Health Updates

 

Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening, friends and family where ever you may be. Since I've been gone for quite a while I thought I'd give you some health updates.

Unfortunately it looks like my husband may need yet another back surgery. If he does this will make surgery either eleven, twelve or thirteen. To be honest I have lost count at this point. In 2019 he had a spinal stimulator implanted and it's been such a huge blessing. It began to give him some of his life back. Flash forward to three months ago. He is beginning to lose his ability to walk and he is in a ton of pain despite the stimulator and I shudder to think what his pain level would be without it. 

We went to see yet another surgeon who took X rays and then this past Monday he had an MRI and soon he will go in for a myelogram. All of these tests show where and how much damage there is. My husband has metal rods and screws fifty percent up his back starting at the lower back and ending in the mid chest area. 

The surgeon seems to believe that the discs above the upper metal where it stops are now disintegrating and he is unsure if the vertebra are pinching the spinal cord or crushing it, hence the need for all these tests and the cause of his losing the ability to walk. So, we are just waiting for the last test to be done and then we will decide what comes next.

As for myself, I'm not sure if I blogged about it but to make a long story long, at the end of June I landed in the ER with just horrid stomach pain. Well that went from, you have gallstones a massive urinary tract infection and we think you may have a heart attack.. What??!!??!!

Well. after nine hours in the ER, them shooting me up with all kinds of antibiotics, blood thinners etc and making me sicker than when I walked in I finally had , had enough and signed out AMA (against medical advice). After which I made an appointment with my husbands cardiologist. I had an EKG, Echocardiogram and a nuclear stress test. Thanks all be to God everything turned out fine. My heart is fine and more than likely the chest pain I had is stemming from my completely screwed up digestive system.

Next I saw my regular MD who ordered a CT scan with contrast, I did that and he said no, there are no gallstones. (scratching head) So then it was off to yet another stomach doctor who said that a CT scan isn't the best test for gallstones an ultrasound is yet he didn't want to set me up for one until I have a colonoscopy and an endoscope both at the same time. Yeah, it's not making sense to me either and to be completely honest with you I am ready to just throw my hands up at all of this. I am SO   TIRED    OF     DOCTORS     MESSING     ME    AROUND. I've been going through this for thirty damn years and nothing gets better and they pull all kinds of garbage out of a hat and nothing.

Unfortunately because of this gallstone issue or non gallstone issue I had to stop eating what little fattening foods I could swallow and well, I've lost too much weight. At last check I was ninety seven pounds. In all honesty, I just want to run away.

So there it is. This is where we are and I am so sick of being here...

Why I Left Facebook

 

Hi there! It's been a while.. let's catch up!.... So you see the title of my post.. I'm off... Yeah I know, I'm off my rocker a bit but that's not what this post is about...

I'm officially off Facebook. I have deleted the app off my phone and my tablet. It is time to break the addiction and the chains of social media slavery...

What lead to my decision? It's not something knew, I've been thinking about it for a while. It's not brought any good into my life and in fact it's only brought things down for me. That in itself should be enough but as with all addictions sometime you just have to hit rock bottom.

Over this past weekend I received two warnings (laughs) from Fakebook about a few posts I put up. Just let me say this upfront. I am not a covid virus denier (I had it in 2020 and yes it was bad and yes I thought I was going to die from it. It is a real virus (bio-weapon and it does kill people) but I am completely and 100% against this poison they are calling a vaccine. I am also against ANYTHING that tries to take away our freedoms of any kind.. 

Since getting these (coughs) warnings, every time I would comment on someone's post if it had anything to do with the shitty shape our country is in, the poison jab, the virus itself, as I was typing my screen would brighten real quick as if someone was taking a screen shot. This was happening both on my phone and my tablet and only on Fakebook.

Now you can call me paranoid, a tin foil hate wearer etc. etc. but just remember this. Us tinfoil hat wearers are being proved right everyday now. And as for paranoia, go take a look at the videos of what's happening in Australia and then decide of I am paranoid. 

So tonight I have deleted both Fakebook and it's Messenger app. Next to go will be Instagram because they are now owned by Fakebook and then Twitter. Funny, as I was writing this last sentence about Instagram being owned Fakebook the thought popped into my head. So are you owned if you continue to use these services if that's what you want to call them. I call them propaganda machines now. 

