Eighteen months ago my life looked very different than it does today. I was a new mother to three and in the middle of newborn days, but that's not what made it so different. I was confident as a mother of three, I was confident in the way we were eating, living and doing life. I trusted my doctors. I visited the doctors office frequently when my children were sick and loaded up on antibiotics as prescribed when needed. We took a daily multi-vitamin and felt blessed to have the good health we did. The biggest difference...I didn't concern myself with superbugs, how they spread, how they were formed, how they were treated, and how they were overcome.
And I definitely wasn't a hippie.
Without going into much of our LONG, long MRSA journey...it has been hard. Really hard. It has affected every area of our lives - mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and relational. It has affected all five members of our family numerous times - consistently over the last 18 months.
It wasn't until Cole's hospital stay last January that I knew we couldn't just keep taking medications and listening to doctors tell us to just wash out hands. I felt in my gut it was time to figure this out on our own, because there was no one walking through it with us. It was us and Jesus - seriously.
We started using essential oils, and they worked, but we needed more, something to stop the spreading. We started a silver protocol written by a guy in England who called once every two weeks to check on our progress. It seemed to help, sometimes, but we needed more. I purchased a book written by a microbiologist and read it cover to cover. We started cleaning with silver. We rid our home of every single cleaner that could be compromising our immune system. I started making my own soap and detergent. I started cutting all artificial dyes and antibiotics from our food diets. We started eating organic and drinking green smoothies. We added supplements to our diet. And above all we kept trusting that God would keep directing us in what else needed to be changed in our lives. We kept praying that God would show us ways that could be contributing to our compromised health.
And we started seeing changes. Finally.
One month ago we went to see an Infectious Disease Specialist. His only new suggestion that we hadn't tired?! "All five of you should take a bleach bath every night for three months. Soak for 20 minutes" And as I stared at him like he had three heads, I asked what we do when someone brings it back in the house or we get it again??? His answer: "Start over with soaking" I left outraged.
So here we are. Two months MRSA free. It is the longest we have gone in over a year. I feel hopeful. I am not fearful. I've been given incredible tools that will change my family's health forever.
Just a few days ago someone called me and her son had MRSA - twice. I got to share with her our story. I've been hiding for so long for a few reasons: Anger, embarrassment, confusion as to why we have walked this road and fear of rejection of me and my kids. But as I got to walk alongside her, I was reminded of this verse.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
I don't have an answer to why our family has faced this 18 month trial. But I have no doubt that God, in His infinite wisdom has a purpose and plan for it greater than I could imagine. So, in order to be used by Him I have to be willing.
And claim what is true - I think I have become a hippie.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
The next chapter
When we first moved to Charlotte nine years ago, LD and I knew we needed to find a church asap. With no family in the area we needed Charlotte parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers....people to do life with. And we did!
We found Next Level Church just a few short months after moving here and we did a lot of life with the people we got to know - holidays, birthdays, dinners, baby showers, meals delivered after babies, and just every day life. When we started at Next Level there were about 100 people, we were meeting in a gym and setting up and tearing down on Sundays. They needed us and we needed them. It was a great fit. Some of our very best friends we will ever have in this life time came from being a part of that church.
We were able to watch Next Level grow and move from a gymnasium to two services and its own building. We were able to watch friends learn about who Jesus was and how much he loved them, watch friends be baptized, watch friends learn what it means to follow Christ in everyday life and then teach others.
During our nine years there I was given the opportunity to serve on staff for five years, carrying out my passion of teaching others how to serve as the body of Christ. We did home makeovers, food drives, after school tutoring, shoe distributions, and lots of loving on neighbors. I LOVED being a part of something so much bigger than me, being one small part of God's love for Charlotte. I was able to use my social work skills, do ministry, and still be at home to raise my babies. Then a year or so ago LD was able to serve on the board at the church, using the leadership skills God has given him. It has been a place where we grew in grace and were able to use our gifts.
