tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75967987476911523592024-03-06T19:35:20.729-08:00Hills of Mercy Hollers of GraceOur life in the MountainsMelissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-20399597392933794732023-07-10T12:24:00.001-07:002023-07-10T12:37:18.982-07:00Countering WorrySummer has finally arrived here in Southern California after the longest "winter" we have experienced since moving here. Either way, summer or winter, we can't complain, as winter is not what we would have experienced even <a href="https://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-worst-wv.html" target="_blank">7 short years ago in West Virginia</a> and certainly not what we lived through all those years in Massachusetts. Even summer has taken on a whole new meaning this year, as it is almost mid-July and we have not even had to turn our air conditioner on one time. <div><br /></div><div>I truly believe that when we are going through some of the hardest times of life, God offers us such blessings to allow us to see He is still there. I know I speak for Kyra and myself when I say one of those blessings is, in fact, the opportunity to live, grow, and just BE in Southern California. There's something very healing and peaceful about this place. Multiply that by a million on the days we get to go to the coast. It's one of the reasons, <a href="https://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2023/07/carrying-on.html" target="_blank">as our daughters Lyme Disease progressed</a>, we knew we had to move her back home to SoCal from where she was living in NoCal, there is that much of a difference between the two parts of the state.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRTLfUNhh9szYwnIZQF8Segj0h-oAA2G1IdFROLFqisZ_hl3VlR7J1nWLrhugkdhiSDQ2KngQ_Izc7kxGMibkvGG-R3YcuyurC4n8pQDosXTELekVNOe5m8ec_lDK_k4-jYRy2CWngA6MCRURW-ino12lZw5pjUD2LPGWiS5ppKYYKVVYAGcNzR0DwkU/s1440/IMG_20230709_212141_622.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyRTLfUNhh9szYwnIZQF8Segj0h-oAA2G1IdFROLFqisZ_hl3VlR7J1nWLrhugkdhiSDQ2KngQ_Izc7kxGMibkvGG-R3YcuyurC4n8pQDosXTELekVNOe5m8ec_lDK_k4-jYRy2CWngA6MCRURW-ino12lZw5pjUD2LPGWiS5ppKYYKVVYAGcNzR0DwkU/s320/IMG_20230709_212141_622.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
She also needed to be with us. She needed the help her dad, her brother, her sister-in-law and I could provide with the baby, with medical appointments, <a href="https://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2023/06/clueless.html" target="_blank">just doing life with Lyme</a>. This weekend she had a unique opportunity to take her daughter to Disney. Somehow my children dodged their momma's Grinch, Disney hating gene, and they love it. Kyra spent weeks excited for the trip, planning outfits for not only herself, but her baby girl. Which Disney characters would they be? In the end, she chose Padme for herself, and Moana for the baby. Aren't they just adorable?????
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_h4q1CTVb1e0MeRoA2PubxyUNXE4gU4nT8As8Lp-SkVvaQx8zn_dFJO3LKmTO-UNsPllzaCPDI-44P4Of6Mr7bEdzYBvlhVO0424QFzvF7d3RQyEn15sJ7wUmijRUorOYSl3VNyMPx2o66AMPW1eSWgudlEOYfNifbr5ez5DTDmA48SeJiL90YsbEHEU/s1440/IMG_20230709_212141_764.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_h4q1CTVb1e0MeRoA2PubxyUNXE4gU4nT8As8Lp-SkVvaQx8zn_dFJO3LKmTO-UNsPllzaCPDI-44P4Of6Mr7bEdzYBvlhVO0424QFzvF7d3RQyEn15sJ7wUmijRUorOYSl3VNyMPx2o66AMPW1eSWgudlEOYfNifbr5ez5DTDmA48SeJiL90YsbEHEU/s320/IMG_20230709_212141_764.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
But the weeks didn't come without worry. How long could she last at Disney? Would she end up a tired burden to the family she was attending Disney with? She did not want to interfere with their time, but, with her whole heart and soul, she wanted to go. I admit, I was worried as well, so, I did what mom's do best, and I came up with a plan. Since the family Kyra was going to Disney with was actually going for two days and Kyra was only going for one, her dad and I would plan an entire day around events near Disney so that we would never be more than a half an hour away if she fell ill and couldn't walk around the park anymore. </div><div><br /></div><div>Every night as Rich and I go to bed, he listens to a Christian program on his computer called <a href="https://growingthrugrace.com/default.aspx" target="_blank">Growing Thru Grace</a>. I admit, I really do try to listen, but, having never been one to have a problem sleeping, I usually fall asleep within the first five minutes!!! It is Pastor Jack Abeelen out of Morningstar Christian Chapel in Whittier, CA. Only twelve miles from Disneyland, we thought this would be a great place to start our day. So yesterday morning, Rich and I headed north toward Whittier. The sermon was on Luke 12:22-34. Worry. Ok, God, I hear you, I had to travel 70 miles north to hear a sermon made just for me for such a time as this. Our family has been experiencing another really dark moment these last seven weeks that I am not at liberty to write about, but between our daughters illness and the other matter we are trying to walk each other through, worry has not only been my middle name, but my first and last as well.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTChopf0RucseNxIiDtqnRNiKkw9wsh4GyLDeQIn7i7xp6TTc1RGa6wzhcHIatonRo6McQK3eGt1M8tiuAf9fG52Sr3opFmLWMrqtzZh0tIVVDmoNo7pYc0wahsch272blaV_BY45pNjhPquFH2VlwJ3HcW8mqhK8W72cqAWjTu8YxgvFo2phVzppFbuI/s1069/Screenshot_20230710-113334~2.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="1069" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTChopf0RucseNxIiDtqnRNiKkw9wsh4GyLDeQIn7i7xp6TTc1RGa6wzhcHIatonRo6McQK3eGt1M8tiuAf9fG52Sr3opFmLWMrqtzZh0tIVVDmoNo7pYc0wahsch272blaV_BY45pNjhPquFH2VlwJ3HcW8mqhK8W72cqAWjTu8YxgvFo2phVzppFbuI/s320/Screenshot_20230710-113334~2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
I was excruciatingly worried about Kyra going to Disney for many, many reasons. The Momma Bear in me was alive and well, even though my baby girl is very much an adult. I tried to turn her over to God and just have an enjoyable day with my husband. Then, Pastor Jack said this, "The next time you say, I am worried, I want you to replace worried with FAITHLESS". OUCH.....<a href="https://www.californiapreachin.com/about" target="_blank">"HOLY SPIRIT ACTIVATE!!!" as one of my favorites, Chynna Phillips</a> alway says. There was no one else in the church but me when he said that. And instantly I knew I could not spend another minute worrying about Kyras illness, I couldn't spend another instant worrying about her at Disney, and I could not spend another minute worrying about the other storm we are walking through as a family at this time.
Faithless.......go ahead, try it. What are you worried about right now? Now say it out loud. Now replace worried with faithless. Here, I will go first. I am worried about my daughters illness. I am FAITHLESS when it comes to my daughters illness. What a difference! Imagine having to face God Himself some day with the repentance of being FAITHLESS for my daughters healing?? Wow. This was one of those moments my favorite Pastor ever, <a href="https://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014/05/freed-from-church.html" target="_blank">Roger Adams in Lewisburg, WV</a> would call an Ebenezer Stone moment. From the very core of my soul I believe my life changed yesterday when Pastor Jack said those words and I will never look at worrying the same. </div><div><br /></div><div>Rich and I went on to spend the rest of our day in Dana Point, CA at one of our favorite places, the home of two of our dearest friends. Ed was in Afghanistan with Rich one of the years he was deployed, and, no offense to my real brother in law, but I always call Ed my favorite brother in law because he always took such good care of the kids and I when Rich would deploy from here in SoCal and he always checked on us and would tell us the most amazing stories of the time he and Rich spent in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. We hadn't visited him and his dear wife Annette at this home they have in a while because they usually live closer to us, so, since we were in Dana Point last, someone had installed this surfboard on the hiking trail. I tied it together perfectly with Pastor Jacks message in my mind. Keep Paddling, Stop Worrying, BE FaithFUL Not FaithLESS. In a strange way, it was as if I couldn't love Dana Point anymore, this surfboard sealed the deal for me.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiih8MSFsi9OeGlRB1pV2G9Q8_hgk3jr1jVvdK7kwcAw2thXpFNHdjWEtycjYra2IrAU4MFqvtJC7OFsl57I3Zfr0l_C9yTYfevC55mL1AFux3elv6wxB_MGbN716RFKhvaHoaJlena0QVR1Mezn8bGkJ5X3B1AZhhVl4zsiwn7FGu8WkvJEE0pzg7nPGI/s1440/IMG_20230709_212141_637.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiih8MSFsi9OeGlRB1pV2G9Q8_hgk3jr1jVvdK7kwcAw2thXpFNHdjWEtycjYra2IrAU4MFqvtJC7OFsl57I3Zfr0l_C9yTYfevC55mL1AFux3elv6wxB_MGbN716RFKhvaHoaJlena0QVR1Mezn8bGkJ5X3B1AZhhVl4zsiwn7FGu8WkvJEE0pzg7nPGI/s320/IMG_20230709_212141_637.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Well, <b><i>SURPRISE,</i></b> it turns out all of my worry, was in fact, for nothing. Imagine that!!! Kyra had stopped taking her meds on Saturday in the hopes that the extreme side effects would go away by Sunday and she could enjoy her day at Disney. Her plan worked! I must have received 50 texts of how much fun she was having and the joy on her face and the babies face in the photos is priceless! She was able to stay at the park until 630, when, honestly, her dad and I had to make the call to pick her up because WE were exhausted and it was still an hour ride home. I think she would have been able to last a few hours longer even. So, all of my worry over this matter, was, in fact, for nothing and proved me faithless. So from now I will counter my worry with a strong faith, knowing in my soul that God is working through all of our trials right now and we will see beauty from these ashes in the end! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-JGuX20NpJEJd-H9PSOYwF9LSvR2oiQjkgTUY6Nf7mpb_Nqn6IbPv0Jg4OyBFReMl8zHej2QJ4lPDyYfknE1D3AczQfRS4tmOhgK6AzTGvLfvM0Fgw7E4go1Namk054i3s2bDIWsAKvCKiyx4Jj4ZulMkTxGSnLmc-QUxjE9x9glKzdHFfvnK6GSJEw/s640/IMG_20230709_104227.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-JGuX20NpJEJd-H9PSOYwF9LSvR2oiQjkgTUY6Nf7mpb_Nqn6IbPv0Jg4OyBFReMl8zHej2QJ4lPDyYfknE1D3AczQfRS4tmOhgK6AzTGvLfvM0Fgw7E4go1Namk054i3s2bDIWsAKvCKiyx4Jj4ZulMkTxGSnLmc-QUxjE9x9glKzdHFfvnK6GSJEw/s320/IMG_20230709_104227.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-38990827717740634922023-07-01T06:00:00.002-07:002023-07-01T06:31:29.238-07:00Carrying On<p>I am not really certain how it is already the first of July, time continues to run away from us. Between working, keeping my husband a priority, helping Kyra through treatment and taking care of the baby, my memory blends into one giant time fog. Without viewing a calendar, its hard to recall if this is week four or five of the latest trial life has handed us, but I know each day, we all look for the beauty and gratitude to sustain us. The hope that can only be found in Jesus.</p><p>As we travel through the extensive healing process and protocol, its important to both Kyra and I to update everyone so people can see, if it works for her, it might work for you or someone you love as well. So, <a href="https://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2023/06/clueless.html">as of my last post</a>, we had determined which parasites we are at war with. Last Friday, Kyra and I headed off to CVS to pick up three antibiotics, her new protocol for the month of July. Kyra had no idea of my secret prayer that somehow, someway, these antibiotics were not going to cost us an arm and a leg. With no health insurance at this time (honestly, most Lyme doctors worth their weight don't take health insurance anyway), and unable to work due to the extreme all over body pain and shakiness in her hands, Rich and I have budgeted $2,000 a month for this care for the next two years, all the while helping Richy and Lauren pull of a glorious wedding this November! Talk about leaning on the faith of God's provision! When it comes to picking up new medications each month, I just told Kyra "Download the Good Rx app", and I prayed for a miracle! Good Rx doesn't help with the holistic supplements she will be sent each month directly from the doctor, but we will use it when we can.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVa5YhNxvzK02xAlQj_7k3-A2ZcHJwFzn4ZAYoYFic8dC7y55mLxA0myhf4g0Wjw8XaYmOr-egp4PefSLhXVZUKSLqZLXDfGIyDUy-uSdHzRORfe75BJOBpbIUbtzInyYaVLKReCkRNgmy1ZIgCLJjvVErdERWSVZjU7q9eWyGGwG8NlC5zKG9q4I07s/s926/Screenshot_20230701-054239.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="926" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVa5YhNxvzK02xAlQj_7k3-A2ZcHJwFzn4ZAYoYFic8dC7y55mLxA0myhf4g0Wjw8XaYmOr-egp4PefSLhXVZUKSLqZLXDfGIyDUy-uSdHzRORfe75BJOBpbIUbtzInyYaVLKReCkRNgmy1ZIgCLJjvVErdERWSVZjU7q9eWyGGwG8NlC5zKG9q4I07s/s320/Screenshot_20230701-054239.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>As we began to talk to the kind woman in the pharmacy (I note that she was kind because, is it just me, or is it very difficult to find kind, caring employees anymore?), she said to Kyra "I need a new insurance card". When Kyra told her she doesn't have insurance, she said, "You know which medications you were prescribed right?" I immediately interjected, "We know, it's not a problem" so there would not be a hyper focus on the cost. I already know Kyra feels bad that we are paying for this and there is no reason to add guilt to the list of stressors she already has. She was given hydroxychloroquine, cefdinir, and azithromycin and told to start one every few days. By the grace of God we had that Good Rx app, which, if you haven't heard of it, I highly recommend you download it. I can't wrap my simple mind around how it works and honestly, I do not care. That medication would have been $1,000, but as soon as they scanned Kyra's Good RX app, it went down to $150. Praise God!!!! Financially we also had more good news as, the initial $550 doctors fee turned out to just be an initial fee. All appointments after that are "only" $400. I know that is still a lot, but we will take any reduction at this point and the doctor is so worth it. Also in the budget this past week, a test for mold toxicity. Mold toxicity tends to go hand in hand with Lyme, so the doctor mailed Kyra a test to take and send back. We are awaiting the results of that.</p><p>I list all of the costs, not only to praise God for providing, but as another thing that needs to be addressed regarding Lyme Disease. I am normally not a conspiracy theorist, but there is some sort of correlation between this being a government created disease and some insurance companies not covering it. I will talk about this more in future posts. Imagine the hindrance if you do not have the finances to pay for all of this care AND your insurance company doesn't pay for the treatment or you do not even have health insurance. I mention that because I know there are a few people on my friends list who have had or have Lyme Disease and I would be curious to hear other experiences with reference to how care was paid for.</p><p>So far Kyra has only been able to start one of the antibiotics due to a drug reactions between the combination of two of the medicines, today we go to pick up a replacement for the one that causes the reaction. This past week she had another terrifying episode of her temperature dropping to 95 degrees combined with extreme weakness. She was basically home alone and her brother and I had to cut short what we were doing so we could run back to their house and make sure she didn't need to be hospitalized. She is experiencing a lot of dizziness, and, though I didn't mention it to her, I noticed on Wednesday when we went shopping she got extremely fatigued and we had to walk a little slower down the aisles. It was very reminiscent of the previous week when she had taken a long walk on the beach with her precious sister-in-law carrying the baby for her, but paid the ultimate price as the exhaustion from that walk left her too tired to stay at the beach and we had to leave early. But she pushes through and spent the week cleaning her house as they will have visitors this coming week.</p><p>The dizziness reminded me of yet another time in her youth when I should have known the Lyme was still attacking her body. She was ten years old and we lived in our beloved rental "Barny". Her Daddy was in Iraq for the second time and coming home, so we were about to catch a plane to Northern California where he was being flown to, for a much anticipated family vacation. Always prone to a bit of anxiety (now I know, due to the Lyme Disease), two days before we were leaving, she began to feel extremely dizzy and weak, her temperature was nosediving. Not one to rush to the doctor, ever, I began to become extremely worried and called our dear friends at her pediatricians office. Though I have had a <a href="https://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014/03/seeing-is-believing.html" target="_blank">severe skepticism of MD's since my husbands near death experience</a> at the hands of one in Massachusetts, in our new small town in West Virginia at the time, both of our pediatricians went to church with us and were two of the most amazing women we had ever met. So I called them, and off went Kyra and I while her brother went to hang out with a friend. </p><p>My sweet doctor friends immediately knew she was dehydrated and tried to find a vein to hook her up to an IV, but they could not find one. As they tried multiple ways of helping my baby, it was clear she was becoming drastically weaker right before our eyes, so they made the decision to transfer her to ICU. Looking back, you know, I don't even know if I informed these ladies that she had ever even had Lyme Disease. Why? Because we had been told she was cured when she was four, so why would it even cross my mind that this could have anything to do with it? How I wish it would have. Our pediatricians were the best of the best, but what we have found out over the past few years is that, due to no fault of their own, most MD's really don't know anything about Lyme Disease and they get no medical training on it in med school. Lyme is not part of a standard blood panel that you would get to see what is wrong. If you want to know about Lyme, you have to learn on your own, much like the Boston Oncologist I mentioned in my previous post.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wdw1Q4aYUOW3dQaOdXnlVIlkGp-tWUyYtT6Iuk60mpc6k-PGJyW4lNMWwUP7j26mlVchfhul2z4oZt3qI-KK1gZPGWh72Cyaa_iN2hjqCyN_7WvRjxOhr_RHmjq7wwFBPSC8EdvYeHibKPsqH2DzBiPKD5ek8Ul4VoLlQ3Rw526oeNTZLkkhxqJmWxo/s1872/Screenshot_20230701-053330.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1872" data-original-width="1079" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-wdw1Q4aYUOW3dQaOdXnlVIlkGp-tWUyYtT6Iuk60mpc6k-PGJyW4lNMWwUP7j26mlVchfhul2z4oZt3qI-KK1gZPGWh72Cyaa_iN2hjqCyN_7WvRjxOhr_RHmjq7wwFBPSC8EdvYeHibKPsqH2DzBiPKD5ek8Ul4VoLlQ3Rw526oeNTZLkkhxqJmWxo/s320/Screenshot_20230701-053330.png" width="184" /></a></div><p>Once in ICU, she stayed overnight until she was stabilized and then they released her to come home. But now, fresh out of ICU, and with no diagnosis except for dehydration, it was time to drive to Charleston and board the plane. She still felt as though she had been run over by a train, and her anxiety levels were at an all time high, which we now know as a Lyme flair up. But we had to take this trip. We hadn't seen Daddy for nine months! And for months we had been planning our stay in Northern California, followed by a flight to Southern California where we would stay at the military friendly Lawrence Welk Resort and take the kids to Legoland (How funny looking back that we were clueless to the fact that in six short years, <a href="https://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2016/11/fifteen-months-of-living.html" target="_blank">we would be living 20 miles from that resort</a>! Had you told me that at the time, I would have called you a flat out liar and out of your skull!!)</p><p>As we sat in the tiny boarding area at CRW, she looked at me and said, "Mom, I can't do this". Always one to want my kids to be tough (just ask her about the time her Uncle Frankie accidentally broke her finger playing football with her and her brother and we didn't find out until six months later at her next sports physical!), I was compassionate to a point, but basically gave her a "Buck Up" attitude and said the trip was paid for, and Daddy was waiting for us in San Francisco, we could not disappoint him. I will never forget the look of shear panic on her face when she realized I was going to make her stay locked up on an airplane for over five hours. In my own mind I was envisioning an emergency landing somewhere over the Mid-West due to my poor babies panic attack, but I never would have told her that! Of course she did it, because she's Kyra, and we made it, and, in the end, that vacation ended up being one of our best family memories we have. </p><p>It wouldn't be the last time she would have to be tough. I know that her faith plays a huge part in her intense determination, and I do believe her level of determination is extreme. Right now, she is being tough for this little one pictured below, her life, her joy, her baby girl! Many nights her Daddy and I just sit and talk about how remarkable her will to push through as she faces two turbulent issues at the same time, two things a person should never have to experience at the same time, but she just carries on, takes care of her baby, does her protocol, prays and tries to learn. She might stop for a cry, text me a mile long text to vent, or spend an afternoon talking it out with her sister-in-law who is also her best friend, but then she puts her big girl pants on, does the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing and carries on. Short of Jesus Himself, she is the biggest inspiration in my life right now.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGaQKTRKWfxzSCtwJX_MILHwDbWH-REviGQgpTX3i6vKT9-QhQgHcqVOXN82kOqKbtRXYbTy3eGXmT3sGc2MPS6uSOanVSHbyGhIDbiNofAgfKPSQxO2zyiviGlotXI5cN0S09w8r55cLX56gXsOJ9DYhYaMhI8DMI_QEeyK3vfHt1siNIOz0LwlVdF3M/s1053/Screenshot_20230701-053441.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1053" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGaQKTRKWfxzSCtwJX_MILHwDbWH-REviGQgpTX3i6vKT9-QhQgHcqVOXN82kOqKbtRXYbTy3eGXmT3sGc2MPS6uSOanVSHbyGhIDbiNofAgfKPSQxO2zyiviGlotXI5cN0S09w8r55cLX56gXsOJ9DYhYaMhI8DMI_QEeyK3vfHt1siNIOz0LwlVdF3M/s320/Screenshot_20230701-053441.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-55162139543693714712023-06-21T18:49:00.000-07:002023-06-21T18:49:43.925-07:00Clueless<p><a href="https://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2023/06/when-someone-you-love-has-lyme.html" target="_blank">In my last post</a>, I told of how our adult daughter has begun treatment for Lyme disease. The big missing piece of the puzzle is that, for many years, 15 plus to be exact, we thought she was cured.</p><p>In my last post, I briefly mentioned Momma Guilt. Even though, as a therapist, I know what I would tell any client who thinks like I think, it is just so hard to look back and not think "Why didn't I see it?" We were going on the doctors words that she was healed, so, once we were told that, I put Lyme Disease to rest and never thought of it again.