"Where there is no vision..."

"Feel within deep latent urges to get things done,
to be rising above this slough of unconscious mediocrity that seems to characterize my days.
Father, if these strong currents be flesh driven,
I pray thee staunch and slay them,
but if sublimated, channeled into courses which will do Thy service,
then intensify them,
mobilize them,
give them direction, 
for I long--Thou knowest how earnestly--
that the bride of Thine own dear Son be made perfect and entire in my day.
Yea, Lord, if it cost me my bride in this life,
let me have They grace and power to bring to the Lamb the reward of His sufferings."

~~ 21 year old Jim Elliot
December 22, 1948
7 years before his slaughter on the mission field at the hand of the savages he committed to sharing the gospel with

This has been a wonderful first week of this new year!!

I was looking back at our first week of last year and was reminded that we were in the midst of a horrible stomach virus.

I'm oh, so grateful, to not be dealing with that!

You can read about it here.

We are still on Winter Break.....yep, no school.

Can I just say that I think that has been the smartest decision I've made concerning our homeschooling to date.

THREE weeks of winter break...no school.

There is usually no way that I am ready to jump back in to being strangled by the clock and all the things that have to be done everyday just to stay on track on the Monday after 2 weeks of reveling and celebration and the weekend with church and Christmas and New Year's Day!!!

We have enjoyed leisurely putting away the Christmas tree and the lights,

and getting the laundry caught up, and some cleaning done.

My husband and I have updated our yearly budget this week and have a plan!!

I climbed under both sets of bunkbeds in my girls' room and hauled out unbelievable things!!

I sat down with two of my children and we talked through some goals for projects we want to complete this spring toward earning some badges in our Master Club program at church on Wednesday nights. 

I've tried a couple new plant-based recipes from a folder of ideas I put together when looking through magazines, pulling out what I would actually use and tossing the magazine after it had been pilfered.

I've filled in our new calendar with all the appointments and special dates we need to remember.

I've pulled off all the Christmas pictures from last year {2010} that are on my frig., and put up all the fresh, new pictures from this past Christmas{2011}.

I've had time to knead through some ideas for a better system of making my weekly grocery lists, and maybe a daily to-do list to give me more focus during my days.

But most importantly,
I've been thinking about some goals for this year.
And a plan to make those goals a reality.

First, I did eventually finish memorizing the entire book of Philippians in 2011.
I loved doing that and it was fairly easy to work on during my hour long walks listening to the scriptures on my smart phone.
I'm pondering which book to work on this year.
It may take me longer than a year.
Maybe Galatians, maybe Ruth....or ESTHER!
For more on the critical need for scripture memorization in our lives....watch here.
I've also been thinking about naming this year.
To give it more clarity and focus for what I want to study and live out more authentically.
Last year, 2011, was "The Year of Grace."
I may need to do that one over some time.
But because of this marvelous freedom we have in Christ, because of His great love and mercy and forgiveness, upon our salvation, our accepting His free gift.....
it naturally causes me to want to draw nearer to Him.....to worship.....adore.
I want to know more about what true, authentic worship means.
Is all worship offered with sincerity and reverence acceptable to Him?
I want to explore how my own worship may be falling short or if it is quite anemic.
What more can I offer Him?
These are things I want to focus on studying and listening for.
So I'm naming 2012 my "Year of Worship."
For more on this idea, see here and here.

On a health note, by God's grace alone, I've been able to maintain the weight loss I reached in 2010.  
My goal at the beginning of last year was to get to the bottom of some hitches I was having with my thyroid levels.
Thankfully, I found a tremendous amount of relief from adding natural progesterone cream, completely ditching all my hygiene products that I learned are full of harmful chemicals and xenoestrogens, and my husband and I have determined to journey to a more plant-based diet.
We've gone dairy-free, and virtually left animal products behind.
It hasn't been easy with the children and we're still not perfect in our nutrition,
but we're progressing.
Moving forward in the journey to better health.
As a result, my endocrinologist lowered my dose of levothyroxine at my last visit.
I've had to be off all my allergy meds for the last month, and so far no infections and not a whole lot of itching/sneezing/congestion.
At least I can get by with minimal amounts of over-the-counter allergy meds.
We are saving to purchase a juicer, which we found to be very beneficial to us this last fall when my husband borrowed a Breville and lost 25 pounds in 15 days of strict juicing.
I even lost 7 more pounds in the 5 days I joined him!!!