Over the last year God has crossed some crazy and amazing relationships in our lives. He has made it incredibly evident that we are being called to a new chapter. It is so bittersweet to leave our first church as a married couple and where all three of my babies were dedicated and loved from birth. But I also know that He will bless our obedience to this new calling, to be a part of Mission Community Church as they get ready to launch this fall.
So for those of you at Next Level Church - we have LOVED spending our life with you and look forward to still sharing in friendship together. We will miss you incredibly as we embark on this new journey and will continually pray for you, your families and the leadership of Next Level who we hold so dear to our hearts.
Please pray for the leadership and launch team of Mission Community Church as they seek God in planting this new church. And please pray that lives are changed through God's amazing grace through this new ministry.
We found Next Level Church just a few short months after moving here and we did a lot of life with the people we got to know - holidays, birthdays, dinners, baby showers, meals delivered after babies, and just every day life. When we started at Next Level there were about 100 people, we were meeting in a gym and setting up and tearing down on Sundays. They needed us and we needed them. It was a great fit. Some of our very best friends we will ever have in this life time came from being a part of that church.
We were able to watch Next Level grow and move from a gymnasium to two services and its own building. We were able to watch friends learn about who Jesus was and how much he loved them, watch friends be baptized, watch friends learn what it means to follow Christ in everyday life and then teach others.
During our nine years there I was given the opportunity to serve on staff for five years, carrying out my passion of teaching others how to serve as the body of Christ. We did home makeovers, food drives, after school tutoring, shoe distributions, and lots of loving on neighbors. I LOVED being a part of something so much bigger than me, being one small part of God's love for Charlotte. I was able to use my social work skills, do ministry, and still be at home to raise my babies. Then a year or so ago LD was able to serve on the board at the church, using the leadership skills God has given him. It has been a place where we grew in grace and were able to use our gifts.
Over the last year God has crossed some crazy and amazing relationships in our lives. He has made it incredibly evident that we are being called to a new chapter. It is so bittersweet to leave our first church as a married couple and where all three of my babies were dedicated and loved from birth. But I also know that He will bless our obedience to this new calling, to be a part of Mission Community Church as they get ready to launch this fall.
So for those of you at Next Level Church - we have LOVED spending our life with you and look forward to still sharing in friendship together. We will miss you incredibly as we embark on this new journey and will continually pray for you, your families and the leadership of Next Level who we hold so dear to our hearts.
Please pray for the leadership and launch team of Mission Community Church as they seek God in planting this new church. And please pray that lives are changed through God's amazing grace through this new ministry.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Life in community
Its not surprise to people who know me that I am pretty social. I really enjoy people and feel lonely when a few days go by without some social interaction. L.D., though he enjoys company does not share the same passion for constant engagement that I do ;)
So honestly, when he invited our next door neighbors (mom, dad, 2 teenage boys and 3 dogs) to live in our home for a few months while they were in transition - it took me by surprise that he seemed so at ease with the thought. We LOVE our neighbors and I have mentioned many times how grateful we are for them and how we enjoy living life with them. But I was still a little curious how this social experiment would go.
I've thought a lot about how Christ intended the church to function when it was founded in Acts chapter 2. The early church lived together, shared meals together, it even says they "had everything in common" (Acts 2:42) God intended us to live life in community, to the point where we share meals together, share our hearts with each other and enjoy the day to day living with one another. In our current culture, that is so foreign. If we share a meal together it is planned in advance, we pull out our best dishes and make our best meal...its not a shared, normal life experience.
In the last few weeks Melanie and I have meal planned together, we take turns cooking, she runs to the grocery store for me, I leave my little ones home with her when I run Clare to school. Last weekend we did some late night shopping together, LD pulled out his Super Nintendo and showed the boys his old games, we watched movies. We have literally lived everyday life together. And I love it.
