Simple Things

Hey all!
Sometimes it is the simple things that speak the most to my heart these days. I know...I am simple and why should I be surprised that simple things speak to me? I guess I'm not really that surprised, but thankful!
I went for a walk around my yard with my daughter this week. We were looking at all the dead branches on the trees about to burst out in life. We saw the little yellow bells that were just starting to awaken from a long dark slumber. We saw the birds that were building new nests from the leftovers of a nest past. We saw the tiny little bits of green starting to emerge from the dead ground all over the yard.

In that moment a simple truth was brought to my mind: God is always doing a new thing and He brings life from death! Isaiah reminded us of this:

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the desert and streams in the desert." -Isaiah 43:19

I have to be honest, it is so much easier to look at my circumstances and see the death...or the bad...in every day. It is hard to have the hope that He is bringing a new thing and life to my circumstances. I like to think that I am not unlike many of you in this struggle. At times, everyday can be a struggle. The hope comes in our believing that the new and life will come. Think about it, spring always comes. The flowers make their way to the surface of the dead ground and break forth. The trees continue to grow. It is His plan!
So here is my challenge for myself and you: Grab your boots, take a walk, marvel at God's world and be reminded that He never changes and that means that He is working on something new in your life if you are trusting Him and He will bring life!
Another simple truth came when I was having a not-so-great-day, and, just to be honest, wasn't feeling very thankful about much of anything. Heck, I was just straight up angry about circumstances in my life. I even had a "discussion" with God, where frankly, I wasn't really listening at all, just telling God why my situation wasn't very desirable. The details aren't that important, I'll just say that it was not a God-glorifying day.
At the end of the day, I was sitting in the rocking chair listening to my husband read a Bible story to our daughter when he began to sing. My daughter joined him as she swayed her head back and forth. My husband was singing, "Jesus Loves Me". My heart slammed inside me. Here I was, complaining about my situation and wondering if God was even listening to me, and was reminded by a simple children's song that God does love me. He hasn't forgotten about me instead, He loves me! Wow! It doesn't take much!
The last simple thing happened this morning as I was singing praise songs with my little family. The song below was playing when God reminded me that He is in control...of everything! Not just some things in my life or the world, but EVERYTHING! This was so comforting to my heart. May it be comforting to you as well. Enjoy listening and perhaps singing along!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG-zoopwV_I
Until next time....

Hiking In Hawaii

Hey!

I was looking at some pictures from my honeymoon the other day. I was reminded of a really rewarding hike that we took near Waikiki Beach to Manoa Falls. This hike was one of our favorite on that trip.

Before I let you in on all the wonderful parts of this hike, let me share all the details: We were staying at a nice resort that allowed us a late checkout of 1:00pm. We would be boarding our ship for our cruise later that afternoon.

So, we woke up early and headed to the bakery and grabbed some yummy cheese danishes. We had our backpacks full of water, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray, extra socks and raincoats. We hopped onto the public bus with a song in our hearts. We headed to the end of the line where we then hiked about a mile through private neighborhoods before finding the trailhead. The trailhead was a bit sketchy, but we were sure this was the place and continued forward. At first, we were rewarded with a beautiful scene out of…well…the television show, “Lost”.

It was so beautiful and we were thrilled to see what lay ahead. We had talked with several locals and they recommended that this was one of the best waterfall hikes on this island and it only took about 30 minutes to hike. We really only had a few hours, because we needed to get our luggage out of the resort by 1:00pm, so we thought we would be able to hike a short 30 minutes easily.

We knew that rain was always present in Hawaii, but we hadn’t counted on a downpour during our hike. It only rained for about 10 minutes, but that was long enough. We pulled on our raincoats and hid under a really old Banyan tree. What we were left with was mud, mud, and more mud. I had mud in my hair, mud in my shoes, mud in places that frankly, mud should not be. There were places that the trial was nothing but mud and we were slipping and sliding up the side of hills to get to the waterfall. At one point we were ready to turn around and go back. It just didn’t seem like it would be worth it. We couldn’t see the waterfall in advance because of all the lush foliage. We had stopped for a water break and looked at our watches wondering if we would now make it back to the resort in time to take showers or not. There were just so many reasons to turn around and give up.

 

We didn’t give up. We plunged forward through the mud and finally made it to the top. We were rewarded with one of the most beautiful waterfalls on the islands. We enjoyed marveling at the great beauty that God hid away on this mountain in Hawaii. We were struck by the awesomeness of God in those brief moments next to the waterfall. What joy we would have missed if we had turned back.

 

All too soon, we had to leave and head down the slippery, muddy hillside to catch the bus to our resort. Yes, we did make it in time, but barely. I have never showered so fast in my life.

The point is that sometimes God allows discomfort in order to get us to the place of great joy. It wasn’t fun walking through all that mud, but the reward at the end was so beautiful!

