Spiritual Training

As a parent it is our great joy to train our children. What we train them in though can make all the difference!

As a family we have devotions after dinner most nights. Most nights we also have devotions with each kid personally in their bed. The reason we do this is because we want them to know the Lord and walk with Him. We believe that if we begin this training early it will be a natural part of their everyday lives.

Recently, I've thought a lot about Annabelle. She has professed Christ as her Savior and given her life to him. I started thinking about how at the age of 8 I made the same choice. As I grew though I didn't really know how to spend time with God. I didn't know what a quite time or devotional time should look like. I read my Bible here and there, but didn't know what to do with what I had read.

At the same time, I've been wanting to reward her for her great progress in reading. At first I thought about taking her to the Christian bookstore and letting her pick out a new book. Then I was talking to another Mom about teaching our girls about devotions and the Lord laid this idea on my heart...why not reward her for her reading with her own devotional that she can do by herself!

So on Saturday I took her to the Christian bookstore and told her that as a reward for good reading I know thought she was old enough to have a personal quiet time with God. She was THRILLED!!

I was so excited after I read the Introduction! It was exactly what I was hoping for this book to be for her.

She started yesterday and she is already on page 35 of the book. She has shared some of the pages with us and she is answering the questions honestly and with an open heart. It is so neat to see my little girl interacting with God!

Please see my heart--I share these things to encourage you dear parent who is training your child in the ways of the Lord. It isn't always easy, we are are imperfect parents trying to parent an imperfect daughter, but because of Christ we have His grace and He is helping us. The greatest gift I realized lately that I can give to my daughter is to help her create a habit of spending time with God.

I know she isn't grown yet, and we have a long way to go, but my prayer is that this habit like all habits will become a part of her daily life and thus she will walk with God daily. I know the secret to being content is in a relationship with God and I pray that as she grows she will begin to see this as well. I will continue to pray for her and encourage her in her walk all the days of her life.

Be Blessed!

Back To School Blessing

I love back to school time! Maybe it is because I am a teacher, but I've always loved going back to school.

I have been so encouraged by parents throughout the years that I try real hard to do something, even if small, to show my kids teachers that we appreciate them and are praying for them!

I created this cute little tag tonight and wanted to make it available to share with others if they want it.                              

My prayer this year for my kids is to connect with their teachers and other students. I am praying especially for Annabelle that she would be blessed with some good friends. She has some great friends from Adrian and we are so thankful that we've been able to keep up with those friends, but we'd love to see her bond with at least one girl in her class this year.

Click the link to open the

Smart Cookie Teacher Gift Tag

Life Lessons

I was at Aldis today with my girls. We ran in to get one item, but of course saw two more along the way. As we went to get in line there was only one register open. There were 6 people in line, all with very full carts!

I just looked at the line and said, "Wow!"
Shopper # 5 in line: "Ma'am, you can go in front of me since you only have 3 things."
Me: But there is someone behind you.
Shopper #6: Oh that is fine go in front of her.
Shopper #4: You can go in front of me too.
Shopper #3: Go in front of me too.
Shopper #2: You might as well go in front of me too!
Me: Wow, you all are so nice! Thank you so much!
Shopper #5 (who started all this): Just remember this and pay it forward someday
Me: WOW that is funny because just yesterday I did the same thing you all are doing, but I only did it for one man!

Rewind to yesterday at Kroger
I had 17 items and knew I couldn't go in the 15 item or less lane so I started going towards the other lanes when a worker stopped me and told me to go to the 15 item or less lane. I mentioned I had more than 15, but she said I was fine. As soon as I get in line a guy gets behind me with nothing. Noting this I asked if he was purchasing something. He said he was but it was up behind the counter. I insisted that he go in front of me since he only had one item and I knew I had more than the 15. He was a sweet older gentleman and we chatted while we waited for the person in front of us.  

My girls weren't there for the Kroger episode.

We got in the car and this song was playing, Do Something by Matthew West

The point of this song is we all can Do Something to make this world a better place! I know what was done today was small and what I did yesterday was small, but it is those small things that will eventually lead to bigger acts of kindness.

I got the opportunity to talk to my girls about what happened and made sure they didn't walk away until they knew they can do something too, it all starts with kindness! And the message of the song is "RIGHT NOW" is the time to do something no matter how small!

Be Blessed!!

Allergy Graduate

March 17, 2014

I posted our results on facebook, but forgot to update the blog on Jack's last allergy appointment!