I think in June when they move out I am going to need another dog, or another kid (kidding!) to keep the full house feeling. I've fallen behind in my regimented days and cleaning schedule, I haven't been nearly as diligent at being organized, but isn't that what life is all about? Aren't we supposed to choose people over to-do lists? Its been a great reminder to me that you can never out give God!
So honestly, when he invited our next door neighbors (mom, dad, 2 teenage boys and 3 dogs) to live in our home for a few months while they were in transition - it took me by surprise that he seemed so at ease with the thought. We LOVE our neighbors and I have mentioned many times how grateful we are for them and how we enjoy living life with them. But I was still a little curious how this social experiment would go.
I've thought a lot about how Christ intended the church to function when it was founded in Acts chapter 2. The early church lived together, shared meals together, it even says they "had everything in common" (Acts 2:42) God intended us to live life in community, to the point where we share meals together, share our hearts with each other and enjoy the day to day living with one another. In our current culture, that is so foreign. If we share a meal together it is planned in advance, we pull out our best dishes and make our best meal...its not a shared, normal life experience.
In the last few weeks Melanie and I have meal planned together, we take turns cooking, she runs to the grocery store for me, I leave my little ones home with her when I run Clare to school. Last weekend we did some late night shopping together, LD pulled out his Super Nintendo and showed the boys his old games, we watched movies. We have literally lived everyday life together. And I love it.
I think in June when they move out I am going to need another dog, or another kid (kidding!) to keep the full house feeling. I've fallen behind in my regimented days and cleaning schedule, I haven't been nearly as diligent at being organized, but isn't that what life is all about? Aren't we supposed to choose people over to-do lists? Its been a great reminder to me that you can never out give God!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Again....but to a different tune
I've thought all week about this post. In a few moments of weakness I didn't know if it would get penned, but I am excited that the time has come for me to share.
Without going over again the history our family has had with MRSA over the last year and my extreme hatred for the superbug, just know we have been through it all. In the last 8 months I have lived in fear that if I let a week slip without bleaching the tub, if I allowed the girls to sit in the bathtub, if I didn't bleach every towel in our house the minute we used them, if I didn't follow through on this crazy regiment - then I would be at fault for MRSA showing up in our household again. And...I haven't.
Yet, last week Cole had a small dermatitis type rash in his diaper area and within 6 hrs, LD and I both knew MRSA had overtaken one little spot. We've seen it more times than I want to admit and we knew. Immediately LD said "It's game time" because we have been researching, investing, and had been directed down this path of essential oils. My first disclaimer is this post is NOT about selling essential oils. This journey is much deeper than that for our family. But he was right, we bought into essential oils because of the protocol they had for MRSA and we had read A LOT, so essentially it was game time.
I have learned amazing things in my research - like did you know than when antibiotics kill the good and bad bacteria in our gut, some of the bad bacteria goes into hiding to show up again when our immune system is down? Did you know some of that leftover bad bacteria can make its way into our spinal fluid, waiting to show it self again?! When I learned this, it was freeing - wait, you mean this MRSA lives WITHIN our kids bodies now? They are most likely not picking it up from my house not being sterile enough???? Sigh, knowledge is freedom.
As we committed this week to keep deep prayer, fasting, heart crying out rescuing from this superbug on our home I had such peace. At times my faith waivered and when it did, LD poured truth into my heart. He reminded me of the story in the Bible of the woman who bled for years but knew if she just touched, just barely touched Jesus cloak she would be healed. Her faith healed her. We had to have faith that God directed us to a path of deliverance and we knew this was the path He had directed us to.
At first my technique and tools weren't working and I panicked. I called my oils mentor and asked her advice and we tried new things. As I applied oils to Cole my mantra, my heart cry became a favorite song that says "Before the world began, before you spoke it to be, yeah you were, yeah you were." These oils are not new, they were made in creation. God created the things I was using to heal.
