No Greater Joy!

There may be no greater joy than to hear that one's children are walking in the truth, but I have to admit that the joy of hearing that a sister in Christ has begun to seek the Lord, as I recently have, and has seen her child healed, as I have recently seen my own children healed, definitely comes in at a close second.

Tina Kim posted a comment on my other blog that made me cry and laugh for joy!  Her little boy is healed!  He is beginning to talk more and more.  He did not regress when she took him off of the GAPS Diet.  Instead, he improved!  God is great!  Nothing is impossible for God!  Read her own words in the comments section here:

http://gapsfamily.blogspot.com/2012/05/healed-because-of-gaps-diet.html

Also, check out her comments from earlier posts to get a better understanding of what took place over a period of time.  God is so good!  His Word is true!  She commented on The GAPS Diet Did NOT Heal Us and on Enjoying Our Freedom.

Trusting God With This Pregnancy

This pregnancy was a gift.  I ovulated early.  I misread the signs.  We were drawn to be with each other.  God is sovereign.  He knows what He is doing, and His Word says that children are a blessing from the Lord.  When God blesses His people, the Israelites, in the Old Testament, He blessed the fruit of their wombs and none of the women cast their fruit before their time.  I am trusting Him with every aspect of this gift.

So, I had a few moments of panic here and there at the beginning of this new adventure, but I remembered that God tells me not to be anxious about anything, but to pray with thanksgiving.  I prayed for no morning sickness and I thanked God for giving me the strength to continue to care for my family.  While I had plenty of food aversions and cravings, tiredness, and sometimes felt rather Blah, I did not suffer from any nausea.  Not once did I ever feel like I was going to lose my lunch, except the one time that I took my vitamins on an empty stomach.  I recommend never taking vitamins on an empty stomach.

I thank God for this gift of mercy.  It is significant because I have five children to teach and care for on a daily basis.  It is also significant because I was sick with morning sickness during the 6th week to the 15th week of the first four pregnancies.  I was not sick during the 5th pregnancy, so long as I avoided all dairy and sugar, in addition to already being gluten-free and stage one Feingold.  This pregnancy is different because Jesus healed me.  I can and do eat anything.  I can eat wheat (after nearly 20 years of being gluten-free).  I can eat dairy.  I can eat eggs (they used to give me asthma).  I can eat melons (they used to cause painful sores in my mouth).  I can eat artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives (they used to cause all kinds of emotional and sensory issues).  I eat anything now, and I was not sick.

I did not fear a miscarriage.  God is love, and perfect love casts out all fear.  Whenever the thought popped into my mind or symptoms seemed to suggest the possibility, I turned to God and thanked Him for His protection.  I thanked Him for giving me peace to rest in Him.

I have declared that certain things from past pregnancies are not going to be a problem in this pregnancy.  When they pop up, I say NO in Jesus' Name.  The athlete's foot went away.  The varicose veins give me little to no pain for 5 days now, and I continue to thank God for this healing.  I continue to ask for complete healing, just as the athlete's foot went completely away.  I have no headaches.  I can breathe at night.  I can sleep at night.  There is so much more, but...I'll stop for now.

I have to mention the contractions!!!  I was on bed rest for four of the five full and near term pregnancies. I put myself on and off of bed rest with the fourth pregnancy.  I had lots and lots of pre-term contractions from 15 weeks or so with each.  They were strong.  They were 10-15 minutes apart.  They made my back hurt and made my body tired.  They worried me.  They worried the midwives and doctors.  They worried everyone.  We took every precaution "just in case".  I did start to get some contractions during this pregnancy, but I thanked God for His goodness and I thanked Him, because contractions are not going to be an issue in this pregnancy.  I give God all of the praise!  I have very few braxton hicks contractions.  My tummy is very soft and squishy pretty nearly all of the time!  It is strange for me to experience this.

What is truly amazing is that I am nearly 20 weeks along (I was put on bed rest at 20 weeks with our 3rd baby), my tummy is as big as it usually is for 6 months pregnant, and I am not having any contractions!  Praise the Lord!

I am looking forward to getting a sneak peek next week.  Gotta go!  Bye!

May 20th Update: It's a Boy! Everything looked great on the ultrasound. Praise the Lord! He is the right size. Everything looks normal. The placenta is in the front towards the top, which is right where I suspected it was because I do not feel any movement there and the heartbeat was difficult to find and was faint at every appointment. WooHoo!

June 18 Update:  For awhile, I began to dwell on my pregnancy and stress about the upcoming ultrasound, and the pain and swelling from the varicose veins returned, as well as the BH contractions. I became tired and uncomfortable. When I gave it back to the Lord and stopped dwelling on myself, the symptoms went away again. I love not having to wear the support hose and I love not having constant contractions. Praise the Lord! Thank you, Jesus!!!