I've really been trying to take stock of my time and my life in the last two months and you know what? I don't NEED to be connected on social media. I don't NEED social media at all in fact. It's nothing but a drain emotionally, mentally and physically, a propaganda machine, a brainwashing machine and nothing good comes from it.

One of my biggest reasons and I am not ashamed to say it is, I am addicted to Social Media as are many millions of other people and that is their end goal these creators of social media and when you are addicted to something then you are enslaved by it and the things you really enjoy or need to do for yourself get pushed to the side because you need your fix. I know many of you are shaking your head in agreement with me.

Having said all this I want to tell you that I will be spending the majority of my time here on my blog because I do, like most people like to share things with the world and I do like to write. As for the direction of my blog, I will be expressing my opinions on many, many things. Some people will agree others it will make angry and they will walk away and that's fine with me. I have always considered my blog to be my little space on the internet. All I ask is that if you do not agree please be respectful as you wish to be respected and if you can't then don't say anything at all and unfollow me. Look at it this way, if you walked into a friends home would you take a dump in their living room just because you felt like it? No? Then don't do it here either because this is my little virtual home. 

Now that all of that is out of the way. I will be back soon with some life updates for you if you are interested. I also want to see if there is an app I can download on my phone and tablet so I can keep up with all of your posts and blogs as well. I am hoping Bloglovin has an app I can download. 

I hope everyone is healthy and well and I will talk to you soon...

My Frightening Reality

 

Blessed Sunday to you family and friends. It doesn't happen often but today it has. Everyone once in a while the reality that is my life comes front and center and this morning, it's staring me straight in the eyes. 

Incase you don't know I have a swallowing condition for the last eighteen years. I am unable to swallow most solid foods and I also have a hard time with liquids as well. Each doctor seems to have a theory but no one ever seems to be able to nail it completely. We go from Achlasia, to Dysphasia, to a motility disorder to GERD (meds dont make it better) etc.

This morning I was looking online and it seems there has been a study done in Belgium, the first of it's kind and these scientists now believe that Achlasia is autoimmune. The nerve cells in the esophagus are attacked by the immune system and die thus the lower esophageal sphincter is unable to open and close as it should causing food to back up into the esophagus. So what does this all mean? It means people with this condition have a very high risk of choking to death. I wish I could put it a nicer way but that's the reality of it. That's my reality every day. 

For the last year I have been telling myself, "you need to stop eating all the sugar, you need to stop eating all the sugar, this sugar is killing you, this sugar is going to kill you".  You see, for me, chocolate goes down well because it melts in the mouth. Ice pops, ice cream do the same. That's pretty much what I live on. Lots and lots of sugar..

I also have food allergies and there are foods like potatoes that not only do I have a VERY hard time trying to swallow but they give me horrible, horrible migraines. I have been making a vegetable juice with kale, spinach and an apple but even that. If I drink a big glass of it at one sitting I end up with an incredibly painful migraine.

I am feeling very overwhelmed and honestly at this point, I feel like and I know I need to do something but I don't know where to turn anymore. The consistency of foods pureed need to be just right for me and trial and error is not only dangerous but if I can't swallow it then my throat is so twisted for the rest of the day that I get barely any food intake at all.

People like me, a lot of times, more than I even want to think about end up on feeding tubes and that scares me. I don't want to end up on a feeding tube, I don't want to choke to death and I don't want to die from all this sugar intake but, I don't know what else to do nor who to go to anymore. It's been eighteen years and no doctor seems to be much help nor have any answers for me.

This is my reality, yesterday, today and....... .I guess for the future or until God decides to take me to my heavenly mansion.

I'm Sorry - Catching Up

 

Well hello friends and family! I know it's been a LONG time.. Since May actually... Time seems to slip by so fast as you get older and it slipped away from my blog. So much has been going on so let me bring you up to date. It's nothing earth shattering, just life...

The hot weather rolled in and so did taking care of the garden.. Things were going well and then, we realized almost all of our tomato have some kind of virus. I was able to salvage two plants and while they are producing, the fruit is small and some of it not too good. So I pick the good ones and ditch the rest...