Day 5 - all of a sudden the spot started shrinking. My heart breathed a sigh of relief and I was filled with overwhelming humility. All of a sudden my faith was completely turned upside down. I was taught about Christ and his love for me a young age, but all of a sudden if I believed what I was saying out loud, it meant my faith was tangible. How dare I admit that the God of the universe created melaluca, cinnamon bark, oregano with me in mind. But that's what the Bible says. It says He knew me before I was born. He knew I would need this to heal my son of a MRSA superbug that the medical field had created. He knew I would be exhausted of the hospital, exhausted by insurance companies refusing to pay bills, exhausted of a crazy cleaning schedule that no sane person could manage. He knew that He alone is my healer.
And now I am free. It is so revolutionary for me. I have confidence that we will never live in fear of this nightmare again - sure, it may show its ugly head again. But I have faith that God has given me the tools I need.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1
Without going over again the history our family has had with MRSA over the last year and my extreme hatred for the superbug, just know we have been through it all. In the last 8 months I have lived in fear that if I let a week slip without bleaching the tub, if I allowed the girls to sit in the bathtub, if I didn't bleach every towel in our house the minute we used them, if I didn't follow through on this crazy regiment - then I would be at fault for MRSA showing up in our household again. And...I haven't.
Yet, last week Cole had a small dermatitis type rash in his diaper area and within 6 hrs, LD and I both knew MRSA had overtaken one little spot. We've seen it more times than I want to admit and we knew. Immediately LD said "It's game time" because we have been researching, investing, and had been directed down this path of essential oils. My first disclaimer is this post is NOT about selling essential oils. This journey is much deeper than that for our family. But he was right, we bought into essential oils because of the protocol they had for MRSA and we had read A LOT, so essentially it was game time.
I have learned amazing things in my research - like did you know than when antibiotics kill the good and bad bacteria in our gut, some of the bad bacteria goes into hiding to show up again when our immune system is down? Did you know some of that leftover bad bacteria can make its way into our spinal fluid, waiting to show it self again?! When I learned this, it was freeing - wait, you mean this MRSA lives WITHIN our kids bodies now? They are most likely not picking it up from my house not being sterile enough???? Sigh, knowledge is freedom.
As we committed this week to keep deep prayer, fasting, heart crying out rescuing from this superbug on our home I had such peace. At times my faith waivered and when it did, LD poured truth into my heart. He reminded me of the story in the Bible of the woman who bled for years but knew if she just touched, just barely touched Jesus cloak she would be healed. Her faith healed her. We had to have faith that God directed us to a path of deliverance and we knew this was the path He had directed us to.
At first my technique and tools weren't working and I panicked. I called my oils mentor and asked her advice and we tried new things. As I applied oils to Cole my mantra, my heart cry became a favorite song that says "Before the world began, before you spoke it to be, yeah you were, yeah you were." These oils are not new, they were made in creation. God created the things I was using to heal.
Day 5 - all of a sudden the spot started shrinking. My heart breathed a sigh of relief and I was filled with overwhelming humility. All of a sudden my faith was completely turned upside down. I was taught about Christ and his love for me a young age, but all of a sudden if I believed what I was saying out loud, it meant my faith was tangible. How dare I admit that the God of the universe created melaluca, cinnamon bark, oregano with me in mind. But that's what the Bible says. It says He knew me before I was born. He knew I would need this to heal my son of a MRSA superbug that the medical field had created. He knew I would be exhausted of the hospital, exhausted by insurance companies refusing to pay bills, exhausted of a crazy cleaning schedule that no sane person could manage. He knew that He alone is my healer.
And now I am free. It is so revolutionary for me. I have confidence that we will never live in fear of this nightmare again - sure, it may show its ugly head again. But I have faith that God has given me the tools I need.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Who woulda thought
So I'm definitely not a granola mom. I only nursed til 7 months with all three kids, I didn't cloth diaper and in my foreseeable future I don't plan to homeschool....AND, if truth be told my kids love Lucky Charms and Kraft Mac and Cheese - even with all the bad junk that's in them. (In my defense they eat greek yogurt, hummus and chia seeds too! See its all about balance!)
