I’m pretty sure this is the first What I Wore Wednesday.  If you’re not familiar, folks take pictures of their outfits through the week and post them on Wednesdays.  I’m usually not inspiring, too forgetful or self-conscious to participate but I recently got these royal blue suede shoes (Elvis!) at the behest of the Mother of Fashion herself.  I mentioned them briefly in this post. 

But royal blue is a great Spring 2012 color and she insisted the blue shoes were “basically a neutral”.  Ha!  Well, as it turns out she was right and I’ve been able to wear them with many different outfits.  In fact, I’m having to convince myself not to wear them every single day since they’re so comfortable.  I thought I’d share a few outfits I’ve worn in the past week as well as a few bonus ones just in case you want a few tips.  Here are eight ways to wear royal blue shoes:

Apologies for the busy background and cell phone snapshots.  Another good reason I don’t do WIWW often.  In any case:

1. Yellow striped shirt, black blazer and royal/navy blue necklace.  This is my favorite out of all of them.
2. Kelly green long sleeve tee and a navy and white scarf.  I could live in long-sleeved tees but this is a fun way to make them interesting!
3. Orange tank, royal blue cardigan and royal/navy blue necklace.  Cardigans don’t have to be matronly!
4. Royal blue stripes and orange tank.  And in other words, what I’m wearing today.
5. Navy striped shirt.  Mother of Fashion tells me navy and royal blue are popular together this year. I think I wish I had a little yellow jacket for this outfit. 
6. Orange tank and grey crop sweater.  This is my ultimate work from home cozy outfit.
7. Black and royal blue dress.  Wears like a shirt and skirt.  I usually wear black shoes with this but the blue is fun!
8. Yellow striped shirt.  Again, you could do a third color in a jacket or scarf here or even a cute belt if you can pull it off.

You’ll notice in only a few of them am I actually wearing royal blue in the outfit and when I am, it’s with another color.  I actually prefer the shoes not to match exactly.  In fact, I think Mother of Fashion would probably suggest that’s the only way to wear them. 

I hope this inspired you a little.  If so, don’t forget to pin it! If not, let’s just forget this post exist, k? Hope you’re having a great Wednesday either way!

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Breakfast: Emma ate bacon, two gluten free (GF) waffles, and chocolate almond milk.  On a day off school like yesterday, I normally make her pancakes, bacon and make chocolate milk.  It was super easy (albeit more expensive) to substitute with a waffle. I also bought GF pancake mix I could have used but it’s easier to pop a waffle in a toaster. 

Morning snack: Apple.  No different than any other day.  So thankful for a teacher at school that really pushes healthy snacks. 

Lunch:  I fixed her a PB&J on GF bread and she ate strawberries, grapes and carrots.  Again, just the bread substitution.

Afternoon snack: She had a GF cookie at one point and then I fixed deviled eggs with non dairy mayonnaise.  I don’t normally have cookies in the house so the cookie was an extra treat.  Normally, she would have probably eaten a piece of her Valentine’s Day candy but we all love the GF cookies from Earth Fare so she didn’t even miss it.  As for the deviled eggs, she couldn’t even tell I used a different mayonnaise. 

Dinner: I made spaghetti with rice noodles.  She ate them like a champ.  She did balk a little at not being able to use Parmesan Cheese but it wasn’t a deal breaker. 

Evening snack: I think she might have eaten one more GF cookie.

So yes, lots of substutions but nothing overwhelming or yucky or any drama.  Her tummy hurt a few times but that isn’t to say her body wasn’t reacting to the change to the new GF flours.  GF bread, waffles, noodles, cookies and almond milk certainly aren’t the cheapest things ever.  BUT.  It’s not hard.  Just different.  And I found a great deal site for gluten free products that I definitely plan on visiting regularly.

And, finally, drumroll….we can definitely tell a difference in her uh, movements, since just Sunday.  Yayyyy!!   Can you believe within 48 hours we’re seeing a change?

First off, I had no clue Georgia had mountains.  Although if I’d stop and thought about the fact I’ve been to Stone MOUNTAIN twice I would have put two and two together.  I struggle with the common sense sometimes.  So I guess I was kind of shocked when we got off I-85 in Georgia and started heading deep into the mountains.  By the time the GPS said we were just 15 minutes away and nearly dizzy from the hair pin curves, we found ourselves atop a mountain with the Appalachian Trail somewhere nearby.  We stopped at this little store perched on the top of the mountain. 

