Blog in Pictures - Day 6 - Blessed by God, Blessed by my kids

It's been a rough day to say the least. The good thing is that amongst the tears, sobbing at times, I was able to pull through it get it all together. I was able to get the schooling and chores done. The house may not be in the greatest shape but at least it's clean and organized.

Tonight I was reading another's blog. It was about raising a child with special needs. It hit home for me. It made me think of how life with my boys has been. It certainly hasn't been easy. It's been hard some days to keep going. Between all the doctor's appointments, schooling and home therapies, it has been a rough road.

Between being told one child will not be able to live on his own, ever, and the other child will be a vegetable, I wonder how it is that I am still alive. Amongst major surgeries, lots of doctor's, therapists, tons of prayer, and even more tears God has shown those people they have no idea what they are talking about, despite their PhD's. Starting out with a boy who could not learn to read or write despite may years teaching him it, and another child who had no voice and little muscle usage when born, I'm proud to say that I have two amazing sons. Adam, 11th grade, reading and writing above a 9th grade level, and Daniel who some day's won't shut up. Through God's mercy and grace both my boys have far exceeded the doctor's predictions.

God is good. Through it all He has shown us that life's battles, life's pit stops, don't really matter in the long run. It matters how we pull through those pit stops and battles. It's not been easy I'll tell you that. Some days are full of tears, some are full of laughter. Some days there are more screams then I care to admit and others there is nothing but peace. We started out wondering where this life's journey would take us. I now sit here blessed by how wonderful my children are.

Thank you, Precious Jesus, for raising my children to be healthy and well.

Adam, this past month, in his Explorer's uniform.

 Daniel, hanging out at home.

Blog in Pictures - Day 5 - Spring is here!

Spring is here!!! time for the rebirth of the earth! Winter has gone away and left it's mark. I am blessed that winter's mark hasn't been as strong this year. What a blessing it has been not to fight with the snow and the ice!

So, to mark this joyous occasion of Spring I have a few pictures to share.

Amongst all the clutter in our lives blooms pop up to show us it's all ok after all. :o) I know these are not the prettiest pictures. They are just a few shots of things that brightened my day when I went on a walk. :o) I hope you enjoy them too. 

Happy Spring to you!

blog in pictures - Day 4 -> Spring Peeper Frogs

God's littlest creatures. In our lives we tend to think large. The bigger the better. God doesn't work that way. He does things on a small scale sometimes. These little frogs (spring peeper frogs) are so tiny they can fit on a person's thumbnail! We found a lot of these tiny frogs at Herkimer, NY several years ago. It always amazes me how awesome of a God I serve that He could create these intricate little frogs.

G

Blog in Pictures - Day 3 -> Date Night - a must for every marraige!

Date Night

I came across this idea online the other night. I loved it! You get 12 envelopes, any envelopes you want. You can label them, decorate them, what ever you like. Each envelope has the name of one month on it. 12 months, 12 envelopes.12 dates.

That's right, 12 dates, one each month. 

In each envelope you plan a date for that particular month. It can be anything you enjoy doing together. Seeing as how we are not the richest people here we have to plan on the cheap. That 's ok though, I like simple things. In the post I saw this idea on the lady planned all the dates herself as a surprise for her husband. I didn't. I planned ideas and then checked with my hubby as to how he liked the ideas. He actually liked all the ideas. (yeah me!!) 

Some of our ideas include using the free movie tickets we have had for a while now, using the gift cards we have had for a while now, going to McDonald's for ice cream and taking a nice neighborhood walk, going to the local beach to walk on the pier, among other ideas.  These all will cost us less then 10 dollars. There is one idea that will cost more but I'm not sure how much. I want to plan an over night at a hotel for our 18th anniversary. Mike said he liked that idea too. big yeah!!!

Well, here are my envelopes. I pray that every wife (or husband) out there takes this idea and runs with it. What a wonderful way to tell your spouse that you love them? Isn't your marriage worth the investment of time? Remember, it's not the date that is important, not even what you plan to do. It's important to spend quality time with your spouse. Let hem know that they are the most important person in the world to you.

Blog in Pictures, Day 2 - Cooking Adventures -

Ok, so I do not profess to be a wonderful cook. Although I would honestly love to be able to say that and I greatly admire those who are, I am smart enough not to say that I am. That being said I do enjoy cooking. I enjoy the feel and textures associated with cooking. I love the fact that cooking can be an art form. It really can get your creative juices going!

Since I do love to cook and I have had some extra time lately, I have whipped up a few things that are not our ordinary fare. I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures.

I have always wanted to learn to make crepes. I can't get over how simple they are to make! You can fill them with practically anything you wish too! I filled mine with apples and oranges. I then drizzled some homemade black-raspberry syrup over them. They were heavenly!

We are trying to eat a bit healthier, and I refuse to go the tofu route, no matter what Matt says. lol
I came up with this on the spur of the moment. It was delish!!! It is only pasta mixed in with sauteed chicken, broccoli and carrots with Italian dressing drizzled on it.

This has to be my favorite of all time. I really should have made this years ago! I took regular lasagna noodles, alfredo sauce, a creamy white parmesan cheese and imitation crab meat and layered it jsut like lasagna. I can't get over how yummy it was.