With that said, those who know me well are probably shocked at my new found love of essential oils. And its true, its a new found LOVE.
The funny thing about being a mom is that at some point (maybe multiple points) during your mommyhood journey, you are going to throw your hands up with no idea at how to solve a problem. That's what happened with my family. And when desperation sets in you are willing to test the waters of almost anything.
Its no secret that we have had numerous MRSA infections which have left me crazy. So crazy that my kids don't own bath toys, the girls only shower, their towels have names and we wash 5 towels EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. with hot water and bleach. So with desperation set in - a friend mentioned essential oils having a protocol for MRSA and I was all in.
A few weeks ago my skeptical (and frugal) husband and I purchased a started kit and I decided if we were going to try this out, we were going all in. So I started researching something I never even knew existed and trying to make it work for our family. Of course the day our kit arrived, 2 out of 5 had the start of a cold.
My children have always had, um....ridiculous sickness. Elle couldn't have a cold without an ear infection which led to tubes, Clare and Cole both have asthma induced symptoms when they get a cold, which leads to lots and lots of steroids, which leads to crazy mood swings and food cravings. My prayer was that we would just outgrow all of these things and until then, we washed their hands, but what else are you going to do?!
During our little colds I started trying out my new magic potions :) It took a while to get it right as Clare's cough was building I started panicking that I was going to have to pull out the nebulizer, but then I read somewhere that lavender could calm asthma. So, I rubbed some on her back and chest, diffused some in her room - coughing ended. Then we started diffusing lavender in Cole's room - coughing ended. Then we started putting lavender on their feet before bedtime nightly.
All of a sudden this little experiment seemed to click and make sense. All of a sudden I started to have some faith in these magic oils I purchased as mine and LD's colds disappeared within days.
So - this mama is sold. We have started a totally new journey in our house and its so different from anything I've ever done. I feel a little like an imposter as I attempt to help my kids while they are sick after so quickly calling the doctor for so many years.
Its one of those things. As a mom of little ones, when something is working, and helping - and its natural without SO MANY SIDE EFFECTS - you have to share the news.
Email me if you want more info! jmelissamarie@gmail.com
With that said, those who know me well are probably shocked at my new found love of essential oils. And its true, its a new found LOVE.
The funny thing about being a mom is that at some point (maybe multiple points) during your mommyhood journey, you are going to throw your hands up with no idea at how to solve a problem. That's what happened with my family. And when desperation sets in you are willing to test the waters of almost anything.
Its no secret that we have had numerous MRSA infections which have left me crazy. So crazy that my kids don't own bath toys, the girls only shower, their towels have names and we wash 5 towels EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. with hot water and bleach. So with desperation set in - a friend mentioned essential oils having a protocol for MRSA and I was all in.
A few weeks ago my skeptical (and frugal) husband and I purchased a started kit and I decided if we were going to try this out, we were going all in. So I started researching something I never even knew existed and trying to make it work for our family. Of course the day our kit arrived, 2 out of 5 had the start of a cold.
My children have always had, um....ridiculous sickness. Elle couldn't have a cold without an ear infection which led to tubes, Clare and Cole both have asthma induced symptoms when they get a cold, which leads to lots and lots of steroids, which leads to crazy mood swings and food cravings. My prayer was that we would just outgrow all of these things and until then, we washed their hands, but what else are you going to do?!
During our little colds I started trying out my new magic potions :) It took a while to get it right as Clare's cough was building I started panicking that I was going to have to pull out the nebulizer, but then I read somewhere that lavender could calm asthma. So, I rubbed some on her back and chest, diffused some in her room - coughing ended. Then we started diffusing lavender in Cole's room - coughing ended. Then we started putting lavender on their feet before bedtime nightly.