The chickens are growing up quickly and getting to be almost full size. Sadly, we lost one. My husband went out one morning to check on them like he does every morning. Gives them fresh clean water, fresh food, checks over their feathers, faces and skin and while doing this to one of them, she seemed fine but the moment he put her down, she flapped her wings and literally dropped dead... I've spoken to some farmers in the area and they said sometimes it just happens. More than likely the poor thing had a heart attack because she was growing too quickly but it just happens. I will say, I was pretty deeply affected more than I thought I would be. We've raised them since they were babies. My husband were more affected than I because he's really been the one who has been raising them but that is life on any homestead when you have any kind of animals. It happens..

Then I was running around like a nut for a few months because my brother decided he wanted to move down here with us and he wanted to get here as soon as he could so I was making deals with home owners, talking to real estate agents, researching properties, going and looking at manufactured homes and then, he pulls out.. With my very limited energy and spending it all on them needless to say I was, 'less' than happy and that's all I'll say about that...

In June, I wound up in the emergency room thinking I may have been having or had a heart attack. It was Memorial Day Weekend to be exact. After nine long, excruciating hours and them scaring the hell out of me and making me sicker than when I walked in it was determined that more than likely I was not having a heart attack and it was my stomach. They wanted to keep me, I was pissed that I was sicker than when I walked in because of all the drugs they were giving me so I signed out AMA.. And yes, I heard it from my doctor all about why I shouldn't and should never do that again. I am not saying anyone ever should do that but sometimes, you have to listen to your gut.

Well that incident started the rounds of doctors and tests. My GP sent me in for a CT scan with contrast (I've never had that before, felt like someone poured hot lava down my gullet)  because the hospital said I had gallstones.. The CT scan came back clean. No gall stones. I figured okay good I'm in the clear with that. Next it was off to the cardiologist to get my heart checked.  EKG, Echocardiagram and a Nuclear Stress Test. That was a real trip and not in a good way. Anyway, thanks ALL be to God my heart is fine and whatever caused the pain in my chest that made me think I was having a heart attack, the cardiologist says it's not my heart. Now, looking back, I'm thinking it was an esophageal spasm..

Next, the gastroenterologist. I'm scheduled for yet another endoscope and a colonoscopy both being done at the end of September and, he informed me that just because the CT scan was read as being clear with no gall stones doesn't mean I don't have them.. Huh? Yeah that's what I said to him, What? According to him a CT scan is not the best test for gallstones but an ultrasound. I asked both him and my GP that while I"m waiting for the scopes until the end of September why not just set up the ultrasound now? Both said no we should wait. I have no idea why and it seems pretty stupid to me but what do I know? I was told however by the gastroenterologist that if I have the same pain again to call him right away.. I'm thinking to myself, Is he waiting for my gallbladder to explode before doing anything?

I also believe I may just have gallstones because I've been getting a lot of pain again and it's classic gallbladder pain. So we shall see. I don't like this waiting stuff to be honest. I am also quite concerned about my pancrease. My mom passed away at age 56 from pancreatic cancer. I am now 51. The gastro after learning of my moms history was pretty adamant that yes I have a large chance of having it since it was my mother and not a cousin twice removed although he said I'm not saying you do have it and I felt like saying to him, why in the hell would you even say this to me? I'm already FREAKED out about it.. I dunno.. Some doctors have a great bed side manner and some well, some just right out suck. He sucks.

Im also still dealing with the whole peri menopause thing and in nine days if I don't get my cycle it will be one year since my last and I will be considered 'officially' in menopause. Yippie? I sleep between hot flashes so I don't get a lot of sleep. You can imagine what that does to my already low energy and, my family will be here in two weeks for vacation for a week. I'm intrigued about how this is going to go.

Okay, I think you're about as caught up as I can get you in this post. I'm sorry it's so long and if you took the time to read it I thank you very much.. I"ll be back soon as I can. I pray you're all well and you're families are well and happy also..

God bless you ..

Weekend Wrap Up

 

Hello there friends and family. Thought I'd share this past weekend with you....