While it looks like it might just be a rest stop, it was packed with high quality hiking gear and local art to buy.  We loved the views.

Blairsville, GA turned out to be a tiny little town.  They did boast a Zaxby’s, Fatz Cafe, Bi-Lo, Ingles and WalMart but overall, this was a small mountain town still teeming with local businesses.  The hotel I had chosen was family owned.  In fact, the owners live on site.  The decorations were humble but it was super clean, the staff was more than nice and more importantly, cheap.

The funniest moment was Emma trying to work the TV and saying, “It won’t go to 2-9-9!”  Those with DirecTV and kids will appreciate that joke.

Since we didn’t stop once other than the little mountain store, we were all ready to get out and get some dinner as soon as we got there.  We decided on a local BBQ place.  I was hesitant but Scott said you know if you go to these local places, they do it right.

This particular restaurant had recently moved to a new location.  Don’t those roosters crack you up with Scott sitting there?  Well, dinner was no laughing matter.  It was DELICIOUS.  Honestly, some of the best BBQ and baked beans I’ve ever had.

After dinner, we made a quick loop around town.  Speaking of, on the trip we ran into all these small towns that had one huge building in the center of town with a round-about   Here is the picture from our hotel parking lot of the center of Blairsville.  Do you have these in your town?  I think there might be some here in South Carolina but ours isn’t like that.

We realized that this little town was still holding up many locally owned business.  Isn’t this little grocery store Foodland a hoot?  The last thing our town had like that was Piggly Wiggly and they closed probably 20 years ago.

We realized quickly that most of the town shut down about 6pm.  Scott couldn’t talk the girls into strolling the aisles of Home Depot for the evening so we settled in to our hotel room and watched American’s Funniest Home Videos on Netflix on the laptop.

Saturday morning I was happy to eat at the nearby restaurant Cook’s.  If the town’s BBQ was any indication, breakfast was going to be good.

And it was.  I tried to stay healthy and only ordered one egg and grits with orange juice.  Emma got toast and you could literally squeeze the butter out of it.  So bad but so good!  We were drooling over the biscuits and gravy at the next table.

After the doctor’s appointment which ended about lunchtime Saturday, we headed south 90 minutes to Alpharetta, GA, the home of one of the American Girl stores.  We nearly took the girls at the beginning of January.  I had the hotel booked and everything but decided against it last minute.  I’m so glad we were able to bundle all this together!

The girls had an amazing time.  Lexi was beside herself driving up to it.  She had her hands over her mouth and I said, "Lexi, where are we?” She just said, “I can’t even say it,” through her hands.  Cutest thing ever.

The store was an absolute mad house even given the size. This is only about a third of the store.

What I loved though is that every single outfit they had was on display on a girl.  No more looking at catalogs and the Internet!  We tried to get into the doll salon to have their hair fixed and the bistro but they were booked solid.  The girls ended up with two really cute outfits.

I had the girls pick out the outfits online before we went so we wouldn’t be there too long.  Emma is so indecisive.  Well, they were done in less than 20 minutes and that included a potty break.  We got done and had plans to explore the mall.  We spotted a carousel and a sign for the Cheesecake Factory but we were all so ready to go home we hit the road right away.  Well, with Starbucks in hand.  So yes, we drove 90 minutes for a 20 minute excursion.  Whatever.  The kids were satisfied and Scott and I in a mall are dangerous anyway.  One day we might get back to Atlanta to visit the Coke Museum and Aquarium.

When we got home at 8pm, we couldn’t believe that we had been home at lunch time just the day before.  It certainly was a whirlwind 30 hours.  As hoped though, very productive and full of great memories.

Let me be as dramatic as I possibly can and say this weekend was life-changing.  I do mean that in the most practical sense and it could be life-changing temporarily or perhaps, long-term.

The thing about life-changing events is it requires a story.  And unfortunately, this story is not one I’ve even begun to tell here. Which means this post is gonna be a long one.  If you or a loved one suffer from allergies or stomach “issues”, you’re going to want to stay tuned.   Well, I’d love for you to stay-tuned anyway because you know, life-changing and all that.  Click Read More below to continue….

Emma’s Story

The symptoms

First, before I share this story I have to say I wrote a very generic post before this one.  When I got to the end of it, I started to thank Jo-Lynne for sharing her health issues so publicly because it always has encouraged me, particularly as it relates to the coming days. And then I realized that by writing this, we could be someone else’s Jo-Lynne.  So I got Emma’s permission to share.  In fact, she said, “Tell them about my liver”.  As her mother, I think it’s beneficial and in no way harmful to share this so here we go.