Praise the Lord for His great love for us and for His protection. He is my strength and my shield! I am 25 weeks pregnant today and I am still not having too many BH contractions. I have a few, but not many. I feel great! The varicose veins are still not a problem. They do bulge and I do have more now than before, but they do not cause me pain and I do not wear the support hose. Maybe if I would wear the support hose, I would not develop any new ones, but it is very hot in Houston, Texas. I walk for an hour nearly everyday in 80-95 degree F temperatures. I do not want to wear support hose in Houston in the summer! I do not mind the look of the veins, so long as they do not cause me severe pain as they did when I first noticed them. Praise the Lord that they do not hurt.

I do not know why, but I am as big now as I usually am at full term. Also, I have already gained about 25 pounds at 25 weeks. I do not think I have ever gained more than 25 pounds, but it looks as if I will this time around, because I still have 15 weeks to go. It is a bit unnerving and kinda cool at the same time. If I had not already had an ultrasound, I would definitely think that there were two in there because I'm HUGE! (for me)

Oops

I am not sure of the wisdom of making this my second post, but this is where I am at.

As I have been walking and talking with the Lord, I have been amazed at what I am learning about my God and My Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am praying that He would give me faith to take Him at His Word and believe Him.  The more I read the Word and spend time in prayer with God, the more I believe in my heart what I know in my mind to be true.  I have begun to act on this faith that God has given me and amazing things are happening!

God is my Savior!  He is my Healer!  He is my Provider!  He is Holy!  He has redeemed me and made me holy, too, by the blood of Jesus!  God is mighty in power!  Nothing is impossible for God!  God is Love!  He is more...so much more...but I am just getting to really know Him.

He wants me to love Him with all of my heart, my soul, my strength, and my mind, and He wants me to love my neighbor as myself (Matthew 22:37-39).  I cannot love someone that I do not know.  I am really growing in my love for my God as I spend time with Him and get to know Him for who He truly is.  I know that if I say I love God, yet hate my brother, then God is not in me (I John 4:20), but I do struggle, at times, to genuinely love people.  My love for myself still gets in the way of my loving others as Christ loves us.  (Oh, Lord, change this about me.  More of You, and less of me.  Better yet, I want to die to myself so that I can truly live for You.  Make it so.  Amen!)

Yesterday, I was involved in conversation with several people and the discussion turned to health problems and vaccine issues.  I was filled with such joy for what God had done for my family and for what He continues to do for us as we grow in our faith, that I wanted to share with the idea that I would pray for God's healing hand to be on the woman who was going in for an MRI at the end of the week.  My intention was to give hope for healing through faith in our Lord who loves us so much.

I began to share how God had healed us and how it came to be, and I began to share how I was learning to trust God for everything, including issues that pop up with my children and issues that pop up relating to my current pregnancy (more on that later).  I shared how I asked God for faith to believe that He would heal us, because His Word clearly says that there is a definite relationship between faith and healing.  Jesus often said, "Your faith has healed you." (Matthew 15:28, Mark 5:34) and "According to your faith, it will be done for you." (Matthew 9:29)  He also said that "anything is possible for him who believes." (Mark 9:23).  When the disciples could not heal the boy who was seized by an evil spirit, Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith (Mark 9:19).  Clearly, healing is connected to believing.  I praised God for His mighty works and I declared that, "God is a God who heals and He heals today."  I encouraged my listeners to seek Him.  I told them that I stopped seeking healing from the Lord, and when I began to seek Him He showed Himself to me, He showed me how much He loved me, and He showed me what He wanted to do for me.

What I did not know was that one of the women I was sharing with had lost a baby during childbirth less than two years prior and had experienced a miscarriage after that.  She had just found out that she was pregnant and is now fearful about losing another child.  Here I was proclaiming my joy and my thankfulness to a loving God who healed us and saved us!  Here I was describing how I was trusting in God for every aspect of my current pregnancy and was testifying to God's mercy in taking away the pain of the varicose veins in my leg (3 days now with little to no pain and no need of support hosiery).

She called me aside and told me that I should be careful when sharing such things, because I may not know who is listening or what they have been through.  She told me of her pain.  I listened, stunned, and I did not know what to say.  I knew that everything I was saying was true.  I knew that what I was saying could and would be offensive to some.  I understood her interpretation of my testimony to imply that her baby died because she did not have enough faith.