Lots of things on the bucket list this year, and I'm very excited.
Excited to see what the Lord has in store for us, and to offer thanks for it all!!

Some more updates.....

Back in August, I posted about my war with allergies.

I thought someone who might be following this little problem might be

interested to know how my strategy is working.

Well, let me just say......EUREKA!!

It seems to me that this little theory about getting a jump on allergy season

by getting your medications into your system BEFORE the season starts is the KEY!!

I started my medications (Rhinocort Aqua Nasal Spray and Generic Zyrtec) on August 1st.

I have been faithfully watching the ragweed pollen counts in our area go from

8 grains psi in August

to over 400 grains psi in September

with only minor discomfort.

Now I must admit that two weekends ago, I did start feeling that prickly, burning itching on my face and in my eyes, and had people mention that I sounded a little congested to them.

That has become my personal red flag that there is an infection beginning that is blocking

the ability of my antihistamines from being able to fully work properly for me.

Fortunately, I had two days worth of antibiotic left over from my last sinus/eye infection/allergy

problem back in February, and I tried taking it to see if it made a difference.

The itching, prickly, burning went away, and I've had no other major

issues since then, even though the pollen counts are still sky high!!!

I did also add an OTC eye allergy drop and it has helped me tremendously.

I hadn't ever seen this particular product before (Wal-Mart brand of Claritin 12-hour eye drops) and so far it works great

and is much cheaper than my prescription eye drops (Pataday).

One last tip: Last year my husband decided to try the "Filtrete" air conditioning filters

that are supposed to be really great at trapping airborne allergens in the air in your house.

I was a little skeptical, but I have actually noticed that that has helped me too. We've tried to be better about changing that out about once a month, and compared to other filters we have tried, this seems to be much better.

How are you faring this allergy season? How have you found that you can best manage your allergies?

It's August 15th!!! Are you ready???

"Ragweed Season Starts August 15th"

"It's Opening Day...."
(click on the above links to read the articles)

It's no joke, folks. If you're like me and you live with allergies, then you know why it's really important to know this!!

My battle with allergies began back about 15 years or more when I was still living in Ohio.
My parents live in an old farmhouse completely surrounded by corn, soybean, or wheat fields depending on the rotation for the year. I didn't really notice any problems until I was in college. The sneezing and itchy eyes would start near the end of August and subside near the first frost.
I went to college in South Carolina and had no problems there at all.
After college, I moved to New Hampshire. During the two years I lived there, never a problem.
But the fall I moved back to Ohio, I about went insane from the itchy, watery, swollen eyes, and consequently experienced my first lovely encounter with a steroid shot. Ahhhhh.....almost instant relief. I honestly don't remember taking any other medication after that, but surely I did. After that, I lived in Michigan for 4 years and I don't remember ever having a problem during that time.
When we moved to Texas, nearly 9 years ago now, I initially had no symptoms. But as the time has gone on, things have gotten increasingly worse for me. I would end up with pink-eye within 24-48 hours, and the sneezing, itching eyes, itching skin, itching ear canals, itching skin on my face about drove me to the looney bin! Within the last 2 or 3 years, I've had to see an allergist to get to the bottom of what was going on and why.
On my very first visit, they started the skin prick test for environmental allergies. I have to say....THAT WAS AN EXPERIENCE.
They poke your bare back about 30 times with these tiny little needles that inject the tiniest amount of allergen they are testing you for.
Well, my back practically exploded and I looked like I had been whipped because of all the welts. And the ITCHING....oh...the ITCHING!!
Anyway, it was that test that told us I'm allergic to practically all of the flora in our area. This list also included dust mites, and CATS (which didn't terribly disturb me because I'm not a cat lover.) That came like a bolt out of the blue because on the farm where I grew up, I was the chief cat care-taker.......albeit they were barn cats!! How did THAT happen?
Anyway, 4 days later I went through another series of "skin pricks" to test for food allergies. I remember telling the nurse, "You're not going to find anything, 'cause I'm not allergic to any food." Well.....WRONG.
How was I supposed to know I am allergic to mustard?
And rice.
And soy.
But you know, I don't have anaphylactic reactions to these things. I just get itchy. I can handle itchy. And not even severely itchy, just mild enough not to even notice.
The allergist wanted me to think about allergy shots. I had no idea what that even was, and after I heard what it entailed, I thought, "You MUST be crazy."
You start out with a syringe full of the things you're allergic too, custom designed for you and injected several times a week for like a couple months or something. Then they wean you down slowly over a period of time to where you end up with a shot a month. But the entire series has to go on virtually uninterrupted for like 5 YEARS before you're essentially "immune" from the allergic reactions you have. BUT, and here was the kicker for me, IT'S NOT A GUARANTEE!!! What? All that, and you still might experience some symptoms? Uh-uh!! No way....not me!!! Plus, you can't do this while you're pregnant. I couldn't guarantee them that wouldn't happen again to us, and I'm glad I did because I was pregnant with #6 within 2 or 3 months.
That fall, I had the WORST reactions EVER. I think being pregnant just exacerbated everything. In retrospect, I think what the PA at the allergist's office did was overkill, but I walked out having had a steroid shot (which I practically BEGGED for) plus literally a shoebox FULL of all different kinds of medications to take at all different times of day. Most of the medication she gave to me and it lasted until the worst of the season was over, but some of it required a prescription and would be an ongoing expense. I had no idea how much it would cost us over time, and how we would pay for it.
By the time ragweed season is about over here in Texas, Mountain Cedar blooms as a lovely Christmas present and brings on a whole other set of symptoms, albeit, very similar to ragweed.
By January of 2008, I was having constant sinus infections and did multiple rounds of antibiotics with no relief. My wonderful parents-in-law felt so sorry for me, they even had all the air vents and duct work in our house cleaned and sanitized. I was so thankful for that!! I'm not really sure if that helped me or the fact that our baby was born near the middle of that month, but my sinuses cleared up pretty quickly after that.