I am asked often if I know why God has allowed this illness in my life. I can give an answer, but is an answer necessary? God allows rain on the just and the unjust…the saved and the unsaved. The questions should really be, why not me! Why should I not go through the rain or mud? The reward of going through the rain and mud will be so worth it! I have no doubt of that! God brings beauty from the ashes, joy for mourning, praise instead of a failing spirit…and in my case, health for sickness! I don’t know what the days hold, but I chose to hold onto the promise that I am in His faithful care!

Be encouraged…He loves you very much!

Until next time…

Ozone and That Crazy Little Thing Called Lyme

Hey Guys,

I just wanted to send a shout out and ask you guys to be praying for me and my little family over the next six weeks. Next week I will begin a treatment for the Lyme called Ozone. It may sound a bit crazy, but in essence they simple draw my blood out and treat it with ozone (which is similar to oxygen) and then pump my blood back in.

You may wonder why this is even important and that is a good question. The main reason that we have, after much prayer, decided to proceed with this treatment is that in most cases it can kill up to 80% of bacteria in your body. We feel this treatment will drastically help the antibiotics and other treatments in killing the Lyme.

The main caveats to this treatment are that it is time consuming, costly and may leave me feeling much worse than before. Again, you may ask, why? As the Lyme bacteria dies, it releases toxins into my body that may make me feel worse. I like to think of this as good pain…it means that I am healing.

We will be in Atlanta two days a week and will be staying with family there. We are so thankful that Jason’s bosses have been kind enough to allow Jason to take sick leave on those days, so we will not lose his income during those six weeks.

We ask you to pray that miraculously this treatment and healing will be painless. Also pray that all other sickness will stay away from our family (as we found out last week, my body simply can’t even handle a little sniffle). As always, please pray for healing of my body and our finances.

This was a bit short, but I just wanted to give you a quick update. If you would like to read more about Lyme check out this website: http://www.columbia-lyme.org/research/lymetbd_center.html

If you are interested in knowing more about Ozone treatment, check out this (keep in mind that I will be undergoing Whole Body Therapy, not the other versions described in this article): http://www.lymediseaseneogen.com/2013/07/01/ozone-therapy-lyme-disease/

Much love and many hugs,

Joy and family

It's Official

Hello and Happy New Year!

I hope this update finds you well and blessed! My little family is blessed and feeling excited about the future. I have several blessings to share with you and as well as a few prayer requests.

It is official, I have chronic Lyme disease. That would go under the blessing category. It is a blessing to finally have a name to all these crazy symptoms. It is also a blessing because now I know what to pray about and what to fight.

Before I go any further, I have a plea for you. Please be your medical advocate. There are many knowledgeable doctors out there, but they don’t live with you, so they can’t know everything that is going on with you. Only you do! Also, we would have never found out what was wrong with me through conventional testing and blood work. It pays to research and learn! This is so important!

Okay, back from my scattered rant…

We have found a good doctor, who is open to many treatment options. She is knowledgeable and spends much time talking with us. She spends time asking good questions and is willing to research if she needs to. This is a huge blessing! Thank you for your prayers while we were seeking a godly, knowledgeable doctor. Also, most (not all) testing has been covered by our insurance. And any prescriptions are also covered by our insurance. These are also huge blessings!

We have a plan and are no longer wondering through life. Having a plan of action against this crazy sickness is something that my heart has been longing for. Yes, our plan is to continue to pray for healing, that will never change, but we now have the ability to fight it with knowledge and understanding as well. This is a blessing!

Lyme is a very tricky disease and can easily hide out for a while before reeking havoc in your body. It is also not an easy disease to treat as the symptoms are all very different for each person. It can also mimic many other different kinds of diseases. If you are interested in more information about Lyme, check out this website: http://www.columbia-lyme.org/ If you think that you may have Lyme, please have testing done through this company (they are the best at Lyme testing): http://www.igenex.com/Website/ The hardest part of the recovery from Lyme is that it takes time. Just like any young person, I am ready to get on with the plans that we feel God has for us and I am impatient. Please pray that I am patient for my healing!

Recovery from Lyme is not only time consuming, but it is also costly. We have been so blessed and are thankful for the many ways that God has taken care of us. He is truly faithful and we are so blown away by His ways of providing for us. Please continue to pray that He blesses our finances, so that we are able to continue treatments.

I am quickly finding out that Lyme treatments are controversial in nature, because the disease itself is very controversial. There are those that would try to scare you into only conventional treatments. There are those that would try to scare you into only natural treatments. In a nutshell, there are many scare tactics out there. Please pray that while researching, fear would have no place in our hearts and decisions. Also, as we research, please pray that we would have clear direction and peace about any treatment options.