</p><p>Well, I guess NEVER is a strong word. When our daughter Kyra was 19, ever the independent one, she moved out on her own to Northern California with little help from us with the exception of helping her put a deposit on an apartment. At first, things were great, but she began to get lonely because she was about an hour away from her high school boyfriend who had joined the Air Force. Since she moved to NoCal to be closer to him, she took it upon herself to truly adult, apartment hunt, job hunt, continue college and move closer to the Air Force Base. All that adulting began to take its toll, until, she began to realize she was feeling worse and worse. At first, we really did think it was just the stress of trying to do too much, trying to make it on her own, but as her pain levels grew, I asked her to come home for an extended visit so we could go to the doctor and do bloodwork.</p><p>Now 20 years old and in severe pain, I took my daughter to an integrative doctor. They put us in touch with a host of people who could help us get things done at home because she was in so much pain. Who knew you could actually have bloodwork done in your house, a mobile phlebotomist! A couple of days after his joyful visit to our house (no sarcasm there, she has a tremendous fear of needles, but having the peace and quiet of her own home really made the experience doable for her), the results were in, our daughter tested positive for Lyme Disease, which meant she had never actually been healed, which meant, I had missed a numerous amount of signs over the years. Which meant, maybe we should have had that spinal tap after all. Hindsight's 20/20 right? And boy, looking back could I ever see clearly.</p><p>As I wracked my brain trying to think of all the things I should have seen, my mind immediately shot back to her 6th grade year. Always a straight A student, I would more often than not make up tests for my kids to do the night before they had an actual test. I would look at their material and make questions to give them to see what areas they still needed help in. Kyra would always pass with flying colors (they both would actually) and we never needed to go over anything else. Somewhere during the school year though, she started failing science. This made no sense to me because she was passing the tests I was making up and those tests were based on her notes. Luckily, in small town rural America (West Virginia at the time), everyone knows everyone, so when I noticed her grade was failing, I caught up with her Science teacher Mark at church one Sunday. I explained to him that it made no sense. He happened to mention that he had gone from paper multiple choice tests to a handheld device where the kids had to press A, B, C or D. As an experiment I said, "Would you mind setting her out in the hall and giving her the handwritten test?" He kindly accommodated and instantly, she went back to straight A's.</p><p>Though I had never seen any sign of a learning disability, I thought for sure that must be what this was. Since Mark was willing to accommodate, I just thought, "Well, this is a rare occurrence, I will just keep an eye out for anything in the future". But nothing else ever happened as far as unique school incidences like this one. An avid reader, Kyra still mowed her way through one or more books a week outside of school, her grades stayed good. We did notice as she entered high school, she had to work extremely hard to get the good grades, but neither her Daddy or I had ever liked school, so we just figured this was normal. We never really pressured our kids about grades anyway. Of course, now, with a Lyme lens to see the past clearly, I know that this is a Visual Motor Deficit and something very common with someone with neurological Lyme. By the time she entered college, however, she suffered through two years before the work became completely unbearable.</p><p>So college takes us back to 20 year old Kyra for a moment. We got put into contact with an amazing, compassionate, caring doctor here in our SoCal hometown and she knew all about Lyme Disease. She put Kyra on a grueling protocol, so, with three pages of instructions, a bag full of supplements and her strength starting to come back because some of the supplements were fighting inflammation and she had finished about 6 rounds of ozone therapy, she went back to NoCal. Ok, hit the brakes....a 3 page protocol? Remember that Visual Motor Deficit I just mentioned? Yeah, you can imagine. After a few weeks of not only trying to follow the instructions, but, as is typical of every Lyme patient, you actually start feeling worse way before you ever start feeling better, Kyra was done. She called me one day and said "Mom, I just can't do this anymore. This protocol is too long, its too hard, and I am so sick I can't even work or do anything." And, just like that, her hope for getting better vanished and she swore off treatment.</p><p>But it wasn't just the protocol. To make matters worse, just before Kyra decided to stop treatment, somehow my brother-in-law had found out about Kyra's situation. He had a dear friend who had ALS and her father-in-law, a prominent oncologist n Boston, had switched his practice to all things Lyme related because they knew his daughter -in -laws ALS was actually progressive, undetected, untreated Lyme Disease. With the best of intentions, my brother in law had put us in touch with this doctor via phone and the doctor literally screamed at us for the holistic approach we were taking to Lyme "Your house is on fire and you are just trying to get the smoke out of the chimney". That was the kindest thing he said. I know this doctor meant no harm, but he really scared me, and, in turn, an emotional wreck, I think I scared Kyra and turned her against treatment even more. </p><p>As Kyra swore off treatment, I began doing even more research. I found an author who was also a <a href="https://restormedicine.com/">Lyme specialist </a> in San Diego, I bought her books and sent them to Kyra's boyfriend so he could get a better understanding of Lyme for the times he was with her. I bought a book about a mothers Lyme journey with her daughter, but, as Kyra refused treatment, I couldn't bring myself to read it. So I stopped and I prayed (funny how we always do everything else first, THEN stop and pray, huh? Anyone else, or is it just me?). As the years continued to pass by, I prayed more and more that she would seek treatment. As she got married and had the most beautiful baby girl you have ever seen, I prayed she would seek treatment for that child if she wouldn't do it for herself. I overpowered every ladies bible study I went to asking people to please pray she would choose treatment. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDND_hBrNJ_-ECDy4RdnQ9iTgw5aFZ38iQadMwlhKzhM8oytdzlr6XfSBk2SQZ8SOhfAB2R3LQA5RiLu1gKImkVZhSYT9oCxtdXkNSi8TVjvZXrBPuUatEYfQjx12-K082PzCidt00ePutThpfjSY8umoyH9yEVMxI9po3T-wBYxl_2RRKpNw7A0NV2Wo/s346/51GjAeSGgtL._SY346_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="230" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDND_hBrNJ_-ECDy4RdnQ9iTgw5aFZ38iQadMwlhKzhM8oytdzlr6XfSBk2SQZ8SOhfAB2R3LQA5RiLu1gKImkVZhSYT9oCxtdXkNSi8TVjvZXrBPuUatEYfQjx12-K082PzCidt00ePutThpfjSY8umoyH9yEVMxI9po3T-wBYxl_2RRKpNw7A0NV2Wo/s320/51GjAeSGgtL._SY346_.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><p>One of the reasons I believe she didn't seek treatment is her unbelievable ability to power through. When she was a toddler I began saying to her "What can you do?" and she would reply "Anything!" and I would say "No limits?" and she would excitedly repeat back, "No limits!!!". Man do I think we instilled determination in that girl! Looking at her, you would never know she is sick. She takes such amazing care of her baby girl, a toddler with the energy of 100 toddlers. Even though they only live 3 miles from us, she Facetimes us every single night as they do their Momma/Daughter bedtime routine. Its a minimum of 30 minutes of laughter, songs, prayers and rough housing to get out the excess energy. I'm exhausted by the end and I'm not even the one doing it, but she does this alone, every single night with the exception of nights our grandbaby sleeps over with us. When Kyra starts to really feel pain, she gets up and cooks. or cleans, or does a simple task like cut strawberries, just to not be DOWN. It is one of the most inspiring things I have ever seen. This week she felt really rough, but, instead of wallowing in self pity, which she had every right to do given her circumstances right now, she not only joined me for worship practice, but she mustered up the strength to get up and sing with me Sunday morning in front of the whole church. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2g4-BLjPUjJLGFGcPX0w6v2t8co_vta778KPdYPeiR0bSsJfi4BgBXOeqNFhSdNpOh1t2JJxO3KeFUJbuMAoG6ktSfRGswvmQX2epgR2IQZpzp5D1XW-NqyS9IL-uxKqiIPNb6xVbTclZz0btxZERuikZfQRb8yZ5j7JAUEfIRSRFKo-hpSU01hSsgmY/s611/IMG_20230618_121053_453%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="611" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2g4-BLjPUjJLGFGcPX0w6v2t8co_vta778KPdYPeiR0bSsJfi4BgBXOeqNFhSdNpOh1t2JJxO3KeFUJbuMAoG6ktSfRGswvmQX2epgR2IQZpzp5D1XW-NqyS9IL-uxKqiIPNb6xVbTclZz0btxZERuikZfQRb8yZ5j7JAUEfIRSRFKo-hpSU01hSsgmY/s320/IMG_20230618_121053_453%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Prayers were answered as she recently came to her Daddy and I and said its time to get better. SO you know that author I mentioned earlier? You can bet I didn't waste a minute jumping on her website and making an appointment. Though I was there for the first appointment, just to see how it goes, this is my baby girls journey, and I know she is strong enough to handle it on her own. She hit the start button and now there's only one way to go from here! </p><p>TODAY</p><p>Kyra is three plus weeks into a much simpler protocol that will tell the doctor which Lyme parasites are still active in her body so we will know exactly which ones she has to fight. The first week, she had a pretty strong reaction to Borrelia. The second week was Babesia and, good news, she had no reaction, so that means one less parasite we have to fight. Then the third week, Bartonella. Within one hour of starting the protocol for Bartonella, she knew this was the worst one yet and probably the biggest parasite she will have to slay, as the pain that regularly shoots through her joints suddenly began to feel like rods being drilled through her legs. She has journaled and taken notes on symptoms just as the doctor asked her to do, and will return to the doctor this Thursday for a follow up and to see what her next steps are. Please join us in prayers for complete healing, not only for Kyra, but for everyone with this horrible disease! </p><p>Next week, I will be back with some results from this weeks doctors appointments, as well as continuing to step back in time to rehash things this Momma didn't see as Kyra was growing up that I see so clearly now as Lyme.</p><p><br /></p>Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-83826302705649589482023-06-19T14:05:00.000-07:002023-06-19T14:05:01.417-07:00When Someone You Love Has Lyme <p> My coping skill is writing, so, over the next one to two years, if you so choose, you all can walk alongside us, pray for our family, as our family walks along side someone we love while they receive treatment for Chronic Central Nervous Lyme Disease. With my daughters permission, the informational journey starts right now & will continue on my Hills of Mercy blog. </p><p><br /></p><p>In the early 2000's, we had moved from the heart of Worcester, MA, where our house practically sat on the campus of Worcester State College, to the woods of central MA where we were blessed with a couple of acres smack in the middle of no where. When the weather was nice, we were outside a lot, hiking, picking blackberries in the woods behind our house, walking Ty-Ty our grumpy, oversized, purebred schitzu, down country roads. To make the walks exciting for the kids, Rich had proclaimed the road across from our house "swamp monster road" and off we would go, in search of the nonexistent central Mass swamp monster he had made up for their entertainment. </p><p><br /></p><p>One day, when Kyra was 4, I noticed a weird circle on her back, a bullseye, right at the top of her spine. Our friend was a paramedic & he said he thought it might be ringworm. For several days I treated it as such, but it didn't go away. So I took her to our small town pediatrician & he immediately knew, she had Lyme Disease due to a tick bite. </p><p><br /></p><p>A little history about Lyme disease for those unaware...during the Korean War, our government used a lab in Lyme, CT to inject ticks with parasites that they would later plan on releasing in Korea, but, of course, the ticks escaped the lab & the parasites began to enter the woods of New England via the ticks . The goal was for the parasites to enter the nervous system through a tick bite. For the longest time, Lyme Disease was very centered around New England, but now it's everywhere, though more rare in places like California, where we are now. </p><p><br /></p><p>Shortly after the diagnosis, one side of her face became paralyzed & we started treatment immediately. To this day, her little preschool picture hangs on our Christmas tree each year, a childhood decoration, one side of her face drooping. What was more shocking than the paralysis, however, was the extreme joint pain. Always a tough child with a high pain threshold, she would wail at the excruciating pain, mostly behind her knees. Up to this point in her life, she was always a daddy's girl. Had you seen her, she was probably riding on her daddy's shoulders. But those shoulder rides came to an abrupt stop, as, her legs dangling over his shoulders would hurt her the most. I have never heard her cry so hard or so much. About this time the horrible nightmares started as well. </p><p><br /></p><p> As the doctor began a 3 week antibiotic regimen, the pain ever so slowly began to subside. Her beautiful little face went back to normal (in the attached photo it is almost healed). Along the way someone had mentioned to us how serious Lyme disease was, so we drove to Boston multiple times for second opinions & always made sure our Boston doctors were on the same page as our wonderful hometown doctor. </p><p><br /></p><p>As I tell this story I realize I have to go back to say, during this time, not only was our marriage falling apart, but three years prior Rich had almost died at the hands of a doctor who made a mighty mistake & then lied to us about it. I've written many times about both of these experiences, but, as we began this Lyme disease process, we were already in a stressful place marriage wise & extremely suspicious of doctors in general. Both of these things would eventually play a part in the future of this story and the mom guilt I still carry to this day. </p><p><br /></p><p>After the three week treatment protocol was done, all doctors involved assured us she was healed. How could we know? That was the major question on our minds. All answers pointed to the same thing...a spinal tap would show if all the parasites were gone. But a spinal tap on a four year old, we were told, came with a 25% chance of paralysis. Having just survived the hideous experience with my husband almost dying, we managed to decide together (during a time when my husband and I just speaking to one another was difficult) that we would trust the doctors opinions that she was healed and not risk the spinal tap. We were so stressed, we just couldn't risk anything else going wrong. </p><p><br /></p><p>Life went on, and we miraculously survived the next couple of years that were full of stress due to the state of our marriage. But all that mattered to me was that Kyra was healed and our kids were safe and healthy. Or so we thought........ </p><p><br /></p><p>TODAY</p><p>On a recent plane ride to Oregon, I finished a book I had held onto for the last 3 years but never read. It's about a mother's journey helping her teenage daughter find a cure for her Lyme. I couldn't bring myself to read it all those years I had the book, because, at the time, Kyra was choosing not to seek treatment. But now that she has chosen a path to healing, I was able to open it up and dive into another mother's journey. The book was very well written and informative, so many similarities to what we have seen with Kyra, but it was missing something......Jesus was not a part of their story. But He IS our story. As I told Kyra that I thought the world needed to see a faith based Lyme journey, she graciously agreed that I could write it. This is only the beginning. To God be the glory! </p>Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-63268202968008021172016-12-01T13:55:00.001-08:002016-12-01T13:55:04.358-08:00Rocking Chair RealitiesWhat I would not give to sit on the front porch of a farmhouse for an afternoon and chat with two of my writing hereos...Stormie Omartian and Ann Voskamp. I might actually have to meet with them one at a time, that two totally different writing styles and life circumstances could touch my heart in such a life changing way. As I begin typing, I realize I will probably have to blog about them separately as well.<br />
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In 1979, when I was eight years old, Stormie Omartian had looked divorce in the eye, planted her feet in the ground and told the devil, "No, you do not get to have my marriage." In 2003, I would praise God for the fact that she decided to put pen to paper back in '79, or maybe she used a Smith Corona typewriter, but whatever her means of telling her story, the fact remains that the Yankee and I are happily (not perfectly) married today because she did.<br />
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Thirteen years after <i>The Power of the Praying Wife </i>was gifted to me, I still wear the pages out. Thirty different chapters of thirty different topics us wives can pray over our husband's lives (husbands, she has one for you too, so don't think you are left out of this). Sometimes I think, "Oh, my husband is doing great right now, he certainly does not fit in any one of these thirty categories for me to pray over." And then I have to check my logic. Prayer. We all need it all of the time. It's life. It's breath. It's fighting things we can't even see with our earthly baby blues or browns or greens, so who are we to judge that our precious husband's do not need it.<br />
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Precious, you say? Maybe right now you are thinking your husband or wife is just about the least precious thing you have been around in quite some time. Your marriage is grueling, it's as painful as natural childbirth, it brings an agony to your life that leaves you daydreaming about days spent alone with no one to answer to, no one to hit that last raw nerve that will push you over the edge. You feel powerless. I get it. I hear your story, because I lived your story. And in 2003, 24 years after she wrote the words, Stormie Omartian said to me, "We can fight for them in prayer and not give up, because as long as we are praying, there is hope. With God, nothing is ever as dead as it seems. Not even your own feelings." Do you know what I learned? A very harsh reality....she was right.<br />
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I wish I could invite all of you onto the front porch with us, those who think, "Oh, you don't know my situation though, it is different for me." Friend, if you could sit on that porch with me I would tell you all of the things The Yankee and I survived and what you are going through now is probably on the list, I can't guarantee that, but trust me when I tell you, the odds are pretty high. I have been told I should write a book or two...or six just based on our marriage alone. And as we rock in our old squeaky rocking chairs I would tell you the outpouring of blessing in <b><i>not</i></b> giving up. I would tell you that there is no perfection to be reached on this side of earth, but I would paint the picture of twenty five years spent with a man I love who loves me in return. I would speak of the outpouring of blessing I watch daily pour out over our children because of our decision to stay when the world told us to split. When all we wanted was to split.<br />
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The reality is, I left the land of farmhouses and rocking chairs on front porches. We now live an hours mileage away from one of the largest, craziest cities on God's precious earth. The reality is, I have never actually met Stormie Omartian, let alone had the privilege of rocking away a summer afternoon chatting with her on the front porch.. Another reality is, marriage is hard. But you probably already knew all of that. Maybe there is a reality you don't know....marriage is worth it. Don't miss out on the opportunity right here, right now, to stop reading and pray for your spouse. It will change their life......and yours.Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-7538773052049736602016-11-16T14:11:00.000-08:002016-11-29T19:12:27.954-08:00Sickness, Severe Adrenal Fatigue & Slim<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Who am I to second guess God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe He needed to knock me off my prideful
high horse when it comes to my health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
blame my Mamaw Fields, or maybe my Aunt Joretta Jewel, or maybe my Dad, they
were never sick, or if they were, you certainly didn’t know it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once I had my first baby, realizations began
flying at me like never before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I needed
to take better care of myself for that sweet, precious baby girl, to set an
example for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once I came to know
Christ, I knew I needed to step it up further for this ONE body He blessed me
with was the only one He was going to allow me to have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So step it up I did, and, like my Mamaw, my
Aunt and my Dad before me, you would be hard-pressed to find me sick over the
last seventeen years.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
About seven years ago I began having some dizzy spells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One night, late in the middle of the night
when we lived in the precious barn we loved so much, our daughter K woke me up
in the middle of the night and said “Mom, I have a nosebleed”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Momma-bear instincts woke me up
immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I jumped out of bed and ran
up the stairs to her bathroom to help take care of her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I helped with her bleeding nose, the room
swirled and down I went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was that what
fainting felt like?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had never fainted
before so it all seemed so crazy to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The next day the doctors diagnosed me with anemia, not, “Here take these
iron pills and you will be ok” anemia, but the type that had them saying,
“Blood transfusions for eight weeks and you will be good as new” kind of
anemia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess this would be a good
point to tell you that I am pretty much against modern medicine for my own
family, so I was actually grateful that what I heard was pretty much a natural