Several years ago, probably back to potty-training, Emma started having bowel movement troubles.  The doctor chalked it up to being nervous over potty training which constipated her, which stretched her intestines which made her stop up even more.  The results were almost scary.  She eventually started having stomach aches on a regular basis.  I took her to the doctor and they did what doctors do and said to start tracking what she ate and then don’t give her that food again.  Well, we could never pin down exactly what the problem was as it seemed to be so many different foods and honestly we never went cold turkey with anything long enough to figure it out.

We managed for years with MiraLAX to help her go but her stomach aches got really intense.  At times, she would beg for dinner and then two bites in, she would be doubled over saying she couldn’t eat another bite of food her stomach hurt so bad.  Every single night her stomach was hurting before bed.  We tried to explain things away like perhaps it was a fear issue at night or she didn’t want to eat her dinner.  However, my sister grew up with many allergy issues and my mom especially pushed that it was allergies.

NAET

Six years ago my mom found this clinic which practiced N.A.E.T. I could devote a week’s worth of posts to NAET but it basically uses your muscle responses to determine whether you are allergic to something and further than that, uses a technique that CURES you of your allergy.  I realize many people call it worthless and crazy but my sister and mom saw amazing results from their treatments.  I’d recommend a few searches on YouTube and you can see how it works and also some success stories. I can say from my sister, she used to not be able to eat tomatoes and now she can.  My mom used to get sick when she drank milk.  Now she doesn’t.  Very real results. We started taking Emma about two years ago and over time, I’ve seen amazing results with Emma. 

Emma had a massive flair up of stomach aches back when school started.  Stomach aches at all times, acid reflux, etc. While a lot of it was her being nervous about school, it always seemed to be worse when she ate.  We went to the regular doctor again and they put her on Prevacid.  Well, that did not help much.

We started her back at NAET more and between settling in to school, her stomach aches have become almost non-existent up to the last few weeks.  She doesn’t complain of her stomach hurting at night, her acid reflux is gone and only rarely has she complained of her stomach hurting.  And rarely is like once a week.  Previously, she was hurting at every meal and bedtime.

Her bowel movements though haven’t changed at all.  We also know she is allergic to pollen and grass.  Anytime Emma rolls around in the yard, you are guaranteed she’ll be itching her nose in a few minutes. 

Results with Dr. Linial

Well, Scott has his own stuff going on which I’ll get to below.  He got a recommendation from his chiropractor to go see Dr. Andrew Linial in Northern Georgia.  Apparently the guy was genius.  I just found out today that he is in the Top 3 doctors in the country for what he does.  You can walk into his office and within minutes he knows what is going on with you.  I had been trying to get Scott to NAET for a long time but he was pretty skeptical.  However, this was the open door to get Scott and Emma both seen.

So this weekend we went.

The results were nothing short of draw-dropping.  Dr. Linial actually uses NAET but in a different way.  I’ve had a hard time describing it except to say he used the muscle testing not only to find allergens but also to find a root cause of what was going on.  Scott described him as a real-life Dr. House.

Forgive me if I don’t say all this right but it turns out Emma has not stomach issues, but a liver issue.  Her liver cannot break down proteins and is not producing enough bile to break down her stool.  We also found out she has a gluten and milk allergy.  Yes, NAET has been treating her but not for wheat and the milk seemed to keep coming back, or was so severe it required multiple treatments.  Dr. Linial suggested to us that if you don’t first stay off the allergen for 4-6 weeks beforehand, then the NAET treatment tends not to last long. 

As for the pollen issue, it turns out that pollen is basically a protein and once again, it goes back to her liver not able to process the proteins, which causes the itching, watery eyes, sneezing reaction.  I mean, who knew a itchy nose could be linked to your liver??

He gave her a digestive enzyme to help her liver and also asked that we remain milk and gluten free for 6 weeks until we can go back and have her treated for the allergies.  If we see good results, I believe at that time he will do the NAET treatment so she will be CURED of her milk and gluten allergies.

He also did some emotional testing which I know sounds weird but his results came back, “She takes life too serious.”  Well, if you know Emma, you know that is spot-on.  He believed it to be related to our move back to Fort Mill and Lexi’s birth when Emma was about 2, both of which she did not take well.  He treated her in the office for that.  I was being used as a surrogate for the testing and can I tell you when he got done, it made me cry?  Almost like I couldn’t control it but all the sudden out of nowhere I started crying.  It’s as if the bad energy came out of her from the treatment and went out of me, just as if she had put a hand in a socket and the electricity would come out of my body.  That sounds so WEIRD but it’s the only thing I can explain.  I was not feeling emotional AT ALL prior to the treatment.  He tested her again and it came back with no issues.