We are moving forward with three prescription antibiotics, as well as probiotics and a prescription antifungal. This may seem crazy to you, but there are specific reasons for each of these. I am also going to start taking several supplements to help with liver function, detoxifying and immune support. It may be kind of gross, but as the Lyme dies it releases toxins that the body is just not able to handle by itself, so I need a healthy liver and several ways to detoxify. My immune system is seriously compromised, so it is very important to support my immune system, as well as physically staying away from as much sickness as I can. Please pray for these treatments to act quickly, so there use is not prolonged. Also pray that I am protected from additional sickness.

I won’t sugar coat it, recovery from Lyme is a painful recovery. As I mentioned earlier, the Lyme releases toxins as it dies. This can cause increased and worsened symptoms before getting any better. My symptoms indicate that my illness has progressed to the point of late neurological damage. Sounds worse than it is, but it means that my illness is in the late stages of damage and I will most likely have a longer and more painful recovery than if we had treated it earlier. Please pray that God gives strength and endurance during recovery.

The Lyme has opened the door to many other problems that we will have to fight against quickly. I have an underactive thyroid, which we will be working on by way of a natural hormone. I am also dealing with symptoms of adrenal fatigue and a lack of iron. I am still on supplements that will help with these problems and am researching more natural ways to combat these problems. These may seem like a small thing compared to the Lyme, but they are very serious and something that we need to get under control quickly. So, my prayer here is for quick healing, knowledge and wisdom in choosing treatment options, and financial resources for the treatments and supplements (which are not covered by insurance).

Thank you for taking this journey with me through your prayers! We are confident that the Lord is working! We are also very confident that He has a plan for me and my family! Again, we are excited about the future and look forward to more joyful blessings as we journey together. I am learning much and would love to share more if you ever want to know more about my journey. Just ask J

Many hugs,

Joy

P.S. I just realized that many of you may wonder about our little girl and how my illness may affect her (and any future kiddos). Lyme can be passed to a child during pregnancy. So, we will be getting our girly tested at her next pediatrician appointment. She can be a carrier but never have any problems, but we want check to see what her risks are.

Thankful Update

Hey guys!

A new update on my health…oh goodie! Actually this update brings some good news and thankfulness!

Recently, I had let you know that we would need to be changing things about my treatments and such. After much pray and a whole lot of research we found a doctor in Atlanta that we felt would be able to help me with Lyme disease and/or any other autoimmune disease that I might be dealing with. Dr. B is not covered by our insurance, but all the labs (with the exception of Lyme labs) are covered by insurance. We are so thankful that some of the cost will be covered by insurance!

I was also able to get a new patient appointment fairly quickly. I had the appointment yesterday. Jason went with me and we were both impressed with Dr. B’s knowledge about Lyme as well as other conditions that concern us.

She spent over an hour with me talking about all my crazy symptoms and treatments to this point. She was very thorough in her assessment of me. After my appointment with the doctor I stepped into a room in the clinic for two thyroid tests. Then I was moved to another room where they took 22 vials of blood. The blood work was mostly general with the exception of several thyroid tests and a few that look at the bacteria in my blood. Dr. B sent me home with a prescription for an antibiotic treatment for two weeks. At the end of those two weeks, I will go (locally) for more blood work to be sent to IGeneX labs, which specialize in Lyme testing. The reason for the antibiotics before the test is that hopefully some of the aggressive Lyme bacteria would die. The blood work should then pick up the dead bacteria…gross, right? It just gives a better chance of the bacteria actually being in my blood when the test is done.

I have a follow up appointment at the beginning of January to discuss all the test results as well as a treatment plan. We briefly talked about possible treatment options yesterday. Without knowing what we might be dealing with Dr. B didn’t go into too much detail, but we were excited about the possibilities that she offered. One of the possible treatments is one that Jason and I both researched and are very impressed with. However, most treatments will not be covered by insurance.

In the meantime, my little family and I have been trying to enjoy the good days. We recently went to a nearby town and checked out two covered bridges and simply enjoyed the fall colors. We also put together a fun thankful wreath. All three of us thought about things that we were thankful for. Baby Girl's were simple: food, clothes, mommy, daddy and her doll, Sally. Jason and I thought of many things that we are thankful for: a lovely home, family, friends, and healing. We just want to let you know that we are so thankful for your prayers. Without them, we don’t know where we would be. Thank you!

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” –James 5: 15-16

We continue to pray for financial renewal. We are also praying about God’s provision for a water filter in our home. We also continue to pray for wisdom as we consider what treatments to pursue in January. And of course, we pray for healing!

We love you and are so thankful for you!

Joy People and family

Health Update

Hey friends and family,

I thought it was about time to send an update your way. There are so many things that I wish I could tell you over a nice hot cup of tea. Maybe God will put us together soon to enjoy that cup of tea. In the meantime, here is what has been happening in our little spot in the world.