solution and I would not have to take anything.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I did ok for the next couple of years, but then had to go to
my doctor for yet another issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
forty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I exercised all the time, I ate
healthier than anyone I knew, and I was gaining weight like it was THE thing to
do!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I guess THIS would be a good
time to tell you, I do not think I am fat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So I don’t want anyone reading this going, “Oh yes, we know how hard it
must be to be a size four and gain 8 pounds!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The problem actually has nothing to do with thoughts of being fat, it
has everything to do with being 5’1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When you are 5’1 and you gain 8 pounds, you feel it…in your back, in
your knees, everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So even though
your body doesn’t outwardly present any type of obesity, my body was saying to
me, “This hurts!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can’t you get rid of
it?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I asked my doctor, you know, the one that diagnosed me
with anemia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reply?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Well, you know I have some bad news for you,
you are forty now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is your
life.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I have written about this
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the last day I ever saw
a conventional doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead I began
running tests on myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I eliminated
foods and reintroduced them until I could tell what was causing me to gain
weight and what wasn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The culprits?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wheat and sugar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could only have them in moderation, once or
twice a week, a special occasion maybe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This in conjunction with limiting carbs and BOOM!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eight pounds gone AND I felt like a new
person to boot!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life was good.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fast forward to a little less than a year ago when suddenly
just thinking about exercising would exhaust me, but I pushed my way through
anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few months later I noticed
there was one day a month where I literally found it almost impossible to get
out of bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to redo my already
strict diet just to stay at 132 pounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I felt like day in and day out, all I ever could think about was what I
put in my mouth, how much I exercised, and how completely exhausted I was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did I mention I don’t nap?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mom says I never did (lucky for her I was
a well – behaved child otherwise that whole no nap thing could have been rough
on her!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So any day that I would lay
down and sleep for twenty minutes, I would be super worried in the back of my
mind that something was wrong.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then we moved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And a
day and a half after we moved my husband had to go back overseas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New state, new town, we only know our two
dear friends thirty minutes away. No family, no friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just me and the kids, day in and day out,
doing the best we could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And with each
passing day, my fatigue grew and grew and grew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now instead of that one day a month that it was difficult to get out of
bed, well, now I just couldn’t get out of bed that day period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it was that time of the month, I
realized it was taking my body at least a week to recover, then I would have a
week of feeling great, and then by the next week my body was already feeling
weak again as it began to start the process all over again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I closed my eyes, threw a dart at the listings on the
internet and randomly picked a holistic doctor to try. Ok, ok, let’s be honest,
I picked him because his competition was charging $400 an hour and he was
charging $65.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hit the jackpot!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Dr. John Cassone in Old Town for any of you locals reading this! </span>He listened to me for a half an hour and said
“Severe Adrenal Fatigue”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let’s back
up, that anemia I had, it probably wasn’t really anemia, but the very
beginnings of my adrenal fatigue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back
then, I probably had what was considered mild adrenal fatigue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s hit rewind again..that impossible
weight gain despite the healthy eating and exercise?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moderate Adrenal Fatigue, the next step up, where your body can not handle wheat and sugar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But since it went five more years undetected,
it has now hit the Severe stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t
get me wrong, that sounds bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Severe
Adrenal Fatigue is not serious so much as it is a royal, royal pain in the butt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a daily annoyance like a mosquito
buzzing around that you just can’t find to kill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the frustration of not being able to get
out of the chair when you know your house needs cleaned and dinner needs
cooked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Praise GOD that my kids are
older and can semi-take care of themselves, though I take a lot of pleasure in
doing things for them, being there mom while they are still here for me TO BE
their mom.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So Doc has me on supplements, plant based supplements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No conventional medicine for this gal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am actually allergic to most fillers that pharmaceutical
companies put in medicines anyway, so I am more than happy to go the holistic
route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He does acupuncture every week,
and this past week, he realized I was actually much worse off than he thought,
so he mixed up the nastiest herb concoction you have EVER tasted, and I take nine
teaspoons a day with one and a half cups of bone broth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is truly, truly nasty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A conventional pill would be easier, quicker,
less painful to my taste buds, but it would only do what modern medicine does,
treat the symptoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doc is treating the
cause.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also found this great product that is apparently known for
treating adrenal fatigue (and many other issues)and all of the problems that come with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s called <a href="http://www.shopmyplexus.com/MelissaLampert/index.html" target="_blank">Plexus</a> .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I researched them before I began taking them
and they seem like a fabulous Christian based company and this is holistic in
nature as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be fair, I had begun
Doc’s concoctions about twelve days before I began <a href="http://www.shopmyplexus.com/MelissaLampert/index.html" target="_blank">Plexus</a> and only seen little
results each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am now five days
into the <a href="http://www.shopmyplexus.com/MelissaLampert/index.html" target="_blank">Plexus</a> and for the past two days I have felt like a normal person for
the first seven hours of the day before I hit the wall I would normally hit at
9 am!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is so wonderful to feel so much
hope!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t be fooled by the “SLIM”
on the package.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t stress enough
that I am NOT taking this as a weight loss product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are multiple, multiple benefits from
taking this and I will get into all of that on future blogs!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until then, feel free to look at all the
different things they have available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s a pretty interesting company and I know I feel better already.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so excited to see what the next few
weeks bring!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it happens to bring
weight loss as a side effect, I will be thrilled with that because I would
really like to get out of my older jeans and back into fitting into my
daughters!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lol!!! But I just want to feel better, and so far this is helping more than anything!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9OIbvSbSZAFNVOkDKraVyx7IiwHZAoDaWILxn_SsDOl2ULhOfyGZQ71vT0MYYcSD1zPkvOxLr_Cghl1adykWtdVx_v87p_Eef4ROUeAAfWsKxyy0XgCnT9zZzk5LLX50Ia-HJOyDNXtw/s1600/20161116_125108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9OIbvSbSZAFNVOkDKraVyx7IiwHZAoDaWILxn_SsDOl2ULhOfyGZQ71vT0MYYcSD1zPkvOxLr_Cghl1adykWtdVx_v87p_Eef4ROUeAAfWsKxyy0XgCnT9zZzk5LLX50Ia-HJOyDNXtw/s320/20161116_125108.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I will be updating you on this journey as it goes
along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until then, I would love to hear
from any of you that have been diagnosed with severe adrenal fatigue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel so alone on this journey, like it is
an excuse if I call someone and say “I can’t meet you today because I am too
tired to move”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would also appreciate
your prayers, like I said, I know this isn’t a serious disease or anything, but
if you know me, you know I like to go, go, go and this has hit me like a brick
wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My comments are hit or miss on
this page, you can try to leave one, however if it isn’t working for some
reason feel free to message me on Facebook or at <a href="mailto:missylampert@hotmail.com">missylampert@hotmail.com</a>!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would love to hear from others suffering
from adrenal fatigue! </div>
Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-33531224829722683882016-11-10T11:10:00.001-08:002016-11-10T11:10:30.019-08:00Fifteen Months of Living<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I feel a bit like Adele starting out this blog, “Hello….it’s
me…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life is swift and sudden and, I
have found after all of these years, often gets in the way of my fingers
hitting the keyboard to put into words what God puts on my heart.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A year plus has slipped by now since I have written, and,
though I am pleased to report I did not just let a year slip by doing nothing
and putting my dream of writing aside, still, I wish I had not stopped for such
a long period of time, but life happened in a pretty major way over the last
fifteen months or so.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To begin with, my husband sat me down last summer while home
on leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were having a beautiful
dinner at Food and Friends when he looked squarely at me and
said, “Look, you talk about being a writer, you talk about saving marriages,
and you talk about having a wedding venue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I support you no matter what you want to do, and maybe you can
eventually do all three, but right now you have to pick one and follow it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew three things instantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One, he was right (yeah, I used to have a
problem admitting that, but after twenty-five years, it comes pretty easily now,
I highly recommend trying it with your spouse!), two, my heart literally jumped
out of my chest at the phrase, “You want to save marriages”, and three, I knew
it was impossible to miss the gratitude I felt over those words, “I will
support you no matter what you want to do.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I knew what I had to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The next day I applied to the Liberty University Masters in Marriage and
Family Therapy Program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was accepted
and began my Master’s work immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Blog?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What blog?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did I even have a blog?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Taking three Master’s courses per semester left
no time for writing simply for the sake of speaking from my own heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were weeks when I had to write three
papers per week and the last thing I wanted to do was grab my computer and
write even more!...so, that is part one.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Part two is probably more monumental, but I have to digress
a bit to get everyone up to date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
youngest child has always just felt like he belongs in California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We brought him to CA in previous years,
mainly to dissuade him from any thoughts of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We traveled the state from North to South so he could see the good the
bad and the ugly, including a trip where we easily could have lost our lives
when we accidentally exited the freeway in LA during rush hour in search of a
gas station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first thing our son exclaimed from the back seat as we exited the freeway was, “Hey, I see two guys over there fighting with machetes”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, since this is not a common occurrence in
the Appalachian Mountains, we thought for sure that once we were back home, he would
have fully recovered his senses and see the joy in living where we were
living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead I noticed he seemed a
little sad one day upon returning home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I asked what was wrong he said, “I just wish we hadn’t come home
from vacation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoa, parent fail
moment!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We moved these kids to this
wonderful little town so they could experience something on the level of a Norman Rockwell childhood, but our son’s
visions of it were far from ideal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
continued to encourage him that he could go to college wherever he wanted and
we would support his decision no matter what.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His decision?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>UCLA. Yikes! What if there are a lot of machete's there????</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which leads us to our daughter, the older of our two
kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She immediately fell in love with
our little West Virginia town when we moved there from New England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We just knew she was going to be the one that
would grow up, fall in love with an awesome guy, buy a farm just outside of
town and stay there forever, she loved it THAT much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why her Daddy and I were so shocked
when she came to us one day during the beginning of her sophomore year and
said, “You know, I am with my brother, I think I want to go to CA for college
also.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I for one was in love with our
little town, so to think of leaving was really not much of an option, so I
began doing what I do best, planning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>West Virginia University was known to have an awesome Fashion Design
program, so I told our daughter, “Why don’t you plan on going there for your
first two years, then you and your brother travel to CA together when it is
time to go to UCLA, that way your Dad and I will feel better knowing you guys
are out there together, then we will consider whether we want to come live out
there when you guys graduate.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
West Virginia has an unexplainable way of literally becoming just as much a part of ones heart as the blood that flows through it, so I had zero desire to leave, but I knew it wasn’t
likely to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After four years in
LA, I imagined our kids would welcome the chance to come back to a quiet,
simple life in the mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But isn’t
it funny that we even plan as humans?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Am I the only one that does this? When we serve a mighty Heavenly Father who already has it all worked
out, but we just sit here on earth and plan and plan and plan like we are in
charge, digging our feet in the mud, convinced our plans are better than His!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I had it all figured out in my head,
but on December 14<sup>th</sup>, 2015 He would literally show us His plan and begin to teach me to let go.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our daughter, who has the most spiritual heart of any child
I have ever met, came to me on the morning of December 14<sup>th</sup> and
said, “Mom, God told me we are supposed to go to CA now.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now remember, this is our child who loved
where we lived!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, The Yankee was
home on leave so I said to her, “Well, take Dad on your walk with you when you
walk your dog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You guys talk about it
and let’s see what comes of it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About
thirty minutes later they returned from their walk and the Yankee called a
family meeting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“So, God told K we need
to move to CA,” he looked at our son, “What do you think of that?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our son replied, “I wish we were already
there.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He looked at me, “Mom, what do
you think?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I replied, “I trust K’s
heart, if God told her that then He told her that for a reason and we should
probably listen, what do you think Dad?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I THINK WE ARE MOVING TO CALIFORNIA”, he replied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And just like that, our new life began. (Just FYI, that tends to be the way we roll!)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have had a lot of people question our decision, but those
are thoughts for another blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We began
the moving process on December 15<sup>th</sup>, getting our house in order in
WV, trying and failing to sell it and then God providing the PERFECT renters
for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And on May 31<sup>st</sup>,
after help from some very dear friends loading up an excessively large moving
van, we sat off, a bit like the Beverly Hillbillies, two Jeeps, a hound dog,
and a mutt from Wyoming County, off to see what God had in store for us in our
new home outside of LA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I prayed it wasn’t
machete wielding strangers on the side of the road!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcCSgsEtWxb3Tc42L8kiFh8NGshQ6XK4AruTaMkk0IGQRbRA5I7UOYRLZIVL8OXLsqp5pdCF4Fcyx6pBnDEwEnFefvCfhXIoE2Tk6Wa86H9jAb1JRoyjXjtlOr3DJ7oHX3g31mrjt6GE/s1600/newblog1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcCSgsEtWxb3Tc42L8kiFh8NGshQ6XK4AruTaMkk0IGQRbRA5I7UOYRLZIVL8OXLsqp5pdCF4Fcyx6pBnDEwEnFefvCfhXIoE2Tk6Wa86H9jAb1JRoyjXjtlOr3DJ7oHX3g31mrjt6GE/s320/newblog1.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So now that we have been here for a few months, we are
getting settled in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to begin a new
Master’s program with a new school because California did not accept most of my
classes from my old school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My health
has failed me a bit, which will also be another upcoming blog post, hard for me
to deal with because I have always taken great pride in how healthy I have
been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But school, and move and health
aside, I am writing again, for one, because my new Master's program is a tad less stressful than my old one, so I have a bit more time on my hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will soon
be switching my blog format to new website because I have a new business to
promote, so many changes, it makes my heart beat faster with anticipation just
thinking of it all, but for this week anyway, we will stay parked here at Hills
of Mercy, we do still have hills here, they are just a bit different, some of them even have a beach view!!!<span id="goog_507125284"></span><span id="goog_507125285"></span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks for being so faithful
to always read my blog!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></div>
Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-50288719532232839432015-05-06T11:00:00.001-07:002015-05-06T11:21:58.210-07:00Those Darn DandelionsI can tell by looking at him that he is older, though the hat that keeps
his face protected from the sun always blocks his face from view, so I
couldn't tell you how old he is. He is a bit stooped in stature and I
wouldn't say his body looks young or agile. What I can tell you is he
is just about the hardest working man I have ever seen. Not only that,
he pushes forward in what appears from the outside looking in to be a
discouraging situation.<br />
<br />
Just down the street from our house is a fairly large old historical
cemetery. It covers a full town block and then crosses the street and
there is another little patch of it on the other side.