All of a sudden this little experiment seemed to click and make sense. All of a sudden I started to have some faith in these magic oils I purchased as mine and LD's colds disappeared within days.
So - this mama is sold. We have started a totally new journey in our house and its so different from anything I've ever done. I feel a little like an imposter as I attempt to help my kids while they are sick after so quickly calling the doctor for so many years.
Its one of those things. As a mom of little ones, when something is working, and helping - and its natural without SO MANY SIDE EFFECTS - you have to share the news.
Email me if you want more info! jmelissamarie@gmail.com
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Beauty in the present
In my attempt to embrace the life stage I am in, I've really tried to see beauty in my tasks. And yeah, that can be hard.
Most, if not all of the time, I make a mental to do list and within 5 minutes, 5 hours or 5 days, I have to do the task again. Normally its 5 minutes and seldom 5 days. Things like picking up messes, making meals, cleaning, fixing, brushing....you know, you have the same list.
One of my current favorite writers and bloggers is Ann Voskamp (www.aholyexperience.com) . She's an incredible woman. You know the type, homeschooling mother of 5 or 6 who is a farmers wife and makes everything from scratch and does it all with grace and beauty. When I read her blogs I am always encouraged and inspired. But, I noticed that a lot of her photography is of her mundane, but it looks beautiful!! How does she make a pile of play dough on the floor look like beauty and not a panic to clean up?! I'm not a photographer in any way, but a light bulb went on for me
I can find beauty in my daily tasks, beauty in this present stage of life, beauty in what I do every day. So, this week I kept my camera handy and just snapped pictures of life and tried to see it through a different lens.
Let's be honest. There will always be a mental check list, but it won't always include folding a little red tutu poking out of the laundry basket, picking up tiny little paints splattered across my dining room table or cutting little bitty pieces of meat for dinner.
Sometimes the only thing we need to do to see beauty is change the way we are looking at it. I am just like the rest - I would rather be reading a book to my children than emptying the dishwasher or folding laundry. And sure, you always hear the great wisdom of "let your house go - play with your children" - and I think that is wise and important. Balance is key. And at the end of the day, even if I choose to play with my kids all day, someone has to empty the dishwasher.
But maybe if I keep my camera handy, and look through a different lens, I will find a little more inspiration in this chaotic life with little children and see beauty in right where I am.
STRIKE!
I cannot believe it, but our girls have never been bowling. Nine years ago, LD and I were in a bowling league (yeah, yeah, I know) with our church in Michigan. We have our own bowling balls and shoes and I promise you my cute little ball and shoes have not seen light in 9 years. I totally forgot we had them until yesterday.
But, LD and I thought it would be fun to take the girls bowling.
The girls were so excited. Clare was slightly bummed she had to use a greenish yellow ball, but quickly recovered from the bowling alleys ball color choices.
Clare does not have much upper body strength. We already knew this, but we were reminded when she threw with everything she had and the ball came to a complete stop halfway down the alley.
The funniest part is she would grab her ball and almost run to the line and drop her ball. She saw everyone else doing it quickly and she wanted to do it the same way. Only she doesn't have quite enough "oomph!"
Elle, on the other hand, has lots of upper body strength. But, we were not certain she would throw in the right direction. LD must have pointed his finger 100 times making sure she understood you only throw it THAT way!
I love this picture...they were patiently waiting behind the line for their turn, but they were anxious, that's for sure.
Thankfully we opted for 1 game instead of 2 hours of play time. These girls barely survived the game. It was fun - for about 6 frames and then they were ready to move onto something else.
It's tough with a little one Cole's age because its hard to do family things where there isn't a safe place for him to walk around and explore. Our girls needed some mommy and daddy time where we were focused on them.
And they enjoyed every minute of it!!
And look at that handsome man. You didn't know I married him for his bowling form did you? ;)
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