Saturday I spent much of the morning in the garden checking things watering things, harvesting things as you can see from the photo above I harvested a good amount of romaine lettuce, kale and snap peas. By the time I got done working in the garden, cleaning up the house washing laundry and putting laundry away my body was pretty much done for the day. 

We were going to go to the Blue Crab Fest in Little River last night but I heard it was insanely packed with people more than any other year, probably because it was cancelled last year because of Covid and this year my state, South Carolina is wide open for business. I live on the coast and the tourist industry needs the people because last year businesses got killed with the shut downs and in this area, hospitality is where the jobs are and I can tell you people have been coming in droves. Not just for the many festival's we have in my area but for the beaches, then there was spring break and this week is the Blue Crab Fest and Bike Week and Memorial Day.

I've never been one for enormously large crowds. I can handle a smallish crowd but if it's too much I'd rather not go and besides, I was very tired after working inside and outside yesterday so instead I put up all the lettuce and kale and for dinner last night I made Cod fish marinated in lemon juice and zest and I took those snap peas and sautéed them in olive oil, parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Hubby said they were delicious. So that was a win. I have one of the typical traits that always seem to be attributed to Italians which, I am one. I show my love through cooking. Kind of ironic for a woman who can't swallow 98% of solid foods but, I like to see others enjoy my cooking. 

As for Sunday, today... the plan, there's always a plan. Which for me, most of the time doesn't go as I wish. I wanted to do only the minimum of what I absolutely had to do like cooking because after all it is the Lords day.. I also wanted to attend the Divine Liturgy at the Greek Orthodox Church but by the time I took my shower and was done with that I felt very tired and run down so plan B was to just hang out, study scripture, listen to a Messianic Rabbi online and do nothing else. Well, we called Walgreens about my husbands medications which he told me needed to picked up this morning and they were having a hard time getting it through the insurance which never happened before. So there I was at eight thirty am on Sunday on the phone with Blue Cross Blue Shield trying to figure out what the problem was. 

Turns out it was on the pharmacy's end so the BCBS called them and got it straightened out and off I went to pick up hubbys medications. When I came home, I reheated my coffee, my husband went outside and started working on the chicken coop again as you can see in the photo above, I took the new towels I bought and put them in the washer, I haven't bought new towels in almost seventeen years, I know, it's embarrassing but it's just not something I think about until they get to the point they are almost thread bare and, we were there. Changed the bed sheets and then I grabbed my coffee, my Bible, my study guides and sat out on the deck and spent some time with the Lord which I hope to do more of later on today.....

For lunch I will make hubby an egg salad sandwich on flax bread with a couple of oranges and dinner tonight is steak on the grill with a veggie and a salad..

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend...!

 

Friday Happenings

 

Hello friends and family! I thought I'd share with you what is going on at Robyns Simple Life this Friday... As a side note I've been thinking maybe I need to change the name of this blog to Robyns NOT SO Simple Life because my life is anything but simple but then again, I do try, and live my life as simply as I know how. Hmm, on second thought maybe I should just leave things alone. You know the old saying, if ain't broke don't fix it.. moving on..

This morning I left the house about two hours after the butt crack of dawn and ran to the local Food Lion as I needed to get some chicken, some cheese, green onions, and coffee creamer for my Mr.

After that I came home and headed into the garden. I haven't been out there in like four days because I was sick . Shame on me. You need to be in your garden every single day checking on things. As I expected, the tomato plants are growing  a little wild so I pruned them and put some more ties onto the stakes as they are getting taller now. We have two baby tomatoes coming out and more on the way!

 

Then I weeded the garden beds and picked some romaine and red leaf lettuce. 

Next I turned my eyes to the snap peas that seem to have grown over night!

I will cook theses beauties up tonight for my Mr to go with his fish.

Then I took a boneless, skinless chicken breast and fileted it and put it on the grill with some BBQ sauce for my Mr.'s lunch.

He's been working so hard on building the chicken coop so I wanted to make him something filling for lunch but also healthy. The salad has romaine and red leaf lettuce, tomatoes, grilled BBQ chicken breast and feta cheese. Then I just sprinkled some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Healthy Lunch!