Each and every year, the instant that grass starts growing, this man is
out there, pushing a push mower, trash bags at hand to rake up the
excess grass so he doesn't leave clumps of grass on the cemetery lawn.
From daybreak to well into the late afternoon, he is out there pushing
that mower...every...single...day.<br />
<br />
This time of year, in my own yard, the dandelions make me want to throw a
temper tantrum of monumental proportions. I spent all day Monday
working on my own lawn. All of that time and effort to make it look so
pretty when you pull up in front of the house. It is now Wednesday
morning and the dandelions have already overtaken our yard again.
Insert screaming noise here......<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="javascript:void(0)" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGv619QMFA2kzD8G5sbibziUM53IfgaAF6bg0_kGEWzap2dIE0dU2RahKowlaVvjx1MyjJ6Z5TTNikTd9Bd468NP9QzzNW843JGphPFDvK2ByMq9TB6Bb3dFRX8o18vexCKAQniNznPk/s1600/photo(64).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
So this hard working gentleman gets one part of the cemetery grounds
looking immaculate in one days' time, then moves on to another part on
day two, things are looking great. By day three, he is working on his
third section, but guess what is happening in section one...yep,
dandelion heaven. So no matter how hard he works, he never, ever gets to
see the entire cemetery mowed and looking groomed all at once. Yet he
keeps on trucking along, oblivious to everything around him, clearly
taking great pride in what he does. I like to think he is a believer
and he is out there doing what God called him to do to the absolute best
of his ability, despite the fact that he will never see a perfect end
result.<br />
<br />
I have discovered over the past few months of muddling my way through
some extremely difficult personal growth that God and The Yankee are in
cahoots. Apparently God let the Yankee in on what it is He is trying to
teach me (after all isn't it so very difficult to see solutions to our
own problems when others can see those solutions so well?) but both God
and the Yankee are allowing me to figure everything out in my own sweet
time (insert the ever so slow tic-toc of a clock noise here). How very
generous of them. I would be much more appreciative of neon flashing
signs, having people jump out in front of me in traffic saying "Hey, are
you Melissa? God told me to tell you....." Billboards...yes, that
would be fantastic!!!! Anything really. But instead I struggle each day
in certain areas of my life facing hurdles that I just can't seem to
jump over (seriously, have you ever seen how short my legs are???). The
Yankee says we all have to learn everything in our own time and even if
he were to tell me what it is he thinks I need to hear, I might nod my
head and listen, but until I see it for myself, it's really a
nonsensical conversation to even have. And I know this to be true
because years ago, a lifetime ago really,<a href="http://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014/03/war-stories.html" target="_blank"> I went through the same with him.</a><br />
<br />
Logically I know what I am supposed to do each and every day. My main
"job" is to take care of my kids, our home, and make sure anything my
husband needs is done. I am really good at those jobs AND I enjoy doing
them. There is nothing else I would rather do actually. It never
matters to me that <a href="http://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2015/03/whos-driving.html" target="_blank">our kids will never be perfect </a>or
there is only so much I can do from here to help my
husband. Much like those pesky dandelions, I just keep on pruning this
family and doing what it is God has called me to do.<br />
<br />
But then there is MY health...no, no, I am not sick...blessed beyond
belief to be so very healthy...only there are those two things that do <i>make</i>
me very sick...wheat and sugar. Two ingredients that just happen to be
in almost every food we consume nowadays. And the struggle to not eat
them at all each and every day is a battle unto itself. I do not even
get one area of this part of my life pruned before I forget exactly how
sick these foods make me and I fall back into them all over again.<br />
<br />
Last week, I had been going along pretty well, when suddenly I began
craving these muffins I used to make and actually used to think were
"healthy". You take a cake mix of any flavor you like and mix it with a
can of pumpkin and some applesauce instead of all of the ingredients
that actually go into a cake. Well, I made those for the first time
since I realized how sick wheat and sugar make me. I had three of them
in one day. The next day in a huge pinch we went to Wendy's which we very rarely do. Normally if we do have to go to Wendy's I will get a
salad or a baked potato and it is fine. But because of the wheat and
sugar from the previous night, I was hurting bad and craving even more
wheat and sugar, so I had a kids meal cheeseburger and fries with a
miniature Frosty. Doesn't sound too, too bad does it? I mean really,
everything in moderation right? I literally could not tell you the last
time I ate a cheeseburger. I have zero memory of when that could have
been it has been so long. Thirty minutes and a splitting headache
later, I was lying on the couch, overwhelmed with exhaustion and woke up
the next morning shaking.<br />
<br />
I get very frustrated at not being able to eat like a "normal" person,
but as one of my friends pointed out, today's American diet is not
"normal" and it is actually a blessing that God made my body so
super-duper-hyper-sensitive to wheat and sugar. But never, not once do I
finish what He started in this area of my life because the big picture
is too overwhelming, everyone I know eats whatever they want so I do not
have anyone to join in this experience with me. Most of all it's
insane to me to think about missing wheat and sugar for the rest of my
life.<br />
<br />
<br />
Then there is the small matter of exercise, which again, beginning of
the week, I start out like a champ, but become so overwhelmed as the
week goes on that I drop it and the only exercise this body sees by
Friday and the weekend is walking the dog. Yes, THIS dog :)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AR1KZrH3hkoI8wGu449YX4InAs6oJyEY3kNCpAOMVpauE8kl4YziQwUe8Z6o5SOzHNhcRVq24VnhgpsJ-Uo5gyMIs0aQtVPui6YwHZukSLUqr_F4ZkVxVQETODeL7lDxNU2Za1EaGts/s1600/hunter.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AR1KZrH3hkoI8wGu449YX4InAs6oJyEY3kNCpAOMVpauE8kl4YziQwUe8Z6o5SOzHNhcRVq24VnhgpsJ-Uo5gyMIs0aQtVPui6YwHZukSLUqr_F4ZkVxVQETODeL7lDxNU2Za1EaGts/s1600/hunter.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Elaine Fox</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I know God wants me to exercise and take care of this body He has
blessed me with, but instead of doing it and doing it for His glory, I
stop a quarter of the way through the job and don't complete the work.
Once again I become seriously overwhelmed at the thought of having to do
this day in and day out to maintain a good level of health.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally there is the matter of what I am going to be when I grow up.
All I know to do is write, however even in that area in I get in my own
way. I write one thing, but before I even start to write again,
dandelions are popping up on that piece, it is getting old, no one is
reading it anymore.<br />
<br />
<br />
What does the cemetery caretaker have that I don't? Diligence, most
definitely. Self-discipline, for sure. Possibly he has a clearer
vision that this is the person Jesus created him to be, therefore giving
him the will to do the job to the best of his ability and without
discouragement. Without expecting perfection, because he knows he can't
stop the grass from growing where he has already completed his job. He
knows that all he can do is the job God has given him to do, without all
of the questions, without all of the excuses, without the lack of
self-discipline.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPmTZkx4Mk0R1_ezVpWmAg2omKsS6wLQRfeIMvZ1Qa2al60uhyIt79LNGSW23jR-4dq6ZI3E75-oYHLjctLXARApYBiiar3tmSlNCAHINhbGU5R1nyxvES2en7eKiYNQPHbILDu-ezuU/s1600/11188298_10153166165540673_8546867689572288080_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPmTZkx4Mk0R1_ezVpWmAg2omKsS6wLQRfeIMvZ1Qa2al60uhyIt79LNGSW23jR-4dq6ZI3E75-oYHLjctLXARApYBiiar3tmSlNCAHINhbGU5R1nyxvES2en7eKiYNQPHbILDu-ezuU/s1600/11188298_10153166165540673_8546867689572288080_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Just maybe the care-taker knows that with every blade of grass, every
dandelion he mows down, God is teaching him to become the person He
wants the care-taker to be. Now if only I could just teach myself to
listen!
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Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-47568925730400051072015-03-31T05:18:00.000-07:002015-03-31T05:23:31.146-07:00Who's Driving?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Can you picture it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Little children all under the age of nine running around everywhere,
food all over the floor, and almost every single one of those little ones had
free reign over an event that was meant to honor an adult.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes I let my fear of where this world is heading take
over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Momentarily mind you, because
pretty quickly I go back to the realization that there is a mighty God who is
in control of everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Training our
kids up to be decent human beings is one part The Yankee and I can play in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trying</i></b>
to contribute something to this world after we are long gone from it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I can say is, I know 100% percent that our
kids are decent human beings <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">when they are around us</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once they are out of our sight, I can only
pray they don't dance around like wild monkeys and back sass every adult they come across.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had they been toddlers, and at said event
with me (which they would not have been because I would have found a sitter or sacrificed
going to the event myself), they would have sat quietly by my side while we honored
the hostess and the person the party was for. Why? Because I said so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People have gotten aggravated with me and accused me
of thinking our kids are perfect. I always have the same response to
this….Ummm, no, they aren’t perfect, ya know how I know this? I’m the one who
disciplines them!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides we are well
aware in this house that God only made one perfect creation, His son,
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet I refuse to apologize for having
well behaved kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that this is
what the world would want me to do, but it’s not going to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One precious little toddler at the event took to beating the
hostess over the head with a large balloon as she sat in the middle of the
floor trying her hardest to accomplish her hostess duties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Precious toddler did not hit her once, or
twice, but the entire time this part of the event was going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where was her parent? At the table right next
to her, grinning and saying “OMG, isn’t that funny?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, actually, no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is nothing funny about a child not
being made to behave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not just for the
inconveniences it causes the people around them at that particular time, but
what about their future?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disciplining
your child is the best thing you can do for them, unless you want them to grow
up a narcissistic menace to society who believes they should do whatever they
want, whenever they want.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">“Our goal as parents:
we must not transfer power too early, even if our children take us daily
to the battlefield.” ~ Dr. James Dobson (http://www.focusonthefamily.com/)</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another mother allowed her multiple children to sit there
and drop food all over the floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
they left, their spot and only their spot looked as though 20 zoo animals had
been trying to eat in that location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
get that accidents happen, toddlers drop things, moms get tired, but back in my
day, we cleaned up the messes our children made before we left the event,
exhausted or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To take that one step
further, how about, if your children are dropping that much food, make them sit
still, over the table, so that they actually stop dropping the food to begin
with, old fashioned I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe even
mean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I squelched our children’s’
free spirit by making them behave?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At what point in history
did parents become bad guys for making their children mind?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A friend once told me in a restaurant (as her children were
under the table and mine were on the edge of their seats itching to be under
the table but knowing better), “Well, you were just blessed with good kids.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, maybe. I do completely give God the
credit for they are HIS children before they are my children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But their daddy and I also did lots and lots
of WORK to assure they were not under the table, in the clothes wracks, or
acting like terrors in public.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a shocker…in our household, we didn’t use pacifiers (personal choice, I have nothing against pacifiers),
or baby gates, or little plastic locks to keep our cabinets closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We didn’t hide things the children were not
supposed to touch or put valuables behind lock and key.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We began by allowing our children to learn to
calm themselves without a pacifier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
involved nights and nights of no sleep on our part, and it was DIFFICULT, but
only for about a week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once that week
was over I knew if one of my babies was crying, they needed changed or were
hungry because they weren’t crying just to have some piece of rubber put in
their mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And no baby gate! Well,
someone should have called CPS because we always lived in a house with
stairs…but you know what worked? Telling them that they couldn’t climb up the
stairs!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How amazing is that? A little
tap on the bum if they started to try it, which was WORK, because I always had
to have one eye on them and one eye on whatever else I was doing, but the reality
is, it never took more than a couple of times for them to learn they weren’t
supposed to do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My mother-in-law was the absolute queen of
knick-knacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me tell you, if it was
little and glass, she had it on her coffee table, her dining room table and her
bookshelves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Image her joy when we could
take our kids to her house and she never once had to ask them not to touch
anything!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know it’s shocking but we
never put protectors in the electrical outlets either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My parents never had them for us growing up
so I decided there must have been some way they helped me get to high school graduation without getting
electrocuted…upon asking my mom about this, amazingly, they took the time to
teach me not to touch them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brilliant
idea!!!</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Once when our daughter was teething, I was holding her on my
hip and wearing a tank top because it was the middle of summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She rested her head on my shoulder, I thought
because she was tired, but, instead, she proceeded to take a bite out of my
shoulder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was painful!! In my shock I
reached out and smacked her little mouth, not hard mind you, just enough to
tell her NO, you don’t do that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even at
that tiny age, I could tell by the look in her eyes that it registered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she never bit anyone again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a friend whose mother tells a hysterical
story about when her children were teething and they bit her, she bit them
back!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It only took one time for them
to see, Hey, wait a minute that hurts!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And they all got it!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They get
it folks, they want to be taught right from wrong, need to be taught it in
fact. But in today's society we seem to be overcome with the fear of being mean
to our kids.<br />
<br />
The other day we were in the optometrists office, a woman walked in for her appointment with five children all under the age of 8. Like little ducks in a row, the all followed her in quietly, sat down side by side, and waited for her name to be called. They had been taught how to behave and you could tell every single person in that office appreciated and admired that this mother had taken the time to train five children so well. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Psychologically, I would love to study why newer generations
feel so horrible for making kids behave. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I really appreciated the
following article a friend of mine posted on Facebook:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/suffer-the-children/201203/why-french-kids-dont-have-adhd">https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/suffer-the-children/201203/why-french-kids-dont-have-adhd</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even when you look at the nutrition, here in the US, our
kids want a snack, we give them a snack (me included), because it is easier
than listening to them complain about being hungry and because we don’t want
them to WANT for anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there we
have come full circle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Parents it’s time
to get behind the wheel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YOU are in the
driver’s seat of your child’s life, NOT THEM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It isn’t child abuse to allow them to ride in the passenger seat until
they are old enough to take the wheel themselves. Just as the Dobson quote above states..stop, take a minute, and think about it. Who has power in your house? You? Or have you already transferred power over to your children. Because if you have, trust me, THEY KNOW IT!!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Parents it’s time to get behind the wheel.</b></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our kids are going to want for things in their lives,
everything will not always go one hundred percent the way they want it to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not doing them any favors by succumbing
to their every whim and not disciplining them when their behavior calls for it!