Scott’s Story

With permission, I’ll share what Scott found out.  The main things that Scott suffers from:

• Congested nose.  All the time.  He can never smell anything and has to use nose spray every night to sleep.  It’s gotten worse over time.
• Seasonal allergies.
• Acid reflux.
• Excessive gas and belching.  If you know Scott, I hope you’re laughing right now.  Everyone that knows Scott knows that he has gas.  And bad.  We weren’t even going to put this as a symptom as it seemed sort of silly but I noticed it on the list of medical things to check on the sign-in paperwork and added it last minute.  Turns out I’m glad.

So Scott found out several interesting things.

Again, through multiple muscle response tests, the doctor said his nose is a culprit of FUNGUS in his sinuses.  The doctor gave him a fungus treatment to take over a 5 week period.  The interesting thing here is that we know Scott has toe fungus.  The regular doctor prescribed him a very potent fungal treatment but it was so bad they told him he’d have to have his liver checked every few weeks.  Scott didn’t feel comfortable with that and for good reason.  Dr. Linial called it nearly lethal.  But the fact that we see evidence of fungus in his body makes complete sense that it’s in his sinus.  The doctor had no idea Scott had toe fungus and he had his shoes on the entire time.

Scott’s body also does not break down carbohydrates which causes the gas and reflux.  He gave him an enzyme and amylase to treat that.  Yes, folks, Scott Bennett might be passing less gas. He also has a wheat allergy.  Again, he has to abstain for 6 weeks.

We talked about Scott’s anxiety/OCD and he found Scott’s serotonin level to be low.  He gave him a spray to take for that.

What It Means For Us

Why this weekend was so huge is that now we have to be almost all gluten free and milk (Emma only) free for 6 weeks until we go back.  He actually tested me also and even though I don’t show any major symptoms, it showed I have a gluten allergy as well.  We didn’t get Lexi tested but I’d be shocked if she doesn’t have one as well.

So yeah.

Changing your diet like this is huge.  But isn’t it ironic that just two weeks ago, I moved myself to almost an exclusive whole foods diet?  I have seen over the times I’ve done the Daniel Fast and other times I’ve eaten healthy that my body, even though I’m devoid of major symptoms, simply feels better on a whole foods diet.  I’ve eaten very little bread or pasta the past two weeks and as I mentioned in a post last week, I’d already dropped a few pounds and I feel so much better. 

But more than that, if these treatments do work, it could be a very practical life-change for both Scott and Emma.  I can’t wait to see what changes we see over the next 6 weeks with both Scott and Emma with their treatments as well as their diet changes.

I know there is so much to unpack from this post.  If you want to ask questions, please feel free in the comments.  I’ve never heard of NAET outside of our family and I’m guessing not a lot of you have either.  If you want to call us crazy, that’s ok too.  I’ve seen the results over the years.  My family is already a success story.  I’m just excited to take this to the next level and see permanent healing for Scott and Emma.

The section I was reading from was “The Power of Prayer”.  I first underlined the phrase “Prayer changes things.”  And those three words resonated with me when I highlighted and again today as I reread the phrase.  Prayer changes things.  Is that not a humbling thought?   Does that not make you want to hit your knees in the prayer closet?  If I could just read those three words each morning I think it might do us all quite a bit of good.

Further down in the section, Ortberg quotes Walter Wink and herein we find our word of the day:

“The fawning etiquette of unctuous prayer is utterly foreign to the Bible.  Biblical prayer is impertinent, persistent, shameless, indecorous.  It is more like haggling in an oriental bazaar than the polite monologues of the churches.”

I got the general meaning but what is this unctuous prayer that is foreign to the Bible exactly?

Fatty and oily don’t seem to fit the meaning.  Plastic either.  And full of unction is probably it but what does unction mean exactly?

3b I think hits what Wink was after: “exaggerated, assumed, superficial.” In other words, prayer isn’t superficial.  It’s not the fancy, ornate, empty prayer from the stage.  Neither is it a handful of flippant phrases thrown at the ceiling from the bed in hopes of checking the task off for the day.  It’s real. And it changes things. 

So let us hit our knees today and let our prayers not be unctuous, but fervent and expectant.