A while back my husband and I were sitting in a church service when the pastor presented a special prayer need for a little girl named Zoe. Zoe was a very sick little girl. Her mom and dad were desperate and only knew that they needed a plan of action. The action plan was simply to pray and get as many people to pray as they could. I wish that I could say that I know that Zoe has been healed. In truth, we don’t know what is going on with Zoe, but I know that every day since the request from the pastor that my little family has prayed.

That is what I want to ask of you. I want to ask you to pray for me and my family. Please read on to see what specifically you can pray for. Also know that on this crazy journey, I think of you and pray for you often. I would love to know specifics for you as well.

If you have been getting my updates you will know that my health has improved in some areas. My platelet levels have continued to stay above the normal levels (around 214). However, I am far from well. It is hard to even admit, but there it is in black and white. I am still very sick. The unknown of what is causing all the pain in my joints, headaches and serious fatigue (among other things) is overwhelming. This is a very overwhelming time.

My husband and I are at somewhat of a crossroads in my medical care. We have greatly appreciated Dr. T’s (the holistic doctor) care for me. We know that I would be in far worse shape right now without his help. The fact is, our finances are drained and Dr. T doesn’t take insurance. So we have been praying about what else we should do.

Recently, my mom called and asked if I had checked into Lyme disease. Well, no, I hadn’t, but I did. On a master list of four pages of symptoms for Lyme, I had around 65 to 70% of the symptoms. Just so you know, I am not in favor of self diagnoses, but the symptom percentage was overwhelming. So I had an ELISA test done to see if I had Lyme disease. It came back negative. After much prayer and much research I feel that I could still have Lyme disease. So, we are on another crazy journey to find a doctor that is Lyme literate (an LLMD) that also takes insurance.

I will spare you all the details, but in a nutshell LLMD’s are very hard to come by (I have only found possibly two in Georgia) and to find one that takes insurance would almost be a miracle. (Give me a call if you want to know the long version.) So, we are praying for a miracle. I should also note here that healing completely from chronic Lyme is a long and often painful journey. So, we are praying for very quick healing.

If you have stuck with me long enough to read to this point, I am so thankful. I want to share with you one final thing. Getting out of bed is a daily struggle, but I am joyful in the big and little moments. I have learned again what it sounds like to hear the leaves crunch beneath my feet. I see sunshine in the face of my little girl. I have learned again the giddiness of love when my husband holds my hand. I have learned and will continue to learn the hope that only comes from God.

I only ask that you pray. Pray for healing. Pray for direction. Pray for a financial miracle. Pray for my little family as we daily walk through this craziness. Pray for peace in whatever our futures hold.

I'm Back

Hello friends!

It has been a long time. I feel like I have been way too neglectful. But instead of spending several paragraphs apologizing and feeling bad, I will simply say that I am very sorry.
Okay, now that that is out of the way, on to all the fun things that God has been doing. The past few years have been a roller coaster ride of ups, downs, and in-betweens. The thing that has been constant is God and His goodness. I think of song, “Not for a Moment” by Meredith Andrews, and the words, “you are constant. Not for a moment, will you forsake me.” That has been so true these past few years. God and His goodness have been constant and no circumstance, good or bad, has changed that.

Last year, I married my best friend and we have started a home in a place that is totally new to me. We both made it through the wedding and all the craziness that goes along with planning a wedding in only three short months. However short it may have been, we both decided that three months was more than plenty of time to plan our simple wedding and include the special people that we wanted to celebrate with. It was a beautiful time with friends and family. We wouldn’t have traded that time to celebrate all that God has and is doing.

We have been putting things together in our home and have met with challenges and blessings. When we decided to take the wallpaper down in our foyer, we found that there were three layers of wallpaper and the wallpaper was pulling the sheetrock apart. Oh dear! What should have been an easy paint job turned into a three week project that we have just finished. The results are beautiful, but getting there was a challenge. We have been blessed to have a beautiful home and many beautiful things to fill it with. Our family and friends have truly blessed us in many tangible ways. We can’t thank the Lord enough for all the fun ways that He is blessing us.

I was able to get a great job in our new location. And I actually like my job. I get up every morning, help with breakfast, send my husband off to work and then hop in my car for my journey to work. I am finished with work after lunch and get to head home to be a wife. What more could you ask for?

Well, we didn’t have to ask the Lord for more, but He gave it to us. We are expecting our first child. WOW! I am going to be a mom. God has blown my mind! I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled we are that God is entrusting a little one to our care.

After all the wonderful things that God has done for us, we are still asking God for more. We want more opportunities to see His hand at work. We want to see more of His plans for our everyday lives. We want to have more of His love, mercy, grace and forgiveness. We want more of Him.

Okay, that is all for now. I will attempt to continue to catch you up on the Wonderful World of Joy and all that includes. Until next time…