WHEN THE ENEMY IS PERSISTENT

We have a big event coming up soon! The Women's Retreat for our church - "Come As You Are" is just a short time away. As we prepare for the event I am feeling the pressure mounting from the spiritual forces of darkness (sounds ominous, I know - but it is). I've been involved in events in the past and experienced this - but I find the enemy is crafty in his approach and uses the most unexpected places to discourage soldiers of Christ. This would be the case once again! It's amazing how the enemy will attack you in areas where you thought you were confident. (act out in pride.) 

The place God took me during this particularly spiritual warfare-laden night was Romans. As I evaluated my situation God initially had me reading Romans 8:1-2 "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death." So those whispers of condemnation were not of God - they were the enemy trying to discourage and dissuade me from my task. As I evaluated I asked God some questions, 

"Why did I volunteer to lead worship for the women's retreat?" 

"Is my heart in the right place Lord?" 

From there he took me to Romans 12:3 - "Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourself by the faith God has given us." 

So...You think my heart isn't right Lord?
No...that's not what I want you to focus on.
OH???
I want you to evaluate your pride AND your heart. Because you should never think you are better than you really are and I want you to settle in your heart just what it is that has you questioning the role you've been given in this event. Be honest in your evaluation - measure yourself by the faith I've given you and not by what others think. 

This led me to Proverbs 3:5-6

Eventually He brought me back to Romans 12. As I read this chapter over and over I constantly paused at this verse... "If God has given you leadership ability take the responsbility seriously." 

So Lord, you think I haven't taken this responsbility seriously? 
It's not that you haven't taken it seriously, it's more about the focus. What are you focusing on? Perfection and presentation? Or ministry and transformation? 
So, this responsbility is serious and must be taken seriously but from the vantage point of ministering and transforming lives? 
What has the scriptures told you? 
They've told me - "don't just pretend to love others - REALLY LOVE them." to "HOLD TIGHTLY to what is good...to SERVE you with ENTHUSIASM...to BE PATIENT in trouble and KEEP PRAYING...and not to let evil conquer me but to CONQUER EVIL by DOING GOOD." 

After writing this chapter out a couple times, I ended up with this list of reminders in my times of struggle with a persistent enemy...

1. Honestly assess yourself.
2. Be full of integrity and humility.
3. Take your leadership responsbility seriously.
4. Love everybody genuinely.
5. Change the way you think - be transformed.
6. Shut up and keep praying.
7. Serve enthusiastically.
8. Rejoice in your confident Hope.
9. Conquer evil by doing good.
10. Live in harmony.
11. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.

This list has come in handy over the past few days. The enemy hasn't let up and things keep popping up that make life a little crazy and some days difficult - but I know where my Hope lies. I know that His love and strength are what will get me through the days and that ultimately - it's in that strength that I desire to put forth the effort because I want to do all things in His name and for His glory! 

So whether it has to do with building a house, working on taxes, keeping up with my job, leading praise team, supporting the retreat committee, an interstitial cystitis flare, a fibromyalgia flare, I am going to praise Him through it all. Mainly because the enemy would have me do otherwise and I'm a rebel. 

5 REASONS WHY the AIP (Autoimmune Protocol) DIET WORKS FOR ME

A few years back I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. That's all six months of going back and forth to Cleveland Clinic produced - well that and an offer for pain management to step in and get a pain block and a recommendation for a psychological evaluation because - yep, they told me it may all be in my head. I don't totally disagree that some of our pain comes from experiences that manifest themselves in parts of the body (for more information on this go to Body Pain Linked to Emotional State)

However, I knew and still know that I my body is struggling with something that is beyond the emotional state. It is an actual degeneration of my healthy cells because they are attacking one another and causing my body to be in a constant state of heightened stress literally in constant crisis mode. A body can only exist in this state for a certain amount of time before it starts to deteriorate. It profiles itself for the more terminal illnesses such as heart disease or cancer. 

When it comes to modern - conventional medicine I have discovered a couple things - 

1. Being on antibiotics repeatedly (5-7 times per year for 25 years) causes your body to become "immune"... allergic to multiple strains of antibiotics. I only have one class of antibiotics I can use at this time in my life. My nurse practitioner saw that and has attempted to keep me OFF antibiotics if at all possible. We had been fairly successful up until my surgery on my arm - where they gave IV antibiotics and I didn't even know they did that until after the surgery.  
2. Pain killers, whether over-the-counter or prescribed - should be used on a LIMITED basis. See chart below for more information! 
3. If a doctor doesn't think he can help you, he will dump you. Not every doctor is like this, and my doctor stuck it out for almost 4 years with me, but after my run to Cleveland Clinic my doc decided he, nor any doctor in his practice, would be able to see me anymore and sent me a letter to notify me of this. That was a very painful and eye-opening moment for me. 