At the present time, I've been back to my allergist only a couple times, usually in September and then again in February or March. This last February, I was down to just taking a Zyrtec a day, using "Rhinocort Aqua" nasal spray, and "Pataday" eyedrops. The allergist told me I should only really need the nasal spray as it's an excellent defense to blocking the absorption of the allergens, but I have a tremendously difficult time with my eyes, so he okayed the eye drops if necessary. He also suggested that I get started on my medication several weeks in advance of the upcoming season. So on August 1 of this year, I started my spray up again along with taking a Zyrtec a day, in hopes of nipping this thing in the BUD this year. I have to say here that I've tried just about every nasal spray from Flonase, to Nasonex, to Nasacort, and I find Rhinocort Aqua to be far better than all the rest. No funny smell, no dripping down your throat, no burning. They work well on reducing allergy symptoms, but all have these weird things that you notice about them. Not the Rhinocort. LOVE it!

But these medications are EXPENSIVE. Now that Zyrtec is over-the-counter, it's not AS expensive, but nevertheless, it's an added cost every month. The spray costs me $25 a bottle with my insurance, and it lasts about a month. I don't need it as much in the summer time, but just about the other 9 or 10 months of the year, it's my best friend!!
So every morning, I'm spraying one shot in each nostril before I leave the bathroom, and I'm good to go. At night, it's one Zyrtec, and another spray in each nostril before I turn off the light. That seems to keep me operating pretty much like a "normal" person!!
I've also had to switch over to daily contacts because of the allergy issues with my eyes. There's another $100 every 90 days!!
Talk about high maintenance!!! I should be the poster child!!

SO...I'm always on the lookout for ways I can save money with all of this.
And look what I just found a couple weeks ago.....I about passed out I was so EXCITED!!!

Here is a picture of your typical bottle of Zyrtec:

$24.95 (Wal-Mart) or about $31.99 for this and a bottle of 30 bundled together (Costco).
So I thought I was doing really good with the deal at Costco on the Zyrtec.


Until I saw this....

This is the Costco brand of Zyrtec, the generic, if you will. I see the same ingredients listed as on the brand name Zyrtec. The main difference is the number of tablets.....365 in this bottle.

But the cost you ask??

$15.95

BOO-YAH!!


This saves me SO much money. If I do the math, a year's supply (365 tablets) of brand name Zyrtec at the Costco price would cost me roughly....$155.73. The Wal-Mart price would be $203.37. Costco Generic price for a year's supply.....$15.95.

I just get goosebumps when I see this.
Unbelievable!!
Thank you Lord!!