3 hours in a doctors room 6 spoonfuls of peanut butter and NO reactions! We are allergy free and he loves Peanut Butter! The Allergist said we "Graduated"! I told the allergist about our treatments that we did before we left and we have now made it our aim to share with as many as we come in contact with that suffer from allergies.

To this date in June, he has not had a reaction to Peanut butter and has it a few times a week!

To read more about our journey through Allergy Elimination read the post below starting with Allergy Answered Prayer.

Jack's bedtime snack...Jack says forget the apples I just want the peanut butter, hence the finger marks!

Allergist Analaysis

I got a phone call from the allergist this afternoon. We had an appointment scheduled for Wednesday that they wanted to reschedule because his lab results from his blood test came back NEGATIVE for peanut and oranges. This is now two tests that have confirmed he has no more allergies!

The next step is what they call the food challenge. We have an appointment now for March 17th. I will bring peanut butter to the appointment and they will give it to him. We will have to stay there for several hours to confirm he has no reaction. I am excited for this next step. I never thought when we found out he was a 4/5 for peanuts that I would ever be giving him peanut butter!

I have stopped checking labels. At this point we are just avoiding peanuts and anything that contains peanut butter. We feel very blessed to have been able to get Jack these treatments over the past few years. Thank you for sharing in our journey with us! I will be sure to update after the food challenge in March.

Allergy Answered Prayer

Today is a big day in our household. After 2 1/2 years of struggling with allegies our baby boy is Allergy FREE! This is our journey to healing...

Here is Jack at 6 months old

December 2011
Jack was so itchy and bleeding because of his constant scratching that we took him to Toledo Children's hospital. The ER doctor told us that it was the worst case of eczema and cradle cap she had ever seen! She suggested we get him into a dermatologist that week. The dermatologist could not give us a cause, but put him on a steroid to clear it up. However as soon as he went off the steroid everything started back up, see the picture above taken in January 2012. The dermotalogist suggestion was keep him on the steroid. I did not want to keep my baby on a steroid without knowing what was causing all this.

January 2012
Saw the allergist for the first time. At that time he was just allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and were given an epi pen. But if you looked at him you knew he wasn't eating peanuts and tree nuts, so there had to be something else that wasn't showing up. We went back 1 year later and he was allergic to eggs and oranges. We also stopped immunizations at this time.

April 2012

We saw a homeopathic doctor in Ann Arbor who put him on a gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and peanut free diet until he was two! I knew we could not do this until he was two, so I started looking for a new doctor. We also started raw goat's milk, which helped a lot but didn't cure him.

June 2012 - January 2014

Through KLove radio station 3 mornings in a row I heard an advertisement for ABA Chiropractic and Holistic Health Center. I emailed them to see if they worked with children and to share our journey. They were confident they could help Jack. We started doing allergy elimination treatments the first week of June. The treatment uses lazers at your accupuncture points to eliminate the allergy. It is doesn't hurt at all and you just have to sit still. Since Jack was little he sat on my lap and I held him for all the treatments. More information about the treatments can be found here: http://www.naet.com/. We did allergy elimination treatments for the following: peanuts and tree nuts, gluten, eggs and chicken, B Complex, potatoes, tomatoes, and beans. 

February 2014
I know you are skeptical and so am I, we took him to an allergist today and she cleared all his allergies. The face on the doctor and two nurses when they came in and looked at his back was priceless! They were so stunned, I said, "Is he allergy free?" And the doctor said, "Yes." I said, "I know why." They proceeded to ask me questions about the treatments and she said even though she'd never heard of it, "Obviously it worked!"
Now What...
The allergist sent us for lab work to run a blood test to again prove that he is not allergic to peanuts. They were so shocked they want a second opinion. In 3 weeks we go back to the allergist for the results, although she said the scratch test is the most accurate, and at that appointment they will actually give him peanut butter. I'll be honest since we've avoided it for so long I am alright with waiting until we are there to give it to him, see even I still have a little skepticism after all we've been through, but I would do it all over again to let Jack be able to eat anything!

My heart just breaks when I think of others going through what we've been through so I had to share. Be Well and never stop advocating for your child! Follow your God given Mommy instincts!

Our Sweet Boy at 2 1/2

Gabby's First Trip to the Dentist

We've been talking about going to the dentist for weeks. She has a seek and find book that taught her all the too,s they would use. She was excited to get a new toothbrush. Before we left she wanted to bring the book so the dentist could read it to her. The hygienist used the book to show her things that she was using on her mouth, but they never read it to her. She had two cavities on her front two teeth, possibly from drinking/sipping on juice, so he told her only water in between meals. This will be hard because she is such a drinker.