My autoimmune state was brought on by several factors and one of the major factors was yeast overgrowth - also known as candida albican. If I had caught this in its initial state I may have been able to avoid the resulting Fibromyalgia or not have had a immune compromised body that would have been able to battle Lyme Disease. But that's not what the Lord had planned for me - so here I am. I honestly battle for my life - some days the battle is harder than others - but I will take where I am now in comparison to where I was three, almost four years ago. I owe a great deal of my current functioning health to my naturopath - he listened, he learned and he figured out several things my body was battling and he put me on a very strict AIP diet and detoxed me over a two year span. I have not been released by him yet - just can't afford the flights to Colorado right now so it's been put on hold. HOWEVER, the AIP Diet was a God-send and here are my FIVE REASONS THE AIP DIET WORKS FOR ME...

1. It cuts out sugar. Check out what Wellness Mama has to say about sugar here. Sugar is an inflammatory agent which causes my joints to swell and increases my pain. 
2. It cuts out processed food. There's a lot of junk we put into our bodies - cutting processed food eliminates that junk and gives our body a fighting chance to heal itself. 
3. It encourages healthy eating habits. The AIP Diet may seem limited, but when we start eating properly we begin to feel so much better our body actually craves the good food over the bad. 
4. It provides a guide that works for me. By following the foundational eating recommendations for the AIP Diet, I have less brain fog, less inflammation, less pain, and more benefits!
5. It gives my body a chance to heal. By sticking with the AIP Diet my body has a chance to heal from all the damage that has been caused by what I've put into it prior to the autoimmune issues. There are so many things I have done in the past that have exacerbated this problem. BUT I will save that for another blog post - this one is long enough already! 

If you struggle with fatigue, brain fog, chronic pain, and more, this may be a program that can help you! If you have a program that is helping you with your chronic pain, autoimmune condition, etc. feel free to share in the comments! Happy Hump Day! 

DEALING WITH INVISIBLE ILLNESS

I have an invisible illness. Actually I have a couple invisible illnesses.

The problem is when they act up we are never really sure which one it is. A week ago I landed in the ER because of a flare. I don't know if it was the Lyme's disease or if it was the fibromyalgia. All I know is that my left side of my body hurt...horribly.

When it comes to invisible illness, I don't really talk about it much. It's not that I want to ignore it, it's not that I don't want others to understand, it's more of the fact that it's simply part of my life. It's the part of my life that I don't always appreciate. It's the part of my life that I would love to be able to forget. But that's not how this works.



So when I have a flare, I try to be transparent and let people know that it's not a bed of roses over here. I try to be open and ask for prayer for strength. That strength could be literal, physical strength, because when I have a flare it usually zaps me of all strength. That strength is also emotional, mental, strength because when I have a flare and I am left with a body that doesn't want to function properly, I wrestle with those thoughts that often plague my weakened state of mind. Thoughts like I am worthless, I am a nuisance, I am a pain to those around me. Crazy thoughts, senseless thoughts, but honest things that cross the mind of one who feels like her body has betrayed her.

It takes diligence and mindfulness not to let an invisible illness define you, set your limitations and become the main preoccupation of your daily life. There are days where I think that I am never going to be normal again. Well...it's true. And I must accept that my life just isn't normal and that's okay. But to let it drag me down and leave me depressed (which it has done in the past) and leave me despondent (a place I've been in the past as well)...I just don't want to go there.

There's so much life to live still, regardless of how much pain you're in, regardless of how heavy your arms and legs feel, regardless of how fuzzy your brain may be functioning at the moment. When my eyes are on Him, I still have hope, joy and peace.

So I guess the best way I have found to deal with invisible illness is turning to the greatest balm I have found in the wake of each storm...seeking and finding rest for my soul in the Lord's gentle care. Granted, having family that understands, family that knows when they need to boss me around a bit to get me to do what I should be doing in order to heal from an episode is a huge blessing!!! I am one fortunate woman to have family that can tell when I've pushed beyond my limits and when I need to drop everything and let my body catch up with me.

It's not easy, I know this full well. But it's worth every anxious breath, every pain-filled moment of every incredibly blessed day! Maybe someday I will figure out how to share about this invisible illness stuff, but for now, I choose to share it with my Comforter.

And in case you're wondering how I'm doing...I'm better than I was a week ago. I'm still in a good deal of pain, I haven't recovered my coordination and I am dragging my body around these days, but I am functioning...and I'm still smiling! :)