Yes, in the short term, not disciplining them is easier, because we are tired
or stressed or we feel guilty for something or whatever the million excuses we
have for not disciplining them are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
in the end, we truly only create more stress by succumbing to their every whim
and then not disciplining them when they do something wrong. Imagine what a
world it would be if we ourselves were not disciplined and reined in by a
loving God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shouldn’t we, in turn, use
the same disciplining love on the children He has been kind enough to bless us
with?</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-38474089532181200172015-01-21T09:26:00.000-08:002015-01-21T09:26:16.811-08:00Life Support<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Suffering is all around us. Always. Hard times befall us all and there is no escape hatch. This week it is a family that we know of from our earlier days of football here in WV. The husband is on life support. Hearing of a husband on life support always instantly transports me back in time to when my own husband was on life support. So this morning, in running an errand that had to do with that local family, I returned home with <a href="http://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014/03/seeing-is-believing.html" target="_blank">our story fresh on my mind</a>, only to hit the power button on the computer and see there was a shooting this morning at Bostons Brigham and Womens hospital. B & W is the place where the Yankee and I spent <i>his</i> life support time.</div>
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I had given a friend the brief version of our near death experience this morning and she replied, "Look at him now!" Yes indeed, look at him now. Wth God, all things ARE possible. God's grace, even when we choose to neither see it or acknowledge it, is nothing short of phenominal. Now, we prepare for Homecoming again! Times filled with a great static of excitement, anticipation, airport pick ups, and getting used to having a man in the house again. And, for my part, lots and lots of prayers of making a home for him he can SO enjoy, considering he spends 24/7 eating out of Styrofoam containers with plastic utensils..and guns, lots and lots of guns. And though home means more to him than fine china, good silverware, and resting peacefully, it is all of those little things that can help bring the man joy in the miniscule amounts of time he has to enjoy his own home.</div>
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Must a man go off to a dangerous job for his Homecoming to be special? What if he works 9 - 5 or he works the night shift and comes home exhausted.</div>
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Engrained on my heart is a story a dear friend once told me of how she had been yelling at her husband only to have him turn around and walk out the front door, completely deflated. She followed him, ignoring his sagging shoulders, determined to keep up the arguing...until she took one look at his face. "What is it?" she said, still mad as he turned to her with the saddest face and said, "I have never felt like less of a man than you just made me feel in there." And we are talking about a couple that loves one another dearly. But we all do it, don't we ladies? And we either learn, or we choose not to learn. Its one of the things I love so dearly about this friend. She always takes those teachable moments and turns them into opportunities to love her husband even more, give him the respect as the head of their household even when he isn't doing things exactly the way she would do them.</div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1 Corinthians 11: 3-9</span></span></div>
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<div class="bible-item-text col-sm-9" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
In a marriage relationship, there is authority from Christ to <b>husband</b>, and from <b>husband</b>
to wife. The authority of Christ is the authority of God. Any man who
speaks with God or about God in a way that shows a lack of <b>respect</b> for the authority of Christ, dishonors Christ. In the same way, a wife who speaks with God in a way that shows a lack of <b>respect</b> for the authority of her <b>husband</b>, dishonors her <b>husband</b>. Worse, she dishonors herself—an ugly sight</span></span></div>
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Shortly after the Yankee almost died, we went out to dinner a lot because there were a lot of people who wanted to see him and get to spend time with him. People we didn't normally get to see on a regular basis. I remember one couple in particular that had so many questions for us. It had been about a month since The Yankee had been out of the hospital and the wife looked at me and said, "Wow, I bet after almost losing him, you two NEVER fight any more." Well now!!!! How I would have enjoyed the fairy tale answer on that one!! "Oh no, life is too precious, we never, ever fight!!" But the truth was, not only did near death NOT KEEP us from fighting, we were actually <a href="http://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014/03/war-stories.html" target="_blank">on a road </a>that neither of us even saw at the time, one that, in the next couple of years, would lead us to contemplating our own divorce! Lesson learned? I THINK NOT!!!!</div>
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Lots of years would go by before I learned what God was trying to show me in this part of our life. Truth be told, we are still learning, always learning. Now we have an inside joke (well, not so inside now because I am sharing it with all of you!) that if we even start to argue, one of us will just say "choose joy" and the argument will be over. Sounds simple doesn't it?.....Choose joy. Funny thing is, it works like a champ! All of those years I couldn't choose joy, not even after facing his death and almost losing him. Choosing joy wasn't an option because I needed to make sure my voice was being heard, my needs were being met, my happiness was important.....ugh! That pretty much sums up why I hate the phrase "It's all about me" so much, because apparently, at one time in my life, that WAS me!!! Ever not want to do something nice for someone until they have lavished your world with niceness first? Hey, hello..yes you, the one reading this, sometimes...and this is an amazing thing...sometimes, when we do the nice gesture first ( EVEN WHEN WE THINK THE OTHER PERSON DOESN'T DESERVE IT), do you know it actually makes that other person want to be nice to us too? Its amazing really!!! The same goes for respecting our husbands even if we do not believe they deserve our respect. It works. Funny thing when I finally realized God actually knew what He was talking about!</div>
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So, its no secret my husbands job is dangerous. Police officers, soldiers, firemen, coal miners...heck, the list goes on and on and on of dangerous jobs. And granted, a dangerous job can help you to NOT take your man for granted a little more than a non-dangerous job. But I encourage you today, right here, right now, at 5:30pm or 5:30 am, when your man walks through the door from his dangerous or his not so dangerous job...don't wait around for him to do something nice for you. Let him know he is welcome and accepted and respected in his own home just the way he is, every single day. Because you never, ever know when life support could be just around the corner.</div>
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<br />Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-66405052646754348432014-12-17T07:18:00.001-08:002014-12-17T07:20:39.922-08:00Yesterdays Glory - Part 2<br />
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To come to the end of the year always brings<br />
reflection doesn't it? My mind travels back to all of 2014 and always seems to land on just about the most amazing thing God did this year, short of <a href="http://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014/12/yesterdays-glory-part-1.html" target="_blank">bringing our church together the way He did</a>. Still, even our other best God moment of the year has to do with the amazing ways God can show Himself.<br />
<br />
I will never forget the day our daughters kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Sylvestre, bounded up the stairs to tell me that our daughter had accepted Christ in her classroom that day. We lived in New England and the children and I had an amazing little church family. This church also had a private school right smack in the middle of a tough area of the city. For a year, I taught 7th grade there while K attended kindergarten downstairs.<br />
<br />
To me, when a child accepts Christ at the age of five, you sort of have to wonder, how much do they know? Sure, it was genuine, but do they understand and will it stick? As she grew, it was pretty evident that her spirituality was simply a part of who she is. Yet I found it a little strange that she never asked to be baptized. We talked about it, maybe twice, but I chose to never, ever pressure her about it because this decision had to come from God and only Him in order to really mean something.<br />
<br />
Back when we were in that wonderful New England church, the Yankee went to another church. During those beginning years when I was just learning to TRY and walk the way Jesus would have me walk, it was tough on us because he didn't really understand why I couldn't go to his church to learn the way I needed to learn, even though I had tried it and even converted to his religion for a little while. Bible versus placed on the frig would cause disruption in our house and we were just in completely different places in our lives as far as spiritual growth went. I just wanted a relationship with Jesus, I didn't want it to be surrounded by a religion, but he did because that was the way he was raised and I needed to try to understand this ( I failed miserably at this most times). <br />
<br />
It wasn't until we moved here, and a year later our friend Casey invited us to her church, that we met Roger. And God used Roger in a HUGE way from the first time The Yankee ever talked to him. We have attended church together as a family ever since, and our lives have grown by leaps and bounds over the last five plus years. I always wondered in the back of my mind during those five years, would The Yankee ever ask to be baptized. I never mentioned it, I never brought it up, but I filed it away with the prayer that someday, K would also ask to be baptized and I left it in God's very capable hands (how often do we forget how capable His hands truly are?) As a wife, I suppose I could have nagged him about it. At the very least, I could have mentioned how important it was TO ME that he get baptized, but what would that have accomplished? Then he would have gotten baptized and, in the back of my mind, I would have always wondered, did that come from me or was it a genuine heartfelt thing between him and God?<br />
<br />
During our last Homecoming, we were driving down the street as a family. How the conversation began is a blur to me now, I just recall we were not even talking about church at all, when suddenly, The Yankee said, "You know, I don't know what it is, but I can't get it out of my mind that I want Roger to baptize me while I am home this time. What do you guys think?" At which point K nearly jumped from the back seat into the front from excitement and proclaimed, "Dad, I have been praying for the right time to get baptized and guess what? God just showed me my right time. I'm getting baptized with you!!!!" All along, even though the three of us were clueless to it, God had been having her wait for what will surely be remembered as one of the most special moments of her life. There are very few moments in your life that can bring you to goosebumps and tears at the same time. This was one of mine. We had not even been aware she had been praying for God's guidance on getting baptized.<br />
<br />
So, on a not-so-warm fall day, we traveled down to the freezing cold river with our church family, where Roger allowed The Yankee to help him dunk K. One thing about K, you never have to guess what she is thinking or how she really feels about something. Immediately upon being brought up out of the river she screamed, "Holy crap that is COLD!!!" We laugh about it to this day..its the kind of church we are. A teenager can come up out the water, yell that and no one gets offended or put off, its just another laughable moment to enjoy.<br />
<br />
And then Roger baptized my hubby.<br />
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This man who had always believed that since he had been baptized as a baby, there was no need for adult baptism in his life. God works in miraculous ways, if only we will wait on Him and allow Him to do His work. I look back so grateful. Keeping my mouth shut is not one of my strong suites. But never nagging my daughter or my husband to get baptized, well, those baptisms meant so much more to me because I didn't ask and ask and ask, but instead, learned to pray and wait.<br />
<br />
It's a practice, that whole praying and waiting thing. I often wonder who really perfects it here on this earth? For me, it seems like I can perfect it in some things, mostly with those I love, but other things I fail miserably at praying and waiting for. I will say this, God taught me through K and the Yankee that my loved ones are in His hands. We asked our son if he wanted to be baptized that day along with his sister and his daddy. We asked him once. He replied "I will think about it." About a week later he said, "No, I don't think this is my time." Should we have been disappointed as parents? Nah, because his time is between him and God and that is going to, one day, make his baptism that much sweeter. Until then, I will not question him about when he wants it to happen. I will wait for God to prompt him to let us know its his time.<br />
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Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-48907489366394430952014-12-15T09:09:00.002-08:002014-12-15T09:14:20.841-08:00Yesterdays Glory - Part 1Do you ever just think like I do that God tries so hard to show us things, but we are still too blind to witness the miracles in the big and the small things He sends us?<br />
<br />
Yesterday I witnessed a biggie in my world and it made me reflect on just about the biggest thing that God allowed into our life this past year. But first, yesterday....<br />
<br />
Rewind to a brief history of our wonderful church. ClearView has been in the area for about five years, formed because a group of locals wanted a place to worship Christ without all of the rigamaroo that goes along with a typical church. I am sure that I have mentioned our pastor lived two hours away and was a pastor there, then would drive two hours south to be our pastor on Sunday evenings. A change in his life made it impossible to do that for a year, so we watched a video feed of him preaching for that year. Or maybe I should say, about 20 of us decided to dig our heals in , do the work, and stay because we loved our church, we loved our pastor, and we all just had a teeny tiny inkling that God was on to something here. Our county has no other church quite like ours and we had the faith that, if we put the work in, God was going to show up. Even in a middle school band room, with plastic chairs, He was going to show up.<br />
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At the end of that year, God showed up in a big way. He led our pastor Roger and his wife Carol to move to our county FULL TIME, a scenario that was not even possible at the beginning of our difficult year. About seven weeks ago he became our pastor full time, no more video feeds, no more long travels for them. They actually live less than two miles from us and I imagine the only move that could make me more excited than that is if my own parents moved that close to us. So God showed up about seven weeks ago, but still, we didn't know what would happen. Did I mention a band room instead of a church? Plastic chairs instead of pews? <br />
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Yesterday, on our seventh Sunday as a so called "real" church, I joked that those setting out the chairs were certainly being optimistic. I had helped set out the first forty chairs, but then someone else came along and just kept adding more and more rows. I told them they had the 'Field of Dreams' theory, if they set out the chairs, then the people would come. The next thing I knew those plastic chairs were full, even the extra ones.<br />
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The special Christmas praise and worship was led by TEENAGERS (no really, you don't understand, we have never had enough teenagers to lead the praise and worship part of the service), one being our ninth grader playing a piano solo of "Carol of the Bells" (because its one of her momma's favorites), as well as another ninth grader accompanying the Richmond twins on guitar with "I Saw Three Ships" and "Away in a Manger". There were little ones in the nursery. I don't know how many in childrens church (no really, you don't understand, there were Sundays where we didn't even need to offer these two services because we didn't need them). The hospitality table was loaded down. The message was awesome! And God, well, He is so good.<br />
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I am going to tell it like it is, that year of video feed was as difficult as could be. Some Sundays were great and joyful, but some Sundays it was difficult to even get out of bed and just show up. People left and with every person that left, those determined to make the church work had to stop for a moment and regroup. I can't speak for everyone, but I know I would think, "Wait, are we really doing the right thing here? Do they see some type of future failure that maybe we just don't have eyes to see right now?" Then another Sunday would come along and we would plow through, being there for one another and honoring God and our pastor by doing what needed to be done until God decided to show us what He had in store for us. He was good during that difficult year too, because He was doing a work in us that none of us could even see at the time. Mostly, we just saw that it was difficult.<br />
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But boy did He ever show up yesterday!!!!! The following passage was a small part of our sermon yesterday, but it fits right into what God showed me as I looked around that band room in amazement at what God was doing. (Again, I use The Message in a lot of cases because it is just easier for me to understand.)<br />
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<div class="version-MSG result-text-style-normal text-html ">
<h3 class="passage-display" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="passage-display-bcv">Galatians 5:22</span><span class="passage-display-version"> - The Message </span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="text Gal-5-22-Gal-5-23" id="en-MSG-12408"><sup class="versenum">22-23 </sup>But
what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives,
much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection
for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness
to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a
conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find
ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in
life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.</span></span></div>
</div>
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We are called to wait upon the Lord. This is the third time in my life ( the third time I have recognized) He has shown me the blessings that multiply when we wait for Him amidst the things that just are not easy or comfortable for us. Sometimes things just don't seem to fit or fall into place, but oh those blessings when we wait for Him to show us instead of following emotions and feelings. God doesn't rule through our emotions! He guides our lives through our faith in Him and our trust that He is out to do what is best for us, even when we can't see it for ourselves!<br />
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Well, my time is short today and I have run out of time to write about that one HUGE thing that happened this year, so until tomorrow, I will call this part one of two!!!! Until then, enjoy my second favorite Christmas carol & Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!<br />
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<br />Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-47813327106076710332014-10-14T08:49:00.001-07:002014-10-14T10:10:11.407-07:00Faith & Worry Do Not MixSuch a long time since I have written. I could blame writers block, or being busy. But the truth is I was just blessed to spend wonderful, wonderful weeks with my husband, and I would not have traded one minute of that time for the two to three hours it normally takes me to sit at this computer screen and pour out my heart in a blog. Nope, my entire heart gets poured out while he is home, but not on paper or a computer! <br />
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Maybe everyone feels this way, or maybe it is because our life is sectioned out into these time frames, X amount of time together, X amount of time apart, but each time we are together, we seem to grow and learn so much. I suppose everyone does this, it is just that our learning periods are crammed into these breaks and probably much more obvious to me than the learning people do on a day to day basis.<br />
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The Yankee is a humble and private guy. I pretty much like to shout our life from the rooftops for anyone who cares to listen. Finding a balance with that, out of respect for him, without bragging on him too much, is NOT easy for me. But this time, I learned a lot, and God used my husband to show me what it was I needed to learn. (So, Yankee, when you read this, I apologize in advance, but this is truly what I saw and I am so grateful I did!)<br />
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Life is never dull around here, though sometimes I almost wish for just a few days that might qualify. One thing I was really looking forward to was the Yankee getting to see # 59's first football game in quite some time. So the evening was upon us. Home games, under the lights, on the turf. Our son even got picked as team captain, which was a great and thoughtful bonus for his daddy to get to see. It was going to be a fabulous night. And it was. Until the end of the fourth quarter.<br />
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As only a mother could notice, our son made a tackle and when he got up, something was not right. No one around me noticed, no one even saw the team doctor checking him out on the sidelines. But I saw every moment. The standing test, the eye test. I knew what was coming. Diagnosis = concussion #2! NO WAY God really? On his daddy's time home from work, when this was the only time he gets to see him play? Really? Oh I was mad at God. I was mad because I had prayed for safety, why did I bother? I was mad because our child loves this game and I hated seeing how scared he was that he might not get to play again.<br />
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When we arrived home that night long conversations about football ensued. To play or not to play. To wait for future doctors appointments or just make the decision now. For us as parents to tell our son he couldn't play anymore or to let him make his own decision? We were talked out and I hated football that night. Worry took over. It was all really stressful for me, even though, as I read this now, it almost sounds trivial and like something I should not have been stressed about. I have never been so grateful for bedtime in my life. As I do every night, I went and said goodnight to each of the kids, #59 already crashed out from the pain pounding in his head. I needed to chill out so I went to the kitchen to grab my phone so that I could mindlessly check my Facebook page and emails before going to bed. But as I crossed through the living room, something caught my eye down the hallway to our sons room. It was the Yankee. On his knees next to our sons bed praying for him......I'm sorry, lets go back. Did you see what I was doing? Checking Facebook and emails. <br />
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People often think that, because we are allowed such a small amount of time together as a married couple that our life must be all unicorns and rainbows, but I promise you, we argue just like any normal couple. Not screaming, fighting, punching holes in walls arguing, but we can discuss things, and discuss things and discuss them some more until we get it hashed out. So we came across one of these times while he was home and I found myself extemely frustrated because I couldn't find the words I needed to get my point across. Giving up, I went to bed and zoned out on my phone, all the while worried about how I could get my point across. After a bit, I got up to get a drink of water, but stopped short as I went through the living room because there he was, on his knees at the couch, praying for us. I'm sorry, lets go back. Did you see what I was doing this time? Of course you did, because it was the same thing I was doing last time, worrying, stressing, CHECKING MY PHONE!!!!!<br />
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<div class="bible-item-title-wrap col-sm-3" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><a class="bible-item-title" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4:6&version=MSG">Philippians 4:6-7</a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let <b>petitions</b> and
praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your
concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything
coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful
what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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We went to DC with daddy during this trip home. While there we attended a church where the preacher said something to the effect of, "You can be a Christian for 25 years and still be the same Christian you were year one, or you can grow with each of those 25 years until you come closer to the person God is trying to make you into." Spiritual maturity. Of which I clearly have none! Seriously, here I am, 43 years old, upset with God because He isn't doing what I want Him to do for me instead of hitting my knees and asking Him what I could do for Him to make these situations better.<br />
