best idea, because it wasn't shin splints, it was a stress fracture. My pushing through the pain resulted in a broken leg. 

A stress fracture is where your muscles are not used to the activity and instead of laying against your bone they push into your bone. If you don't catch it and stop the activity that is causing the pain your bone will slowly break over time. Just over a month ago I began having symptoms in both of my legs and more recently my left foot, that reminded me of my past stress fracture, every symptom matched. So naturally I talked to Dr. P about this and he said that it is very likely that I could have stress fractures. So he put me on some new medicine for inflammation which I get to try for two weeks (it's the same medicine that may help my hand). At the end of the two weeks if I still have pain I will get a bone scan and depending upon the results I may be in a wheelchair for one month so my legs and foot can get the rest they need and the stress fractures would heal. 

 If you know me you will know that I hate injuries, I don't like braces, (like the one on my hand) I don't like anything that limits me or shows that I'm weak. I have a country girl mindset, the belief that showing pain is showing your weakness. To get a taste of how this mindset used to plague me I will give you two examples. First I mentioned earlier, pushing through pain to the point that I broke my leg the whole time not telling many it actually hurt. Secondly,  I hid extreme pain from Lyme for over a year because I didn't want to look weak and I didn't want people to pity me.  I once found a lot of value in being strong, and letting that lie go has been one of the hardest things for me to give up.

 Over the years I have learned the importance of relying on the strength of the Lord and not the strength of my flesh, because no matter how strong I want to be, I have always and will always be weak.  Over the years I've learned that that's exactly where the Lord wants me. If you know me you'll also know that one my favorite books of the Bible is Job. As I began working through the potential of being wheelchair-bound the Lord brought this verse to my mind...

"Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." ~Job 1:21

 Life is not about being strong or healthy, it's about knowing God. I want to spend my life seeking to know and serve the Lord and make Him known to others. This life is pointless if you do not have a relationship with the Lord. This verse is what I pray my heart will be, now and for the rest of my life. I know that if God brings me to it, He will bring me through it. God has blessed me in so many ways, and so many of my blessings have stemmed from my pain. May I always give praise to the Lord because of who He is and never where I am. 

Prayer Requests:
* That Job 1:21 would be my heart
*That the inflammation medication would help my legs and my hand
*That no matter what cup I am asked to bear I would to it with a heart full of joy keeping my eyes on Christ, knowing that it is His strength that allows me to endure
*Dr. P's trial is coming up, pray he would be able to keep his office in Iowa

Dr. Piccirillo

A year or so ago my lyme doctor, Dr. Piccirillo,  was written up by the state of Iowa.  He was written up because of how he treats lyme disease,  a disease that most believe does not exist. This has been a fight over the treatment of Lyme disease, and he has chosen to fight because there is a large amount of 1yme patients that see him here in Iowa, which I am very thankful for.  Iowa tends to be pickier on their health treatments, and lyme is a part that is very heavily watched everywhere but especially here in Iowa.

 A couple weeks ago things got stickier, there have been some articles published about him and his practice as a lyme doctor. He has a court date on December 7, and this will reveal what will happen to him. He could lose his offices in Iowa, he would then do all his treatments out of Illinois, or something worse could happen. 

 I do not know very much about the situation but I do know that he is in need of prayer. Prayer for favor in the eyes of the court, the Iowa medical board, even his patients. Lyme is a very controversial disease and Dr. P has willingly chosen to not only treat it, but to fight for it. He knows people are not crazy, but they have a real disease, one he himself has had.  I've been with Dr. P for over a year and I have seen so much improvement from the treatment he has given me. I have always felt safe and comfortable with him as my doctor and I will advocate for him.

 Please keep Dr. Piccirillo  in your prayers.  December 7 will reveal more of what is to come,  for now his office will be open for sure until December 7, his time in court will reveal if he can stay here. Please be praying for strength for Dr. P and the Lyme patients he treats and how we all react to whatever may happen come December. May the Lord use it that people may come to know God, the one thing that will never change or fade. Thank you for your prayers. 

Was, Is, Always Will Be

As summer has ended and fall begins, I have found myself in my favorite season.  The colors, temperature, football,  even school are all things I love about fall. I am now in week seven of this semester, the time has flown and although at times I get tired of doing all the homework it has been a joy being back with my classmates. I'm currently taking thirteen credits, which is the most I've taken since I've been sick, homework takes up a lot more of my time but I'm keeping up very well, by the grace of God!

In early August I started medication for a viral infection, this med ended up making me really sick and having to go on a medicine holiday. I began to get better just time for family vacation to Branson, I'm still in the process of getting back on my lyme medication but it's going well and I'm off the viral med which is a huge blessing. 

Our vacation to Branson Missouri was a blast!  We did a large amount of activities, and had a wonderful time together as a family. Here are some pictures of our trip.

  This is our family in front of the Titanic Museum, which is a must if you ever find yourself in the area!

 This is Tera and I parasailing, it was a blast! 

Aaron and my dad also parasailed, it was a first for all of us.

 This is Aaron, Tera, and I at Silver Dollar City. 

We have a picture of ourselves as a little kids on this chair the last time we were in town.  

I believe Aaron was 2, I was 5, and Tera was 7. We've grown just a little bit :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  My big struggle has come with my right hand.  I injured it the first time a month after surgery, and I re-injured it one month ago.  I'm still seeing symptoms worsen and we still don't know what is exactly wrong with it. I began seeing a new hand therapist, after the first didn't know what to do with me. I was just dismissed from the second therapist last week because they were also making the symptoms worse.

 I started getting new symptoms; numbness, tingling, and burning along with wrist pain in my hand. These symptoms point to carpal tunnel syndrome. My hand surgeon thinks that if I had carpal tunnel syndrome before surgery that could be what's causing lack of healing now after surgery.  Others think it's a problem with the ligaments and muscles, that's not related to the surgery but rather the injuries that I have had sense. I'm not exactly sure what is wrong so we're taking things one step at a time with lots of research before action. I have a nerve test on October 15 to see how the nerves in my hand look, so prayerfully this will help in some way.

 I've told you before I learn the most from pain, and I have found a lot from not being able to use my right hand but have also noticed it's not so much knowledge that I have gained.

"We are apt to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching, it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz., into character. The mount is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something." ~Oswald Chambers

 I noticed that the change from my right hand is in my character rather than my knowledge. I've seen my trust go deeper into the Lord, my patience grow, and myself relying on strength of the Lord to a deeper level. This growth has been beautiful to see, many times it has been hard to live through but wonderful to see the faithfulness of the Lord. Right now I am still a lefty, and the Lord has been so gracious with legible handwriting and more natural movements of my non-dominant hand. My doctor is having me wear a brace on my right hand which is taking down the carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms, which is also a huge blessing.

 One of the verses that I have clung to the last couple months is from Psalms.

"Before the mountains were born or you gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God" ~Psalms 90:2

 I've been amazed by the fact lately that God has always been, is now, and will always be.  This truth is so refreshing, especially with difficulties we go through in this world; pain, school, family or friend troubles, even the unknown. We have a God who knows all things, He is a God who we can trust with all things. The difficulty is learning to trust and put our hope in Him alone. 

Prayer Requests: 

* Continued grace  school and being a lefty

* That the Lord will continue to refine my character

* That I would trust the Lord with the unknowns of this hand problems, and my hope would be in Him alone. Along with wisdom and what treatment to pursue.