As for the rest of the day, I need to wash and put up the lettuce and peas I picked this morning, load the dishwasher, put away some laundry and boy, I could use a nap. I sleep between hot flashes so sleep is hard to come by these days. 

Later on I will cook dinner for my husband, tonight is Fish night so I am making pan seared Cod, the peas from the garden and probably another vegetable.

What are your plans for today?

What's Your Opinion?

 

Hello friends and family! Today I would like to get your opinion on something..

 Have you ever heard of Messianic Christians? I had heard the name before but never really looked into it and then last week a friend shared a video and the pastor I guess you would call him was a Jewish man who believes in Jesus Christ..

I found his talk very interesting. It was over an hour long, and he spoke about the Jewishness of Jesus and the Apostles. I listened to the whole thing. I was actually pretty enamored at what I was hearing. From what I think I understand, we Christians should still celebrate the Jewish feast and Holy Days because Jesus did also. Jesus in his humanity was a devout Jew as were the Apostles and first "Christians".. 

This man also talked about how Jesus tells us in Scripture, which he does, that He did not come to change a letter of the Law and the Law and the prophets would not pass away until Heaven and Earth passes away...

I know a few people who are Christians but also celebrate the Jewish seasons as well. I am also learning in my bible study, we are in the book of Numbers right now that God the Father when he was giving the Laws to the People of Isra'el that even the foreigners among them were too follow the laws also.

This man also was saying how the Sabbath etc was always a Saturday even for the first "Christians" because they were Jews, not Sundays. He was talking about how when you walk into Christian churches whatever sect they may be you see nothing Jewish about them at all. That got me to thinking.. He's right.. there is nothing Jewish about a Christian Church that I have ever seen and I wondered why not?

I remember years ago wondering to myself the things this man was saying. Specifically, why we didn't celebrate Passover etc as well, why there is nothing to be seen Jewish about us yet Jesus was a Jew, Jesus practiced Judaism so why don't we? I have been told over the years by Catholic Priests that we don't do these things because we are not under the Law because of Jesus but so far everything I've read in Scripture doesn't say we aren't.. Just as Jesus said he did not come to change one letter of the Law..

What are your thoughts and opinions on this? 

 

I've been sick

 

Hi Friends and Family!

Please forgive me for not being on my blog or reading your blogs in the past week but, I've been sick.

I started not to feel well last Monday and in my usual fashion I just ignored it. I know, it's a bad habit but, when you've been chronically ill for as many years as I have you tend to do this a lot.

Well by Thursday morning I was sick both literally and figuratively and I"ll get to the figuratively part in a moment. I was unsure if I had a sinus infection or something seriously wrong with my stomach because the stomach pain was almost unbearable. Again, I'm used to stomach pain as I've had it everyday for over 22 years but this, this was beginning to tip the scales a bit. I also was getting serious pounding sinus headaches and doing a ton of sneezing. I have chronic sinusitis and then I remembered that when I get sick sick, it usually hits the weakest part of my body and for me thats my stomach.

I was laid out flat in bed for Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday. I began taking antibiotics I have here at home and started feeling much better. I can eat again, no nausea, no stomach pain or sinus pain and today I am feeling much much better. So, I am pretty sure its just an intense sinus infection I let get away from me which will make you pretty sick pretty quick.

Now as for the figuratively part. We have a tree in the front of our house smack in the middle of the lawn. It's a beautiful tree. Sixty foot bradford pear tree and tons of birds. But, it was also leaning because it grew crooked towards the house. Last Tuesday we had a wicked storm rip through the area and it literally ripped our peach tree in the back yard out of the ground. I decided it would be best to have the big tree in the front at least trimmed incase it ever does fall it doesn't fall on the house, my bedroom specifically because you know, those things tend to always happen in the dead of night. 

The tree guy comes Thursday morning and he tells me its better to take it out because while it's a strong tree some of the root ball is growing up out of the ground and he can't not say if a heavy storm would knock it over or not. Let me just say, this kid was a good salesman, there's a sucker born every minute and last Thursday that sucker was me. He charged me $650 to take it out but umm, it actually didn't need to come out! I was not and am not happy about how this went down.