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A few nights ago I had dinner with one of my besties. In describing to her a scenario in my life that I was a little perplexed over, she said, "Well, did you pray about it?" So, I have just spent the past five weeks, watching my husband turn to God in each situation. I visibly saw what it was He was trying to show me by using The Yankee as an example, and after five weeks of that, I STILL took a situation to a friend that I hadn't thought to pray about!!! I suddenly realized that, I am almost halfway to the point of being a 25 year Christian still living like its my first year of being one. Like a child throwing a tantrum, when things get tough, I get mad and don't turn to Him because I feel as though He isn't doing enough for me.<br />
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So today and everyday I will ask, "What can I do for YOU Jesus? Even in tougher situations, what can I do to honor You that might make this situation better?" I can't imagine the possibilities when I take my mind of the "me" mentality and ask what I can do for Him instead...leaving it all at His feet, not just saying I will!!!<br />
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<br />Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-83988073938278730592014-08-25T08:15:00.000-07:002014-08-25T08:22:28.821-07:00Worm Holes, Dog Holes & True TragedyWe live a blessed life, even if it is as imperfect as a beautifully picked apple with a worm hole right through the center of it. I look around at the weeds in the garden, the holes both of our dogs have dug in the yard that I have tried to keep looking so nice for The Yankees arrival home, the paint chipping off our charming southern front porch and I think, even with all that is imperfect, we have rooted ourselves in this place and life is blessed beyond belief.<br />
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I have spent the past five weeks battling one thing or another, <a href="http://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014_08_01_archive.html" target="_blank">the devil pretty much bent on stealing</a> my peace. Our daughter became frighteningly ill at the beginning of July. So ill in fact that, I, the avoider of all doctors at all costs, rushed her to the emergency room at midnight one night because I literally thought her appendix was going to explode right on the spot. Well, thankfully ,it wasn't her appendix. And thankfully some of those doctors I try so hard to avoid are very dear friends of ours and they took really great care of her, even though we never truly figured out exactly what was happening to her over those five weeks. Now that she is back in school, she calls this "the summer that I lost"...oh the drama of a teenage daughter in the house!!! But I ended up being so grateful for her attitude during the whole thing. Frustrated as can be, she never lost track of keeping a positive attitude and knowing she would get better.<br />
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The end of summer also equals the true ramping up of football season. Though the guys have been training since spring, they technically couldn't put their pads on and hit until this past week. Oh the excitement of it all! There is a short list of things I love in this world more than football. Which is why a bunch of us moms (and to their credit, there are a handful of dads out there too) still sit and watch football practice each and every day, even though our boys are in middle school. If I am not planted next to that field between 330 and 630, you can bet it is because our daughter needs to be with her tennis trainer because that is THE only other place I would be!<br />
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Well, this week we had a special guest come to visit, my husbands cousin surprised us from Georgia, but they were only able to visit us for one hour during a break from a golf tournament about sixty miles away. I was so thrilled to see her as we made plans to meet at the house, visit for about thirty minutes, then, I would drag she and her husband along for the last 30 minutes so she could see her little cousin, and her fathers namesake, practice a little bit of football. But before we could get twenty minutes into our visit, I received THE DREADED PHONE CALL from my dear friend, "Your son is on the ground and he is not moving." Frantic frenzy ensued as I rushed the five miles to the football field, hubbies cousin trying to keep up with my speeding car, then off to the emergency room. Again, note I said emergency room, not a decision I make lightly, I was really scared that he had hurt himself horribly.<br />
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Luckily it was only a cervical sprain and nothing a couple days off football hasn't already cured. But we had only enjoyed one week of our daughter being well before we found ourselves back in the emergency room. A place we have only seen twice since we moved here, I have now been to twice in one month.I started to get really mad at God. I had been praying for weeks and weeks for the children's new school year to go safely and smoothly and already we had been faced with the possibility that our daughter might not even get to start school on time, and safety went out the window on our sons third tackle of his first practice in pads. It took a friend to remind me to find something to be grateful for..maybe his smaller injury had kept him from practicing during a time when he might have gotten hurt worse, or maybe us going to the emergency room kept us from a car accident going home at our normal time...just something to praise God for during all the commotion.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ym-AXvAuUA2I6azmH11fclbCJFmDCCCLVEY7_sdGVE5beDlpjcK3Ppzq-rqIyaLTM-rFCTsIFlOhwx6SXZj3arc6i0fZIvj-l74vXx7q8d1H2V3ag_XvXbx0h56WrCVmG5QEWFY8xRA/s1600/WhenYouWantPeace.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ym-AXvAuUA2I6azmH11fclbCJFmDCCCLVEY7_sdGVE5beDlpjcK3Ppzq-rqIyaLTM-rFCTsIFlOhwx6SXZj3arc6i0fZIvj-l74vXx7q8d1H2V3ag_XvXbx0h56WrCVmG5QEWFY8xRA/s1600/WhenYouWantPeace.png" height="255" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For more about gratitude, please visit <a href="http://www.aholyexperience.com/">www.aholyexperience.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I finished my five weeks of stressfulness dotting my i's and crossing my t's with the towns Historical Society...all because we are putting a basic, architectural shingled, black roof on our 100 year old cottage. It can not be done without their approval, which we will not know if we have gained until the day before the contractor (whom we have already hired) is slotted to do the work! Yikes! I suppose finding out that our house was technically in the historic district of town was something we might want to have looked into before purchasing the house! Since we aren't asking for a purple metal roof with shag carpet accents, my expectations are high for this to all work out! I balanced out my frustration over this task with gratitude that the woman at City Hall was so nice and helpful, and that the hardware store literally handed over the sample of the roofing shingles I needed to show the historical society with a quick "Just return them when you can"....they didn't even take my name or anything! Sometimes small town living still blows me away with its ease and comfort!<br />
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All of this to say, there are people all over our town who are<i> truly</i> hurting. Friends who are dealing with children that are really sick, not just dealing with some quick emergency room visits as I have had to do over this past month. I saw a request today for furniture needed for a family that has NONE and yet I have the nerve to gripe about dealing with a Historical Society over a roof that will cover our heads and protect all that we <i>DO</i> have?<br />
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There are people all over this country who are having to live through unspeakable things. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/22/james-foley-remembered_n_5700563.html" target="_blank">Just this week, a Mother and Father in New Hampshire sat on their living room couch and watched a </a>video of the beheading of their precious son by ISIS. No one should ever, EVER have to witness something like that. I would be completely lying to you if I said that my husbands work in that part of the world and these types of things do not bother me, that living each day and thinking "Usually he has emailed by now, is he ok?" isn't my way of life. But when peace is no where to be found, I battle it the way I try to battle anything negative, big or small...with gratitude. In this scenario, I always find myself grateful <a href="http://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014/03/seeing-is-believing.html" target="_blank">that I have my husband</a>...grateful for his ever growing faith, so, so much stronger than my own, and grateful for his willingness to follow Gods will for his life,no matter where it takes him.<br />
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Gratefulness is the only defense I have against a world that seems to be turning more and more upside down by the day. It puts my "problems" into perspective. It hopefully helps me to have a heart for those who are dealing with <i>huge</i> issues. Gratitude helps me to see that there is still beauty, there is still good, and there is <i>always</i> God.<br />
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<br />Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-36318430773706847282014-08-18T10:23:00.000-07:002014-08-18T10:43:38.865-07:00Fist PumpOne of my favorite visuals comes from back when I was still in New England and just a baby in Christ. Each Sunday morning before church service would begin, I was privileged to sit in a circle with some of the most supportive women. We would all discuss our struggles, hurt for one another, and pray for one another. One day we spoke of how satan would just love to see us fall, to see me give up on my marriage, to see so and so stop praying for her sons salvation, to see us all stop praying for healing for another sweet lady in the group. Then a friend told us all the story of how her old pastors wife would go through her house with a broom and get all of the corners of the rooms and yell to satan that he HAD to get out of her house, he had no place there.<br />
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Many people do not even like to talk about the devil. Some don't believe in him. Some believe he has so much power, that if you go through your house with a broom, yelling and screaming at him like a wild person, all you will do is just get his horns all ruffled and your problems will become worse, not better. All I know is, his name has sure been coming up a lot lately.<br />
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I am blessed with two West Virginia buddies that wish to see marriages saved as much as I do. One touched base this weekend, heartbroken over hearing another marriage broken up, this time by infidelity and wondering why the devil just wouldn't leave people alone, leave families alone. But here is the deal folks....satan doesn't just swoop into these marriages ( insert your ordeal here in place of marriage), swirl everything around like the Tasmanian devil, and then run off laughing and rubbing his hands together. <br />
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He may find a way to sneak in without knocking at a time when our guard is down, but we are the ones who have to give him permission to STAY. We are the ones who make the choices day by day, minute by minute to allow the things he wants to see happen to continue happening. Many of us, myself included in many aspects of my life, just simply and honestly do not want that personable accountability. Or maybe we just don't have the self-discipline. I can promise you from having been there that it is one thousand times easier to stay in a place where you are miserable than to work your tail off day by day to get out of that place. But difficult as it may be, the end is so blessed and so worth all of the hard work!<br />
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As always, I love to go to <a href="http://www.gotquestions.org/the-devil-made-me-do-it.html" target="_blank">gotquestions.org </a>for some of the best reasoning on things. I loved this quote on overcoming satan in your life:<br />
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<b><span style="color: #203864; font-family: "Lucida Handwriting"; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #203864; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=50000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent5; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">"As Christians, we have the
indwelling Holy Spirit to help us overcome sin (1 John 4:4). We have everything
we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). If we sin, we have no excuse. We
cannot blame the devil. We cannot blame our circumstances. We can only blame
ourselves. And, until we recognize that the problem resides within us (Romans
7:20), we will never arrive at the solution."</span></b></div>
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I am choosing to quote 1 John 4:4, not because I feel like playing Bible bingo today or taking anything out of context, but because this is what I need to see the most today:</div>
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<b><span style="color: #203864; font-family: "Lucida Handwriting"; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #203864; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=50000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent5; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">1 John 4:4The Message (MSG)</span></b></div>
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<b><sup><span style="color: #203864; font-family: "Lucida Handwriting"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #203864; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=50000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent5; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">4 </span></sup><span style="color: #203864; font-family: "Lucida Handwriting"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #203864; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=50000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent5; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">My dear children, you come
from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false
teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #203864; font-family: "Lucida Handwriting"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #203864; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=50000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent5; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;"></span><b><span style="color: #203864; font-family: "Lucida Handwriting"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #203864; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=50000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent5; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Having fought some major battles in my life, at this point, my battle is in doing the <i>little</i> things God calls me to do each and every day. I hear Him, but then I turn away from that and follow my own plan, just as the devil swoops around my mind and I allow myself to be diverted from what I know I need to be doing. What is it that God has called you to do? What if, right here and now, we choose to absolutely believe that the Spirit that is in us is stronger than ANYTHING IN THE WORLD!!!! Doesn't that include the devil? I believe it does! So here is what I am going to do...I am going to throw my fist up in the air and tell the devil to back OFF. Don't think I won't run around my house like a crazy woman with a broom kicking satan out if I have to! But the point is we all have to DO SOMETHING! Start with believing the strength of the Spirit within you, then throw that fist in the air and tell the devil where to go!!!!</span></span></div>
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<br />Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-17926415979190247212014-08-02T08:42:00.000-07:002014-08-02T08:47:16.224-07:00I Admit It...I'm A Hypocrite<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYJyIGx7o8rvf1ZSP6ab1OXieVodN38af6PMjFqHKyVt-P7I8mWNcZYSg-ymShgiM4QVhnhPHhA-AsTfy5Dd0bSbjkdmORxiN4NtOD1NnVyuzRc0hJYNIPHO_JP7_EiXXJwvEAIKfg9s/s1600/bible-verses-25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYJyIGx7o8rvf1ZSP6ab1OXieVodN38af6PMjFqHKyVt-P7I8mWNcZYSg-ymShgiM4QVhnhPHhA-AsTfy5Dd0bSbjkdmORxiN4NtOD1NnVyuzRc0hJYNIPHO_JP7_EiXXJwvEAIKfg9s/s1600/bible-verses-25.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yesterday I ran into a friend who is battling cancer. In talking with her, I told her that I feel a bit like a hypocrite. Many, many times I fall into a self-pity mode. The Yankee goes off to do his job, which happens to take him far away, and each time he goes, people spend the first week saying "Whatever you need, we are here for you , anything at all." Then they spend the second week asking about him. Then, by week three, most are so engrossed in their own lives that they don't even ask anymore how he is or do we need any help with anything. I am putting my heart out there when I share with you that this hurts and it is frustrating. But, as my beautiful niece likes to remind me, I also bring this upon myself by appearing strong enough that I do not need help...and, as has always been hard for me.... asking for it. If I am at the point of asking you for help, you can bet it is killing me to do so.</div>
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In the beginning, we did a few things to help my friend with cancer. Now that her battle has continued, we have prayed, yes, but not so much as plopped a card in the mail to let her know we are continuing to pray for her. Why? Because my life got busy. Our daughter got really sick, our son needed to be at football practice, meals needed to be cooked, grass continued to grow, laundry refused to wash itself...well, you get the idea. I allowed life to get in the way of being a faithful servant to someone who could probably really use my time.</div>
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Several years back I had the privilege of meeting a wonderful woman named Shirley. Such a sweet woman. At that time, Shirley was still suffering greatly over the recent loss of her beloved husband. She sat across from me and spoke so sweetly, tears pouring down her face, of how she would still look at the door and expect to see him walk in. The tears became heavier when she spoke of the realization that she would have to go to bed alone, knowing he would never walk through the door again. As I sat and cried with Shirley, I had never so clearly understood Gods commands that we take care of the widowed. </div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a class="bible-item-title" href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+24:19&version=MSG">Deuteronomy 24:19-22</a></span></b></span></div>
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When you harvest your grain and forget a sheaf back in the field, don’t
go back and get it; leave it for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow so that <span class="small-caps">God</span>,
your God, will bless you in all your work. When you shake the olives
off your trees, don’t go back over the branches and strip them
bare—what’s left is for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. And when you cut the grapes in your vineyard, don’t take every last grape—leave a few for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. Don’t ever forget that you were a slave in Egypt. I command you: Do what I’m telling you. (The Message)</span></b></span></div>
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I vowed that day that I would visit Shirley. Then life grew hectic, the calendar continued to turn, and another friend and I vowed we would go visit Shirley.....,..needless to say, season after season has passed and I still could not even tell you where Shirley lives.</div>
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I do not mean to be so hard on myself. Or maybe I do. These are only two fairly recent examples. Difficult times spring up all around me. Peoples lives open up like sinkholes, explode like geysers, hot, painful water spouting up through the cracks in their very being. People that could use a helping hand, a kind act, an ear to listen. Is it my responsibility to help or do I concentrate on myself, say I am too busy, and count on the next person to do it? If God grants us the gift of eyes to see the suffering, a heart to feel others hurt, then shouldn't we have the grace to find a way to help? I would like to say I would help anyone with anything, but then, well, opportunities present themselves and I don't. And yet I would be ecstatic for people to help us when The Yankee isn't around. Right there! Did you see it? I am a hypocrite. Or I am human. All I know is, I want to do better. And as with all I write about, doing better is a <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">choice</span> I must make.</div>
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I would love to hear thoughts on this one, maybe so I have folks to sympathize with over the "we all get busy" or maybe to hear how you overcome your own self and get out there and do what God has called you to do! Either way, hearing from you keeps me going, keeps me writing!</div>
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Til next time ya'll have a great weekend!!</div>
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Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-30636584441911664822014-07-15T11:15:00.000-07:002015-01-20T09:40:01.785-08:00I Have Fingernails!!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSumA2F8NHxOhowfdzq0vo1H_HVWrCSgcGQQOFsMORe2COmH_-o7I9qYt9TaKvT4lze5r4VM6daFBIx9Lwp6iTscdX7wbB34KAg7LX9BkY9K4rFaGEnLuR9pjP4Z-K0H_nWJeNpK6dNc8/s1600/nails.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSumA2F8NHxOhowfdzq0vo1H_HVWrCSgcGQQOFsMORe2COmH_-o7I9qYt9TaKvT4lze5r4VM6daFBIx9Lwp6iTscdX7wbB34KAg7LX9BkY9K4rFaGEnLuR9pjP4Z-K0H_nWJeNpK6dNc8/s1600/nails.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
Ok, I know right now you are probably thinking I have truly lost it and what on earth does a picture of my hand have to do with anything??? Well, let me tell you what I did two weeks ago!!<br />
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Many of you know I love, love, love to study nutrition. And no offense to all of our wonderful doctor friends, but I will spend a week looking for a home remedy before I will step foot in, or take our kids to, a doctors office! So I like to study nutrition, and sometimes I implement and stick to the things I learn, and sometimes I don't. Here are some things I have stuck with over the years:<br />
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* having suffered through "pass out if I jump up too fast" anemia for years, finding out I am allergic to over the counter and prescription iron supplements, and even enduring week after week after week of an iron drip, (costing our insurance company over 10.000 and having a nurse unknowingly hook me up to a chemo drip one of those times), only to have my iron levels drop dramatically again a year later..I cured it myself with black strap molasses. One tablespoon a day...boom, done.<br />
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* I inherited a thyroid issue from my moms side of the family. I believe she and all of her siblings take meds for their thyroid. About three years ago now, I had my first bad reading on my thyroid levels and began taking L-tyrosine. No doctor has mentioned that I need thyroid medicine since then.<br />
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* I also take B17 as a form of cancer prevention as both my maternal grandmother and my mom had breast cancer. Obviously, I have no way of knowing if this one actually works, but I certainly pray it does, and from everything I have read about it, it does.<br />
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To be very real with you, the last time The Yankee was home, I gained 10 pounds out of no where! I am 5'1 folks, ten pounds might as well be 25. My clothes didn't fit and I was exhausted the entire time he was home. Keep in mind that during this time we were training for and running a 5k, and I STILL managed to gain all that weight and feel yucky! The weight did not bother me near as much as the exhaustion.<br />
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When he left, I managed to do the old diet and exercise routine and drop six of those pounds, but something just seemed so off. I could NOT drop the last four. But it was more than that. The exhaustion was still there, my joints and muscles ached, and my stomach stayed so bloated that my clothes still didn't fit right even though I was only carrying an extra four pounds. I even made a doctors appointment!!!! That is how bad I felt!<br />
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I asked God to show me what it was that diet and exercise wasn't taking care of. I went to the library and what jumped out at me was a book on Food Intolerance. And it clicked! I eat pretty healthy, but that doesn't matter at all if you are eating foods that your body can't process.<br />
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So I cut out a bunch of stuff two weeks ago:<br />
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Eggs ( which I rarely eat in the summertime anyway, weird, I know)<br />
Soy (which I had already cut out because it is SO bad for your thyroid, but I learned it is HIDING in so many things and under different names!)<br />
Dairy (OUCH! I might have cried over this one, cheese is my friend, and a go-to protein snack for me, plus I only cook with real butter not margarine)<br />
Sugar (again, we eat really low amounts of sugar, and I am good at making some tasty treats with stevia, so this one wasn't too, too hard)<br />
Peanuts (easy, I like all nuts except for peanuts, but I do like my peanut butter, so I had to purchase almond butter instead)<br />
Corn (this one was harder than you might think, corn is my go to side veggie around here, and I love to snack on air-popped popcorn with nutritional yeast sprinkled all over it!)<br />
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and last, but not least.....<br />
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Gluten (bye-bye bread and crackers..my favorite food group!! I am still in mourning!)<br />