My sons love corn dogs but they can be a bit pricey. I found an easy recipe online and tried them out. They were not only easy to make but really great tasting too! I loved the crunch the dogs had on the outside but the nice moist breading on the inside. I will definitely make these again!

I made cupcakes a little bit ago because I wanted to try to make filled cupcakes, like the mix shown below. I'm pretty cheap and hate to pay for something I can do myself. So, I took the time to try to make these. I succeeded! I have no picture of the finished product to show you but I did have a little bit of batter left over. I made the tiny cake shown above. I thought it looked pretty.

Ok, there are supposed to brownie cookies. They look so yummy! However, they are not as good as a friend of mine. Alfreda makes the best cookies!!! I will try these again because I am determined to master this recipe. I think I baked these cookies a bit too long because they are harder and not chewy. :o( That is ok because we will still eat them. Chocolate is chocolate right? lol

Friends of our s are heading toe Disneyland in a couple of days. I saw these Minnie Mouse cupcakes on pinterest.com and thought they were a great idea for the Gerwitz family. I think they liked them. I know I had one last night and they were yummy!!! It's just a regular frosted cupcake. I put the mini Oreos for Minnie's ears, a regular Oreo for her face and cut a stick of gum to look like a bow. It was so easy!

So that is it for now. More cooking adventures to come I'm sure. I hope you have enjoyed sharing in my cooking joy.

why I go on, not just a title

Hi. My heart is breaking right now. I just read this blog about a little boy who had EB, short for Epidermolysis Bullosa. "EB is a group of blistering skin conditions. The skin is so fragile in people with EB that even minor rubbing may cause blistering." Seeing how these kids live their lives and how parents cope with this is a bit overwhelming to me. 

I know there are a lot of disorders, syndromes, diseases, and abnormalities that affect the human body and for me it is a way of life. I have fibromyalgia and depression, my oldest son has Asperger's, dyslexia and dysgraphia. My younger son has Moebius and anxieties. My husband has SADs and Asperger's, both undiagnosed. So you see my whole household is full of abnormalities. But we are so mild compared to a lot of families. For that I am truly blessed. 


So why does God allow these disorders, syndromes, diseases, and abnormalities? Why does He allow humans, His own creation, to suffer so? It has an easy answer but most people do not want to see the truth. They would rather believe that God is vengeful, or that there is no God because a god, any god, wouldn't allow these things to happen.


But there is a God and He does allow it to happen, no matter how cruel we think that is. The truth hurts.


You see, over the years I have spent a long time thinking about this and asking God, pastors, other believers why God allows things like this to happen. I have listened to many people complain that God is mean and cruel because of this. I have prayed about that a lot too. I just prayed a second ago that God would give me the right words to express what I feel may indeed be the truth. 

(I am by no means telling you exactly what God is thinking or why God does things. I am simply stating what I think has happened. That is all, jut an opinion. I could very well be wrong though. It happens, ask my husband. lol)


Ok, back to the topic on hand. God made this Earth form His own imagination. He made people, humans like you and me, in His image. If He made us in His image then why are we "defective" with all these physical problems? Easy, SIN. Sin has done this to our bodies. 


Yeah, right... You are probably thinking I am being stupid. How could a little sin do this??? Easy, a little sin from you and a little sin from me and a little sin from the guy down the street all adds up. Any sin, even the tiniest particle of sin causes a wedge between us and God. That wedge allows more sin. Sin caused death. It still does. When Adam and Eve were created they were intended to live forever, with God. Sin happened and deserved a punishment. Death. Our bodies, which were once made to withstand the ailments of all time, were now in separation from God. This allows the bodies to decay and to become infected with ailments. Satan uses this to make us think that God wouldn't allow this or He would be cruel. Not true. 


Trust me. I have suffered a long time with my issues. God still loves me and shows it to me each and everyday.



Think about it for a second. Light is awesome. It is without any darkness. It is bright and it shows us everything. Adam and Eve had pure light when they were in the Garden of Eden. Then they sinned. Darkness came into play. The light was no longer as bright as it was before the fruit was eaten and they lied about it to God. (People forget about that part... they lied about their sin...)
This darkness from their sin caused a wedge between them and God. What happens when one has a operation from light? it becomes darker and darker, right? The further from light you get the darker it gets. When Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden their sin multiplied because they did not have the pure light all the time, although they did have access to it bow they had to make effort to be with it, unlike before.

God is pure, holy and righteous. Correct? Yes. Anything that is not pure, holy or righteous cannot be int eh presence of something that is pure holy and righteous or the latter will no longer be pure holy and righteous. In order for God to stay pure holy and righteous there has to be some type of distance between Him and the unpure, unholy and unrighteous thing. 

BUT WAIT! There is good news!!!! A bridge was sent down. :o) (See, didn't your momma tell you every cloud has a silver lining?) Jesus came down from Heaven. The Son of God, God Himself, came down to Earth to create a way for His Creation to be in union with Him again. Jesus is the True, Holy Light that gets us through this awful darkness we call Earth. With Him, and His true salvation, we can be living the good life! A life that is happy, joyous, prosperous, and worth living, despite the pain and suffering we have here on Earth.

I do not know about you but, despite all my aches and pains, despite the frustrations of daily life, despite stupid people and stupid situations, I am thrilled to be living. I love life and I love my life. I hope and pray that after reading this you are too.