The roots of this tree were so deeply embedded into the ground and had spread so far out under the lawn it took them three HOURS to get it out trying everything including a backhoe! So much for a tree that he couldn't guarantee me wasn't going to fall!

Meanwhile, as they were destroying my lawn trying to get the roots out with the backhoe they also ripped all those bushes around that tree out because they came up with the roots! Now I am left with nothing but a mud pit. I was sick over it all... 

Now that I have accepted that I spent $650 that I didn't have to spend, that I was pretty much swindled, and my beautiful tree is gone, next month I am going to buy a Kwanzan Cherry Blossom Tree and plant it there in honor of my mom, my dad, myself and my childhood because we had a cherry blossom tree in my backyard that would bloom every year on my birthday in my childhood home. Every year my parents would wake me up on my birthday morning and tell me to go look out my bedroom window because my birthday tree had bloomed for me..

So that's all why I haven't been around much. I hope to be back this week to reading your blogs and seeing what you've all been up too!

They're Here !

 

Hello dear friends and family. I am so excited to share this with you today! 

I FINALLY got my blueberry bushes!.. I've been wanting to get some for the last few years but every time I would go out on the hunt for them they are always sold out. But this year, I finally got them. I was out at Lowes last week to pick up something for my husband and I thought, "let me go into the garden center just to see if they have any" and sure enough they did! They are small but that's okay with me. They will grow. My husband, God love him, he planted these for me this past Saturday in the yard near the fence so that we can make sort of like a netted cage over them to keep the birds out. We will have to do the same with the tomatoes as I refuse to fight the mocking birds this year for my tomatoes or anything else! 

This guy here is kind of tall, not producing anything yet but I have faith he will.

Then we have this little guy here who is already producing! 

This little guy has two or three of these clusters of berries on him already. These are Emerald Blueberries so they should get nice and big. I can't wait to eat them! 

As you can see I am very excited about these two small blueberry bushes. It may not seem like much to most but to me it's a lot...Im pretty easy to please.. Thank goodness for my husband I am. *laughs*

And So It Begins

 

Hello dear friends and family.

Well, we are taking the leap one more time only this time will be different from the last.

Yup, we are getting chickens again. We had some years ago but we had too many. My husband, I love him but when he does something he likes to do it big.. Doesn't matter what it is he goes full hog and sometimes, well, a lot of times, that's not such a good thing. At one point we ended up with sixteen chickens and more eggs than we knew what to do with. Now for some sixteen chickens isn't a lot but for just the two of us it's way more then we would ever need. I was boiling eggs, making egg salad, soft boiled eggs, hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, frittata's, giving eggs away. You name it. if it had eggs in it I was making it.

So, when the husband mentioned he'd like to have chickens again and, I would also I said okay but this time only two or three. That's all we need. He agreed and so he has begun building the chicken coop.

As a side note, I'm so glad I married a man who is incredibly handy and has a lot of carpentry knowledge with the tools to go along with it. 

And this here is the foundation. I will update as the process moves along. 

My only request with this coop was that it would be as easy as possible to get into and to clean. My husband is going to put this up on sturdy legs about waist high for me and then he will have it where the whole front and top of the coop will open up towards the back so I can just reach in with ease and a clear view and reach of everything inside. 

Getting chickens again is a good thing for us now because with my swallowing disorder I am able to eat eggs and I do eat a lot of them and I also give my dogs soft boiled eggs about two times a week as a soft boiled egg is a super food for them but they must be soft boiled to get the most nutrition so I make them four minute eggs. And I'm tired of paying expensive prices for the organic cage free pasture raised eggs at Costco for the dogs. I know, it may seem insane to spend that kind of money on your dogs eggs but they are our family and if I wouldn't eat it they don't eat it. Having chickens again will provide a great source of food for us and them and save us a bit of money as well.

Do you have any chickens? If so, have any advice for me?

Garden Update

 

Hello friends and family....

Today I thought I'd share an update on all the happenings in this years garden with you. Things are beginning to grow! All the plants in the garden beds are growing well. We have a few tomato plants in here along with a few Brussel Sprout plants that aren't doing very well and I'm not sure why. The pepper plants are standing up strong and tall and so far the lettuce I thought wasn't going to make it is doing well although I think we will have to pick whatever is there this coming week as temps are supposed to get into the lower 80's and lettuce won't survive that heat, I don't think.