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Before you go thinking I really am nuts, I only have to give these up for three weeks. After that I re-introduce one a week for the next seven weeks and see how my body reacts. (this is all based on the <a href="http://jjvirgin.com/blog/" target="_blank">JJ Virgin</a> philosophy of food intolerances and how we can use food to heal our bodies.)<br />
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I thought my first week was going to be tortureous and prepared myself for such. I was a little tired on day one and day two, but by day three, I could already tell that I was on to something. My joints and muscles had almost completely stopped aching and my stomach was no longer bloated at all.<br />
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Once a month I would kill for a glass of chocolate milk. In our house we call this my temporal fracture phase (sorry all you non movie buffs, it's a Men In Black 3 reference, we watch way too many movies in our house!!) Last week I was determined to pass up this craving...and I did, that is, until I rushed my kids and my friends two little kids in for a quick ice cream. That vanilla milkshake looked better than any glass of chocolate milk ever. I knew it before I drank it of course. I knew it was not going to go over well...but it was way worse than I expected...way, way worse!! I may never look at a vanilla milkshake again.<br />
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Then my best friend flew in from Florida and we wanted sushi...... twice:) It was worth it to get to sit with her and enjoy our time over some yummy food, but after her three day visit, I was up three pounds, my stomach was bloated again, and I had to restart my three week process.<br />
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So now I am on the beginning of week two (after the restart). How's it going? Well, I had lost six pounds. But that milkshake on day 7 and my awesome visit from my bff, literally caused me to gain those three pounds. Now that I started over I lost those in no time and am back to six pounds gone. Losing weight was just a bonus though. I can't tell you how good I feel! My joints and muscles stopped aching for a time, but then with my indulgences, they are hurting again, so hopefully after a couple of days that will go away again, I am not as tired, and I have fingernails! I have never, ever had fingernails in my life.<br />
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It will be interesting to see what happens in 13 days when I can reintroduce foods again, but, to be honest, I am not 100% sure I even want to. What we put into our bodies is so important. Food can make us sick, or it can heal us. Do I hate that I can't just eat whatever I want? Yes I DO! But I LOVE that I have control over how I feel. I can eat that sushi and drink that milkshake, but I can't complain about how horrible I feel after because I already knew I was going to feel that way! I think many of us feel helpless when it comes to our health, but I think if we could take control over a lot of issues based on what we put INTO our bodies, we would all feel more empowered and realize what a huge difference we can make in our own health.<br />
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All of that being said, I am cheating on one part of the JJ Virgin philosophy..and if you know me, you know what is coming next...stupid diet soda...my worst habit ever...and I know what it does...and I know I was supposed to give it up for this...but I gave up cheese...and bread...and sugar.....and finally, could not bring myself to give up the soda. So say a prayer for me that I will make this choice that I need to make so badly for my overall health. I just don't want to give it up right now, and til I do, I will just have to deal with the memory fog and sugar cravings and goodness knows what else it is causing!<br />
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Will keep everyone posted on the results of this food intolerance testing! I am loving it right now and feel like a million bucks!<br />
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<br />Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-40788286417490175772014-06-16T10:29:00.000-07:002014-06-16T10:31:20.068-07:00Knuckles to the Door FolksWe have a very special situation at our church. Our pastor lives two hours away, so we video feed him in, for now, and he drives down here twice a month to do a Monday night Bible Study. We are VERY blessed that in just a few short months, he and his wife will be moving here and we will have him in person every Sunday!<br />
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Our Bible Study is not really the emotional type of Bible study I am used to. I am used to Beth Moore or maybe Priscilla Shirer, both of whom I really enjoy. I am used to drawn out prayer requests that involve a lot of tears from folks (a lot of the time they are MY tears)..and I really like those emotional Bible Studies because, hey, we all need times where we can just unload what is on our hearts. When you can do it with a group of fellow believers that you know will be praying for you, well, all the better I say!<br />
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But Roger started by teaching us the complete history of the Church. I have been a Christian for 11+ years and never once heard the History of the Church. Then we moved on to simply studying the Sermon on the Mount. What I like about Roger is that he teaches us a lot of principles. What I am about to write here is what I gleaned from the last Bible Study I attended a few weeks ago. It was simple, yet life changing for me, and I feel like it could be life changing for someone out there reading as well.<br />
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In discussing how Jesus used the Sermon on the Mount to teach principles, Roger brought up how our lives are a spiritual journey with no destination until we die. During the journey, a lot of us Ask God for things, the way children often do, with a deep longing for the actual thing we are asking for. For the sake of this blog, I am going to ask you to think of something you have asked for. Something that you have really prayed for....something you just wanted God to fix. Maybe a problem that you couldn't find a solution to.<br />
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A lot of times we go a step further and we Seek things out. Roger put it best when he said Seeking actually puts "feet to our prayers" because we are doing the action of looking. Also, seeking implies that you do not see something, but still, you have faith and you are willing to look for it. For whatever reason, maybe one of you reading can explain it to me, this next part is what I felt was so life changing: If you choose NOT to seek, your journey in life with most definitely be SAFE. You will do your routine, you will go to church because that is what you do on a Sunday morning, and you will even go to Heaven because you have given your life to Christ. But if you choose not to Seek, you actually missed the journey God had planned for your life. So you actually got the joy of knowing Christ and getting to go to Heaven, but you missed out on God's plan because you decided to play it safe! I don't know about you, but this has me thinking about my problems and my mind is swirling thinking about solutions so that I can SEEK out the next thing I am supposed to do! Go back to the problem you thought of earlier...are you truly seeking or do you believe there is no solution? That God just can't handle this one or maybe you think He doesn't want to????<br />
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And, according to Rogers Bible Study, the next thing you have to do is KNOCK. You arrive, but YOU have to step through the door. It isn't enough that you asked for it. It isn't enough that you went out and looked for it. But you have to physically put your "knuckles to the door" (Roger's words, not mine), knock, make an effort, make a choice!!! There's my word again...choice!<br />
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I saw this online the other day, which may or may not make me the only blogger mixing Johnny Depp and Jack Sparrow with Christianity (we love Jack Sparrow in our house!). And I hope I am doing justice to what our Pastor was saying. Like little kids, we all see a problem and will pray and pray and pray for it to be fixed, but how many of us take that next step of faith in seeking the journey God has planned for us? Isn't it EASIER to play it safe? I believe most of us are caught up in some type of fear, where, playing it safe in our fear that we KNOW is way easier than stepping out, seeking, putting our knuckles to the door as Roger says, and making an effort to improve things. We would rather remain safe, a victim to our circumstances, than take a stand in our faith, in Christ and all He has done for us, all He wants to do for us, and change things.<br />
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Satan will give us ideas, fears. Oh how he would love to see us in that position of forever asking and asking and asking. Don't you just bet Satan has a field day every time one of us decides to play it safe? Every time one of us sees a little bump in the road and takes the safety route? Everytime one of us asks and asks for help with a problem and gets frustrated and a bad attitude with God because He isn't answering our problem. But what if God wanted us to see that our attitude was part of the problem? That, in deciding to play it safe, we stuck ourselves in a position, God didn't leave us stuck in a position.<br />
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And while Satan will give us ideas, thankfully I serve a God who can recreate us and do amazing things. Heck, He even takes our problems and turns them into amazing blessings, if only we ask, seek, and knock. <br />
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<br />Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-5120674796831520792014-05-28T09:30:00.000-07:002014-05-28T09:30:57.781-07:00Freed From Church<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It is no secret how much The Yankee and I love, not only our church, but our Pastor, Roger, who has become such a dear friend to us over the years. Offending anyone is never on my agenda. This post may touch a nerve with some readers, and if so, I would ask you to ask yourself why does it? And then see if the Holy Spirit doesn't reveal an answer to you! God is good like that!!<br />
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We call ourselves, "The Church That Doesn't Care"....that does not mean we don't care about the people that come into the church. Quite the opposite actually, it means a lot of things. We don't care what you wear. Prime example...I am part of the Praise and Worship team. I can promise you there have been Sunday mornings where I have stood on stage and sang in jeans and a sweatshirt. Amazingly my voice sounds the EXACT same as it does when I am dressed up! We don't care where you came from or how much money you have or don't have. We just want you there, learning about Jesus right along side us. We also do not care about "churchy" things. If it is your goal to be a deacon or a committee member, then our church might not be for you, we don't do either. If your idea of going to church means you just have to attend a business meeting every week, then you probably wouldn't like our church either. We don't do business meetings.<br />
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Maybe you are wondering how we survive without all of the normal "church" things. Truly you haven't even heard the two biggest things yet. One, we do not pass an offering plate. Ever. And two, we will never have a building. Ever. We meet at the local middle school and I can tell you that after all these years, I leave that middle school feeling closer to God and having grown more than I ever could have in any church building. "Why would you not have a building?" You might be asking yourself. Simple. All of our money goes back to the community. Since our church has zero bills, we are free to help out those in need as much as we can. I am presumptious enough to believe God might just be totally on board with this concept!!!<br />
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Do you ever feel like "church" has lost the meaning of what "church" is supposed to be about? I shudder when I hear of the fights over things that happen at churches..but the amazing thing is, when there is no building, no committees, and your focus is actually on Jesus and helping others (where it is supposed to be, if I am not mistaken), then there is nothing to argue about to begin with. Suddenly the church becomes "free" to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit without the "nagging wife" in the background always griping about something.<br />
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This may be news for some folks, but success isn't about how many people come to a church. Success isn't even about how much money that church brought in that week. From a church stand point success <b>should be</b> <b>about how many people grew closer to Christ that Sunday.</b> That's it. Period. NOTHING ELSE. And if no one in church is growing closer to Christ because they are worried about how many people to get through the doors or how to spend the money, then the flat out truth is "church" isn't doing it's job.<br />
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Lucida Handwriting";">“success<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> should be</span></span></b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Lucida Handwriting";"> <b>about how many people
grew closer to Christ that Sunday”</b></span></div>
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<br />
Our church is a treasure, a blessing. Not perfect mind you, no church is, no pastor is, and certainly no congregation is. But many of us at ClearView needed to be freed from "church" so that God could do what he wanted to do in our lives. I can only speak for my husband and myself, but being freed from church was when our journey truly began! Stay tuned to the next post for more about that!!!Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-41845457252907156392014-05-21T07:30:00.000-07:002014-05-21T07:30:28.290-07:00This is How I Do It<div style="text-align: center;">
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It happened again yesterday. For the four hundredth time (probably more than that), I heard someone say to me, "I just don't know how you do it!"<br />
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They were, of course, referring to my marriage. Specifically, our circumstances. For those of you unfamiliar with us, The Yankee's career only allows he and I to be under the same roof two, maybe three (if we are lucky) months out of the year.<br />
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Words fail me when people ask me this for I clearly do not see the situation as difficult as those around me see it. What amazes me is how quick people are to say "I could not do what you are doing." I believe we are all stronger than we believe we are. Many, many of you out there would be able to do this and do it successfully I might add.<br />
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So I thought I would just write it down....this is how I do it..and from here on out, when I hear that phrase "I just don't know how you do it." I will skip the explanation and refer everyone to this blog :)<br />
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1. Our faith - God brought this career to my husband in a remarkable way. The details will have to be spared, but short version, his first time overseas some years ago now, he saw something he wanted to do..what would seem like an unattainable dream to most, especially considering his age at the time. The word unattainable flies out of the area when The Yankee enters the room. Fast forward a few years later he received an email that he was wanted to do the exact same thing he had been wanting to do. And after a grueling process, here we are more than a couple of years into our newest adventure. During the process we watched God open door after door after door as we prayed for Him to guide us into what was really supposed to be done. We listened hard enough, and were willing to wait, making it extremely difficult to deny God's will for our life. It was so clear to us that I often try to explain to people I would most certainly be more afraid that my husband would be hit by a car if he were here than I fear for his safety in his job, because we know he is where God wants him.<br />
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2. Our kids - We have two kids who, yes, help me when their daddy isn't around, but it is so much more than that. Witnesses will tell you that you could drop these two children in the middle of ANY situation and they adapt, immediately. We took this into great consideration when deciding whether or not this path was for us. He is their world. He is the fun one, the smart one, he cracks them up and they take everything he says and soak it in. Our daughter will be traveling to Paris with her French class in the upcoming year or so and she can only take one parent. She did not hesitate to say it was Daddy she wanted on that trip with her! But their adaptability was a huge factor we felt God used to show us that The Yankee is where he is supposed to be.<br />
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3. Hard times? - People look at us and think this is hard. The crazy thing is, we have been through hard. God delivered a marriage ministry right to my front door last year. To date I have had the privilege of being there for four or five different relationships but I will tell everyone I mentor on this subject, you can tell me how hard your time is, but I am not going to feel sorry for you, because I have been there and survived. You can tell me you are not happy, but I certainly don't care about your momentary happiness, I care about your future blessing and the JOY you will receive from learning and growing in Christ no matter how bad your marriage is. I have seen hard and this life we are living now is not it!<br />
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4. Skype - Men have gone overseas for hundreds of years. In the past, women have had to wait weeks, months, however long for a letter that was more than likely blacked out in parts leaving the wife unable to read it in its entirety. I can't fathom the torture of living day to day not knowing if my husband was ok. My neighbor, Mr. Long was in Viet Nam. He has told me of once a month phone calls that lasted five minutes and cost him $10 a pop. I have an iphone. I can pick that iphone up and SEE my husband on Skype no matter where I am. Yesterday I saw him twice. We have been known to talk for two hours at a time. And most days are a minimum of an hour. I often wonder if he were home, doing a 9 - 5 job, would we talk an hour to two hours a day face to face like that? Would we send goofy emails that we will forever have as proof for our children to reread and relive their parents love for one another someday? Or would I just get through every day the best I could without truly appreciating who this man is? Nothing will make you appreciate your husband like having him work on another continent! But the trick is appreciating him that much when he is home..appreciating him that much if he ever does switch to a 9 - 5 career. I would like to think I would.<br />
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5. Attitude - My cup is half full. That's not to say I don't have bad days. I can promise you that there has been a day when you could drive by our house while I am mowing the lawn and see a tear run down my face because I am missing him and mowing the lawn makes me miss him even more! (Crazy, I know!) But I try my best to turn it into a positive and use the yard as a workout and then am so proud of myself when I am done to see how well it looks and I got a workout in to boot! I am sure my closest friends have seen me get choked up a time or two when they ask me how he is, simply because I miss him. But I promise you this is not hard. One day my husband got on an airplane to go away from us for the first time. I watched his back get smaller and smaller and I looked at our two babies, little at the time. I said to myself, "I can make this hard on them, or I can make it easy on them by staying positive." And do you know that MY attitude actually made it easier on those little creatures God blessed us with! You know how big I am on choices. My attitude is not only my choice, but it has the side benefit of showing great respect for my husband! Bonus! The worst thing that could happen is that a lot of things could go wrong in one day and I would get tired. But you know what? Even when The Yankee is home, my rest doesn't come from him! (Matthew 11:28)<br />
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So I think that pretty much sums it up! I hope it makes sense, and if you have any questions on how we do it, or if you are a spouse of someone whose job takes them away for great lengths of time and have questions on more specific ways to handle things, please comment below and I will go into anything I might have left out! But more importantly, remember that you are stronger than you think, and even when you don't feel so strong, there is an almighty God just waiting to give you the rest you need!<br />
<br />Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-18559400811669546382014-05-12T05:35:00.000-07:002014-05-12T05:35:45.779-07:00Price Tags<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So I came across this online the other day. Supposedly it was a quote from Jillian Michaels...you know, the tough as nails Biggest Loser trainer. Before I go any further, let me say, I really like Jillian Michaels. I used to watch The Biggest Loser and was always amazed at the way she seemed to get right to the heart of what was bothering people. It seemed she could always just see into a persons heart and diagnose what was causing their eating problems and BOOM, one quick session on the steps outside the Biggest Loser gym, and problem solved!<br />
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But when I saw this, a shiver went down my spine. She is so influential. And what of the people reading this? The wife whose husband didn't do anything to encourage her happiness that day, or that month, the person who feels stuck in a dead end job but doesn't realize their hard work is getting ready to be paid off with a big promotion..and happiness....ugh, there's THAT word again!!! What if they choose to walk away just before they receive their reward?<br />
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So my opinion differs with Jillian's a bit....we are supposed to concentrate on serving others, not on how well we can be served. I am convinced that should we decide to spend our lives looking for things and people who serve US, we will live a great life of misery on this earth. If you follow my blog, you know I have been there. Both sides. And if this is your first time reading, I invite you to browse around a bit. I PROMISE you, based on the life stories you will read here, the side of serving is WAY more rewarding than the side of always looking for someone to serve you or looking for things and others to make us happy. <br />
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<u><b><span itemprop="articleBody">“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45)</span></b></u></div>
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Jillian states that it is "you that tells people what your worth is"....this statement alone made me jump for joy that my worth is in Christ and Christ alone...amazingly, I don't need to tell anyone what my worth is. I know because I am His. Don't get me wrong, I am happy when my husband and kids acknowledge things that I have done, but even these three humans whom I adore don't define my worth and I feel zero desire to tell them what I am worth. It isn't that I don't care what others think of me, I truly believe, as Christians we can't say, "I don't care if anyone likes me or not!". But somehow, when I rest in knowing my worth is in my relationship with Christ, I take my feet out of the mud of proving my worth to others, and actually begin to see others appreciate me for who I am.<br />
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Believe it or not, I do agree with her last statement, though I can't say with what intent it was written. You are a child of God, you were never intended for the clearance wrack, and if you believe that you are not valuable, then you are most certainly telling God Himself that He made junk. If you can believe God made junk, then there is a lack of understanding there for who He actually is.<br />
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So for the wife or husband who just read "Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you or makes you happy", I say just the opposite. Don't walk away! Fight, grow, learn and change to become more like the person Christ intended you to be! <br />
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This message seems to promote the "It's All About Me" attitude that I could build my soapbox on. It's not all about us folks, in fact, it's quite the opposite! It's about those around us, helping others, and choosing to NOT think so much of ourselves. It's about humbling ourselves and realizing the ONLY price tag that matters is the one He has given us. It reads "Child of God- Paid in Full". And that my friends, quite simply, is the only price tag we need!Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-979165087772307882014-05-07T07:51:00.000-07:002014-05-07T08:05:00.551-07:00Southern Deliverance<br />
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I guess if I am baring my soul on this blog, I will confess what those who know me best already know about me. I never fit in too well in New England and never truly felt like I was able to be myself.<br />
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I read one book a day as a teenager, most involving romantic stories that would often take place on seaside Cape Cod homes or beautiful Colonial homes on huge pieces of property. Having grown up in Florida, in my mind, I thought those four seasons were going to be so incredible. And romantic? How romantic and cool and life changing would it be to go work for a publishing company which was something I had always wanted to do?<br />