This is where I screwed up!  I should have empathized with her in her pain.  I should have acknowledged my sorrow for her that my words and my testimony brought her such sorrow.  I should have hugged her and cried with her and reminded her that God can heal the pain of the past, but I didn't.  Instead, I stopped to think about whether or not I should have said the things I said and I sought to defend my belief.  I am certain that my response to her only brought her more pain.  I should have acted differently, but I didn't.

Now, I am not wallowing in shame or beating myself up for my huge blunder.  I messed up, BIG TIME!  I can't change that, but I can learn from it.  I confessed my sin to the Lord and talked to Him about what I can do, if anything, to remedy the hurt that I caused.  He leads me in paths of righteousness.  I am still waiting on an answer.  I am able to call her or e-mail her, but I do not know yet if that is what I need to do.  I do not wish to cause any further pain.

I am certain that it is always the right thing to do to proclaim God's Glory and to tell of His mighty deeds (Psalm 107:22). I do not think that I should hold back on declaring God's mercy for fear that it might cause someone pain to hear of it.  I am certain that it is the right thing to do to encourage people, especially believers, to seek God, His kingdom, and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).  I think that I need to work on my response to people when they react to what I am saying (Colossians 4:6).

Walking and Talking with the God of the Universe

I have recently come to understand what it means to walk in faith.  In everything, I must trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding.  In all my ways, I must acknowledge Him and He will make my paths straight (Proverbs 3:5).  I have begun to seek God by reading His Word and asking Him to teach me (John 14:26, I John 2:27).

God's word says that I must come as a little child or I will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3).  Romans 8:15 tells me that I have received the Spirit of sonship and that by him I cry "Abba, Father".  So I picture myself as a little child and I approach my Heavenly Father and I ask Him to teach me.  I see myself like my own child who settles himself on the couch next to me and asks me how to spell "dog".  I graciously and enthusiastically teach my child the spelling for the word "dog" because he is now ready to learn it.  When I read God's Word and I find that I do not understand the meaning, I ask Him to teach me what it means.  I am approaching my "Abba" with a heart that is open and ready to learn, and He teaches me.  It has been amazing the way He has given me the answers to nearly all of the questions I put before Him.

God tells me in James 1:5 that I should ask for wisdom and that He will give it to me.  I asked.  He did.  I continue to ask God to give me more wisdom.   I see things now that I didn't see or understand before.

In Jeremiah 33:3, God says, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."  Like a child, I approached my "Daddy", who happens to be the God of the universe, and said, "OK, I am calling to you now and I am asking you to show me great and unsearchable things that I have not known."  He did, indeed, begin to show me such amazing things that I had never before known or understood.  Our God is real and His Word is living and active in our lives today.  He says that if we seek Him, He will be found by us (Proverbs 8:17 and Deuteronomy 4:29).  He says that He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).  He tells us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

After Jesus healed me and all five of my children from GAPS issues too numerous to name here, but including asthma, eczema, dyslexia, dyspraxia, anger, anxiety, sensory issues, and other symptoms of autism, my eyes have been opened to the spiritual battle that is raging all around us and to the importance of literally putting on the full armor of God and praying on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests (Ephesians 6:10-18).  I have experienced the working of God's power in our lives and am forever changed.  Actually, I was forever changed, and then I experienced the working of God's power in our lives.  I am so full of joy that I can hardly contain myself.  I want to shout it from the rooftops that "Our God is so good!  He's mighty and powerful!  He loves us!!!"

In recent weeks, maybe for a month or two now, I have literally begun to walk and talk with my God.  I walk about 30-60 minutes a day around my neighborhood, and I praise God for everything that He has made and for all of the great things that He has done.  I thank Him for all the good things He has done for us.  I thank Him for our healing.  I talk to God about who He is, and I talk to Him about who I am in Him.  I talk to Him about His Word.  I take my Bible with me so that I can look up verses I know and confirm and cement the references and correct quotes into my mind.  Sometimes I spend time committing a verse to memory.  Sometimes I read passages as I walk.  I talk to God about His Word as I read it.  He teaches me as we walk.  Sometimes God convicts me of something and I confess my sin to Him and thank Him, because He leads me in paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:3) and will not let me continue in my sin (I John 3:9).  He comforts me (Psalm 23:4).  Sometimes I talk to Him about issues I have that are a concern to me (Phillipians 4:6).  He helps me, through His Word, to understand and deal with the issues.  I love my walks with the Lord.  I hope and pray that my walks will continue in some form all the days of my life.

Because the God of the universe dwells in me (John 14:23), He is with me wherever I go (Genesis 28:15 and Matthew 28:20).  He promises me that He will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5).  I can walk with Him and talk with Him, like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden, because He has cleansed me of all unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus and has called me to be His beloved child.  What a mighty God we serve!