The tomato and basil companion planting seems to be going well also.

The two round pots in the front here have spaghetti squash in them and the climbers  you see there are called crunchy peas. The other pots have more tomatoes and basil in them. Yesterday I went out and put stakes in everything for support. I am trying to prune my tomatoes and train them to grow up instead of out. We already had some blossoms on some of the tomato plants but I took those off so that the plant can put all it's energy into growing large and producing large tomatoes instead of producing small tomatoes right away.

My brussel sprout plants are just booming in these pots and the kale in these pots seem to be recovering from the cabbage worm disaster. I will put more Neem Oil on them this week.

This pot of Kale here in the superstar of the garden right now. I planted two kale plants in each pot and they are just beautiful!! I'm going to be picking some of these beauties this week!

That's it folks. The garden so far is thriving. I am learning and watching a lot of gardening videos on YouTube by much more seasoned gardeners than myself. We shall see what the hot weather brings. 

My Bible Study Sources

 

Hello friends and family.

I have had many people ask me what materials I use to study the Scriptures and today I thought I would share with you what I am currently using each or at least I try every day study. 

As most of you know I am a Roman Catholic Christian so the first source I use and begin with each day is the Roman Catholic Missal. In here are all the readings for each day of the year that the entire Church reads every day. It also includes many many prayers and devotions as well as the Mass it self. 

Then after I read the readings for the day I move onto the Bible Recap which I am REALLY enjoying!  It's a one year guide to the entire bible and I love how the author Tara- Leigh Cobble has put this all together and her commentary. it's very easy to understand and answers many questions I have about certain scriptures. 

And of course I couldn't have any Scripture reading or study without a bible right? I own many bibles but currently I am using the New Revised Standard Version. In truth I don't always like the updated language it uses but I do find it is a very easy bible to understand. 

Do you have any special materials you use for your Scripture study? If you do will you please share them in the comments for myself and others?

Do You Love Correctly ?

 

Hello friends and family...

I'm back again today to share with you yet another Scripture that I am currently studying that made me stop and think and I am hoping it will do the same for you....

In Leviticus 25 :35 God talks about our family members or even friends who fall into difficulty and what we are to do with them. God says, " If any of your kin fall into difficulty and become dependent on you, you shall support them ; they shall live with you as though resident aliens. Do not take interest in advance  or otherwise make a profit from them but fear your God; let them live with you. You shall not lend them money at interest taken in advance, or provide them food at a profit."

God tells us in no uncertain terms we are to care for our loved ones and to do whatever it takes to make that happen.. Sadly, in todays societies we ignore them. We don't help them even if we have an abundance to do so and we do not make the sacrifices we should to help others. We here in the west have become so complacent and spoiled in our abundance. God is telling us that we are to provide for those in need out of what we already have because what we already have does not belong to us. it belongs to God. Be it food, money, a home, clothing, cars etc. All we have comes from God. Some will say, "but I worked hard for those things". Yes. Yes you did but, God is the one who gave you the ability to work hard for those things so no, these things do not belong to you they belong to God and whatever he has freely given you, you are to freely give to those in need. See how that works?

So many times I have seen people say they can't help a family or friend in need because after all they don't have much. Oh but you do. You have more than those in need. So you provide what little you can and leave the rest to God to provide for them AND for you.. There are times I see some say, "Well I don't have the time to care for my parents because of my job, or children to care for, or my husband, or my wife etc etc. And it truly breaks my heart. I know there are some situations where it is completely impossible to care for another but those are few and far between. We ALWAYS have something to give.

I was raised in a time where family and friends were the upmost important, after God. And when it came to family and friends you did whatever you had to, to care for them even if it meant quitting a job or relocating. You took care of your own. Tragically it seems so many no longer live by this. We as a society have become so self consumed with ourselves and "self love" we have forgotten that is not what we were put here for.

God teaches us all we need to know to live this life and to have eternal life with Him and His Son . Most importantly he teaches us how to love one another.