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So I got the four seasons, and I got the Colonial on 2.5 acres, I got the weekends in Hyannis and I got the job with the publishing company...but I would speak, and The South would tumble out. People made fun of my accent (which is funny, because people here don't even think I have one!). And a rare few liked to talk. Of course, mind you, my definition of talk is sit down, tell me your life story, I will tell you mine, and you had better have a lot of time on your hands..... because I LOVE to talk! I wish I didn't have such a memory for bad things that have happened to me, but I can distinctly remember people trying to get away from me because they just didn't really know what to make of this person who shared her whole life and didn't really hold back too much.<br />
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I was also never a fan of beating around the bush. Once we were having a miniature crisis up there and I just went to the person involved and said, "Hey, come on, this needs to be done and it needs to be done now." To which another person in the room responded, "Your delivery is absolutely horrible, you could have found a much better way around that to get the results we needed." I remember thinking, how else can we get results if we don't just tell the person outright what is needed? Going AROUND something to get what was needed never really seemed like a great idea to me when there was a straight path right in front of us waiting to be used!<br />
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And for a long time I thought my delivery WAS horrible and doubted my own way of doing things.<br />
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Then we came here. After my first hour here, I sat on the porch with some new friends, watching our children play in the yard, and these folks were telling me about the area as we looked out over the mountains in the distance. They were telling me exactly how things were and I recall sitting on that porch grinning thinking "This is how it is supposed to be! This is real." And for the first time I knew that I hadn't been wrong all those years, I had just been me living in a place I wasn't supposed to be.<br />
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This week I had the wonderful opportunity of traveling to North Carolina to visit a lifelong best friend while she was at her vacation home there. As I was driving, I was on the phone with another friend who lives out West. I needed to switch lanes on the interstate. The second I put my blinker on, the person in the fast lane slowed down so I could get over. Man, I just LOVE that! And it happens here ALL of the time. The person on the phone with me said, "Wow, I don't even put my signal on out here because when you do, people purposely speed up and will never let you in!"<br />
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As I left North Carolina, I had to stop to fill the car up with gas first. I was in such a hurry to get back here and pick the kids up from their after school activities, but, as happens in the The South, an old timer stopped me before I could even get the nozzle in my gas tank.<br />
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"Let me ask ya somethin'. I see you got a West Virginia license plate there, you from West Virginia?"<br />
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"Yes sir." I said with a smile, even though my heart was racing inside because I knew what would come next, this old timer wanted to talk and what should have been a five minute stop at the gas station turned into an additional fifteen minute conversation about WV coal mines and old West Virginia license plates! (I know nothing about either topic!) Though my mind was racing with the responsibility of having to get to my kids, I just couldn't let the old timer down, for what he represented was what I love so much about The South. The South is inherently kind, naturally giving, and even with its imperfections, as real as real can get. (Even the cop who would, thirty minutes later, write out my speeding ticket for driving too fast while trying to make up the time I lost with the old timer, was the kindest cop I had ever met and gave me that ticket with an APOLOGY that he had to give it to me! I told him it was ok, it really wasn't his fault I was speeding!) But you know what, that old timer NEEDED to talk, and I understand that need. Stopping and listening to him was worth every penny I will pay for that speeding ticket! (and let me tell you, that is A LOT of pennies!!!).<br />
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I am well aware that many of you reading this are from or living in, New England. Please don't misunderstand. I met some of the most wonderful people there who I still keep in contact with today. But life is just so unbelievably different here. And this life isn't for everyone. God made us all different and He made a place for each of us as well.<br />
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I was recently doing some research on California towns as our nephew is moving and I was looking into where he is going. I came across a town in California (and I wish I could find it now, but I couldn't find it when I went to write this blog) that calls itself "The Kindest Town In CA". The towns website goes on to describe how they make kindness a priority every day and teach the importance of kindness in their schools. I hate the thought that this whole idea of being real and kind doesn't just come naturally, as if the town has to make a point of doing it, but at the same time, I am thrilled that someone recognized the need for it enough to base an entire town around it! I am dying to visit this place to see how it stacks up with The South I have grown to love so much for just this reason.<br />
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So what if we all decided to make every area of the worlds we touch today kinder and more real? If we wanted to live in the kindest, most real town in America, wouldn't it have to start with us? How can I do that? How can you do that? Let's listen today when someone talks to us, really listen, and talk back for as long as they want to talk! Let's allow someone to pull into traffic even if we are in such a hurry we think it will make us late. Give someone your parking space instead of rushing into it yourself...I could go on and on..any act of kindness, any act of being the real genuine you that God made you to be is showing Him honor and giving Him the glory!<br />
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Let me know how it works out for ya!Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-6915615382844571652014-05-02T05:07:00.003-07:002014-05-02T05:07:45.703-07:00Funny Man<br />
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The other day I ran into our sons Spanish teacher. I didn't introduce myself so much as I said "Watch out for that Lampert kid, he can be a handful!" (Ok, I have to stop here for a minute. Contrary to popular belief, I do NOT think my children are perfect....that's their grandparents job...lol..no seriously, my next statement is a statement of fact, NOT the biased opinion of a mom). Our son has been in trouble one time in school for defending himself against a bully. There was a point in time where I found that I almost had to apologize for having well behaved kids. <a href="http://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014/03/automatic-one-persons-opinion-on-child.html" target="_blank">As I have mentioned before</a>, my parents taught me how to behave, and that everything wasn't automatic, and we just passed that on to our kids. <br />
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So anyway, his teacher looked at me and said "You know him?" I fessed up that I was in fact his mom.<br />
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What the Spanish teacher said next really got me thinking. He ran his hand in front of his face and, in his broken accent said, "Serious kid. Serious face."<br />
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I was about to reply, "Oh no, you must be talking about someone else," when the teacher turned to my daughter, whom he knows, and said , "Should have known. Same eyes as your brother." We get this A LOT in our house, A LOT. So much so that the kids sort of roll their eyes at it anymore. But I knew with those words that we were in fact talking about the same boy.<br />
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Before I could say anything, my daughter said, "Serious? My brother??? No WAY!" But the teacher confirmed that he was in fact as serious as he could be in school. I could attribute this to the fact that he isn't a big fan of school. He was a huge fan of the whole homeschool routine when we did it. Sleep in as late as you want, do your work in two hours a day, etc, etc. He still makes straight A's, but a fan of school he is not. He goes for one reason and one reason only...it allows him to train for and play football eight months out of the year. I am convinced this is an inherited family trait passed on from my brother!<br />
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There's this magical thing that happens in our house. At 3:15 on school days, our son turns into Kevin James, his acting hero. He can act out all of "Here Comes the Boom" and "Zookeeper" (which happen to also be the only two Kevin James movies we have allowed him to watch) . I knew he had never been in real trouble at school, but what I did not realize was that he didn't let any of his teachers even see this hysterically funny side of him. It saddened me a little bit because this kid has literally kept us cracking up since he was two and I caught him sitting in the middle of the kitchen table holding a chestnut over a lit Yankee candle at Christmas time.<br />
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"Oh my gosh son, what on earth are you doing???" I said as I yanked him off the table.<br />
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Tell me you can see this response coming from a mile away..."Roastin' chestnuts over a open fire momma!"<br />
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And from then on, the laughs have not stopped.<br />
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I voiced my concern to the Yankee over what the teacher said..does he hate school so much that he just doesn't want to be his funny self there? You know, all those useless worry thoughts that just naturally go through a mommas head constantly? I thought of all of them.<br />
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"Let's go with, he know how and when to behave properly." The Yankee said.<br />
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Oh, yes, that makes sense. Of course, the Yankee always makes logical sense, frustrating really :)<br />
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Then I felt blessed. And I thanked God and I thanked our son when I saw him later that day. For as much as I would love for him to hone his craft .....the one that he says will someday take him away from us and to Hollywood where he has been determined to go since he was five.....I feel like God must have given us the skills to do something right if this child, who loves so much to make people laugh, just automatically knows not to use the classroom as his audience.<br />
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And I don't think I care anymore if people accuse me of thinking our children are perfect. I know my children aren't perfect because this home is where they get disciplined and I see each and every imperfect step they take. They will mess up in life, a lot probably, but my husband and I have one major responsibility with these kids God has blessed us with and that is to:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #20124d;">"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."
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[Proverbs 22:6] </span></span></div>
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We are trying our best to do what God has called us to do, and no one should ever apologize for that! </div>
Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-41662692599840723132014-04-28T04:38:00.000-07:002014-04-28T04:38:48.626-07:00The TruthThey were forced to take it down. A school in our beautiful state was, last week, forced to remove a Bible verse from the walls of their gymnasium because some group in Wisconsin opposed it. Did you know that Wisconsin is like 800 some odd miles from West Virginia? Why couldn't they worry about their own school walls and let ours be? Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to me.<br />
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<a href="http://hillsofmercy.blogspot.com/2014/03/he-knows.html" target="_blank">We moved here from New England</a> more than a few years ago now. We went the homeschool route up there after hearing that a local elementary school could not even put up a Christmas tree. Honestly, we did not know what we would encounter here, but we tried public school that first year thinking that life might be a little bit different this far South. We were very happy with the elementary school in general..and then we attended our first PTO meeting.<br />
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My breath was taken away for a moment when I heard someone say "We will start the meeting by turning it over to Pastor so and so for prayer." What???? As if I hadn't already thought I had died and gone to heaven just by moving here, they were going PRAY, right there in the school cafeteria, in front of all those parents??? <br />
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Volunteering in our little guys kindergarten class would soon become a joy of mine, and I remember feeling that same shocked feeling when his teacher called me up that winter and asked if I could come into her classroom and put her Christmas tree up for her! Heck YES, I was all over that!<br />
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That summer we would attend our first pee-wee football game as we had signed our stocky little guy up to play. We took our seats on the bleachers all ready to get going after the National Anthem was played, but then we heard the Area Directors voice over the intercom asking folks to bow their heads while he prayed. I soon learned I would never tire of that shocked feeling hitting me when I realized that people around here still pray....no matter where they are at.<br />
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I noticed more often than not after that when we would attend those pee-wee football games that coaches called their teams to the sidelines to pray together before the games began and it was such an awesome sight to see. One local team even had shirts made that said "Faith, Family, and Football". Every time I saw one of those shirts I would wish it had been our team wearing them:) One year our son had a coach that didn't pray before games and it was with great pride that one of my best friends, whose son played with mine, and I watched our boys huddle the team together and ask coach to pray before their game started!<br />
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Fast forward to four years later and our sons last year on the pee-wee league before he would move to middle school football. It was almost time for The Yankee to head out again and he was one of their coaches. Some of the parents and the Area Director called a preacher in to pray for my husband from the announcers booth while the team saluted him and presented him with a football signed by all of the boys. It would have been a special event no matter what, but I have a photo that my husband didn't know was being taken of him, head bowed, the boys all standing in front of him with bowed heads, football lights glaring above. That photo will always be precious to me and, had our Area Director not been a man of faith, open to the ideas of the other parents who wanted to recognize God and The Yankee, that moment never would have been captured.<br />
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Our little ones have long since moved on to the middle school and though I slowly feel the weight of the worldliness closing in around us, even here in our little piece of Mayberry, the Christmas tree still stands each year right in the atrium entrance of the middle school for everyone to see. A dear friend of ours hosts the Fellowship of Christian Athletes every Wednesday morning, where, every student that so chooses has the freedom to go sit and listen about God and start their day out with prayer.<br />
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Our middle school and high schools are also home to the Souled Out event each year where tons of youth and their parents come on a weekend evening to worship and praise. <a href="http://www.younglife.org/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">Young Life</a> is now in both of the high schools in this county and doing great.<br />
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Several weeks ago, we took our daughter to watch the local track meet. We had never been to a track meet before and only attended because her two best friends are on the team and we wanted to support them. I looked down on the field right before the meet started just in time to catch this scene. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjShB-XxuTaKeikV8NRbonjxzVyOe3yRzJS-syE3ilRL_B8pVeGuqU7enkQNLD8pCOs_QCijO1SXMhZKdPvYMdAoDG_oImnskFTENur4dseOzKT1ywyQPEq8MEYD2nwfF0pVbZwfyMX1yk/s1600/photo(38).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjShB-XxuTaKeikV8NRbonjxzVyOe3yRzJS-syE3ilRL_B8pVeGuqU7enkQNLD8pCOs_QCijO1SXMhZKdPvYMdAoDG_oImnskFTENur4dseOzKT1ywyQPEq8MEYD2nwfF0pVbZwfyMX1yk/s1600/photo(38).jpg" height="320" width="280" /></a> </div>
These kids are not discussing track strategy folks, these kids are praying.<br />
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But in all honestly, do you know what? I am scared right now...scared that, just by posting this blog, and shining a light on what is true, what is RIGHT, and what is still GOOD in this world, some people from Wisconsin are going to somehow swoop in and steal it all away from us. And we shouldn't have to feel that way in a country that was created to be "One nation under God'. In a country who originally created a public school system with Bibles in it....how have we strayed so far? How have we sat back and allowed it to be taken so far from what was originally planned for us?Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7596798747691152359.post-19177715897765681772014-04-24T06:19:00.000-07:002014-04-24T10:45:21.203-07:00A Fog Has Lifted<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I often wonder, "What on earth will I write about tomorrow?" And I know that, if I didn't hand it all over to God and ask Him to show me, I probably wouldn't have any ideas at all. More often than not, He uses my husband to show me. I suppose because I have more contact with him than anyone else, who knows. Maybe it is just because I listen to him so well..(ha ha, inside joke, he is laughing right now while he is reading this!!) But seriously that Yankee tends to be pretty in tune with the things God is trying to show Him and this week, we will call it providence that the word EDIFY has come up across his path more than once.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Websters defines edify as this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span class="ssens">to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge <b>:</b> <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uplift">uplift</a>; <i>also</i> <b>:</b> <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enlighten">enlighten</a>, <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inform">inform</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="ssens">Out of all of those words in that definition, UPLIFT is my favorite. And when I received one of the emails from the Yankee this week, he had found a definition that said, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="ssens"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span dir="ltr">To spiritually/morally<br />
lift up...to benefit!</span></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTeRXVcPYTvb7x5cY4uVOmUbw0X5ikg9mp0cKoqq6OnHwvk4DPjzYVwgZY_523xIQIrFW1Nc3fkpQLwiNkyRauZCPWJCeD5-Ow48c6K9_MCCWKUbCpp_M5-fRcydOLUUgTnsh2lqlh_O0/s1600/20140404_090417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTeRXVcPYTvb7x5cY4uVOmUbw0X5ikg9mp0cKoqq6OnHwvk4DPjzYVwgZY_523xIQIrFW1Nc3fkpQLwiNkyRauZCPWJCeD5-Ow48c6K9_MCCWKUbCpp_M5-fRcydOLUUgTnsh2lqlh_O0/s1600/20140404_090417.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Photo courtesy of The Yankee! (Thanks Babe!)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span dir="ltr"> I come from the purest of layman's perspectives when I am talking about the Bible. Not only do I not claim to be an expert, but I cringe at the thought that my Pastor, Roger, might even be reading this!!! It is a dream of mine to begin working on a Masters in Theology sometime soon in my "spare" time..(ha ha, another huge joke there if you know me)! But I know when something moves the Holy Spirit inside of me, and I just can't get away from this edify word! If you follow my blog, you guys are just traveling along with me as I try to learn and grow.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span dir="ltr">I have devoured every biblical passage with edify in it, but I have to look at both the King James for how it was meant to sound and The Message to break in down into plain English for me. I am a little slow like that. The Yankee, he is the smartest person I know. He could read the King James all day long and actually GET IT. Me, I read one passage and feel as though I was magically transported back to my "Chaucer" class in college, and, just like back then, I am left going "Huh?", so I go to The Message to try and fill in any gaps from only reading the King James version.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians+10:23&version=KJ21">1 Corinthians 10:23 </a></b></span>
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All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things do not <b>edify</b>. (KJ)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1 Corinthians 10:23</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Message (MSG)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="text 1Cor-10-23-1Cor-10-24" id="en-MSG-12212"><sup class="versenum">23-24 </sup>Looking
at it one way, you could say, “Anything goes. Because of God’s immense
generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every
action to see if it will pass muster.” But<u><b> the point is not to just get
by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help <i>others</i> live well.</b></u></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text 1Cor-10-23-1Cor-10-24" id="en-MSG-12212">Yes, I would very likely be jumping up and down out of my seat right now were I not typing! Read that last part again. I put it in bold AND highlighted it because it is so important. I am so excited because we can apply this to every area of our life! I will use marriage, because that is where my heart is. I could just get by, and wake up every day wondering what I am going to get out of that day, but what happens when I wake up and wonder what I can do to help my husband have a great day or if he wakes up doing the same? Life is better, that is what happens. And maybe you aren't married, but apply this to your boyfriend or girlfriend...and maybe you aren't even in a relationship, so apply this to anyone you come across during your day and you will see that when you concentrate on helping others live well, your own day is so much better! Better still, lets apply it as a CHURCH..do we go to church on Sunday mornings just to get by and say we went to church, or do we go to church on Sundays to truly edify Christ? What about when we walk out of the church? Oh man, THAT is a whole other blog!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text 1Cor-10-23-1Cor-10-24" id="en-MSG-12212"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text 1Cor-10-23-1Cor-10-24" id="en-MSG-12212">The Bible also has this to say regarding the word edify</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <b><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+4:29&version=KJ21">Ephesians 4:29</a></b></span></span></div>
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Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to use in <b>edify</b>ing, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ephesians 4:29</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Message (MSG)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text Eph-4-29" id="en-MSG-12449"><sup class="versenum">29 </sup>Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. <u><b>Say only what helps, each word a gift.</b></u></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text Eph-4-29" id="en-MSG-12449">Again, I had to bold and underline because I get excited,like a little kid, when I see that all of the answers are right in front of us, in one book, just waiting to be taken in. Did you ever look at is as YOU having the power to minister grace to someone? That thought had never crossed my mind, but I sure love it! </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text Eph-4-29" id="en-MSG-12449">Say only what helps, each word a gift. Maybe it is just me, but I am SOOO guilty on this one. I don't mind tattling on myself... I get frustrated, days get long, I get too busy, I get grouchy (a lot) and each word isn't a gift at all. Just recently, we were planning a church event and I got tired and snappy and bit the head off of one of my besties, like THE person here in WV who has been there for me every single time I have called her, which is A LOT. I felt so horrible, I vowed to never snap at anyone again, but then, of course, I am human and got grouchy again (just not with her! lol!)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text Eph-4-29" id="en-MSG-12449"><u><b><br /></b></u></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text Eph-4-29" id="en-MSG-12449">There are so many more references to the word edify in the Bible. I hope we can all take some time this week to look into and see what they all mean. But for me, for right now, I feel like a fog has lifted as I am realizing the choice I have to lift others up, help others to live well, and offer others grace just with my words! I love it!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text Eph-4-29" id="en-MSG-12449"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text Eph-4-29" id="en-MSG-12449">Til' next time ya'll!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text Eph-4-29" id="en-MSG-12449">God Bless and Love Everyone!!!</span></span></span></div>
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Melissa Lamperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10920449517813859121noreply@blogger.com0