Source: someecards.com via Amy on Pinterest

Feels like a list day today.

• Our adoption home study got turned in this week. Yay! Now we wait for a review and approvals.
• In full disclosure I feel like I should tell you the alarm clock thing lost it’s magic. The girls have spent the last two mornings sleeping until I get them up. Now, they are getting up and getting dressed but no more helping with lunch and breakfast without us asking. Phooey.
• And in full, full disclosure, I haven’t been doing the early morning thing that I was back at the end of the year. A big reason I was getting up early was to get done with my eBook and also because I was working at the office a lot more. Now that I’m home and can do things more on my lunch break and don’t have any extra projects going on, I’ve reverted back to late to bed, late to rise. Also some Big Bang Theory DVDs might have something to do with that. I really do miss it though. I wish I could at least get myself up and get fully ready so I could run a few errands after I drop the girls off.
• I have been eating healthy since this post. Not quite as strict as the Daniel Fast but it reminds me quite a bit of it. I feel so much better, stay full most of the day and have lost a few pounds to boot. It’s odd, when I eat and feel full I have a temptation to feel guilty but I remind myself I’m eating healthy vegetables and fruit and it makes it even easier to make a good choice the next time. HOWEVER. Girl Scout Cookies are getting delivered to me today so we’ll see if I don’t have to do another update on this update soon.
• In that vein, I’ve been swirling with plans to make a vegetable garden this year.  I can’t keep the small flower in my kitchen alive (or any other plant that has ever come into my house) but for some reason I think it’s a good idea to have an entire garden of plants that we’re required to eat.   We’ll see how that goes.
• We have big plans this weekend. We have to travel out of town for a doctor visit (nothing to worry over) and we’re taking the girls to the American Girl store while we’re nearby. It’s going to be a whirlwind visit but hopefully some good memories.

And finally, I’ve gotten a few messages lately from readers that have really been touching.  But all I really want to do is just fall at their feet and thank them profusely for even reading in the first place. For whatever reason, God keeps letting me write for you and I’m so thankful because I love coming here and sharing.  So I need to say THANK YOU for reading.

I’ve found it’s pretty limited to calling and texting people, weather, music, directions and searching.  Some of it is helpful but when it can’t understand what you’re saying, particularly when you’re requesting street addresses or names, it’s dreadfully useless.

However.

The one thing I constantly use Siri for is reminders.  I didn’t even know I had a Reminders app until a few months ago.  I was previously using my calendar to schedule things.  These days, if it’s not on my calendar, it’s NOT happening.  Funny enough, last week I saw Lexi had an upcoming dentist appointment.  I started warning her to get prepared 3 days in advance.  Finally, she said, “But they said they wouldn’t see me until May last time!”  Well, just in case, I made the phone call and sure enough the appointment in my calendar was still in there after we had already taken a canceled appointment a few weeks back and I had forgotten to remove the original appointment.  

The calendar is great and all but I schedule silly things like going to the pharmacy or calling a friend or leaving Amazon feedback I promised.  It’s not really an appointment but I need to do it at some point.  Reminders are great for this.  You still can schedule them, on repeat if needed, and it still reminds you at a certain time but it’s not clouding your calendar with the rest of the REAL appointments.

However, I find the reminder interface a little confusing.  It’s one of the few iPhone apps I say that about. 

Enter Siri.

I find it MUCH easier to say, “Remind me take out the trash every Tuesday at 7am.”  Bam!  It’s done, repeating reminder and all.

Here’s a transcript for my lunch today:

So it’s not grammatically correct but at least the words are correct.  It will show a pop-up notification on my screen at 12.  When I’m done, I can check it off in my Reminders app.  And if you know me, you know how much I love to do that!

Works for me!

This post is linked up to WeAreThatFamily.com

I put this list together for my eBook Entangled.  I return to it in my mind when I need a reminder of His love.  Perhaps you need a reminder this Valentine’s Day.  Here is the printable list of all of them.  And here are the Top 10:

1. He knows you intimately
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:30
The LORD knows the thoughts of man. Psalm 94:11
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5

2. He thinks you’re beautiful
For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 1 Timothy 4:4
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31

3. He delights in you
The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. Proverbs 12:22
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Psalm 147:11

4. He will fight for you
The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

5. He forgives you
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.Ephesians 1:7

6. He wants the best for you
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

7. He sees and appreciates you
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness. Zephaniah 3:17
How amazing are your thoughts concerning me. Psalm 139:17

8. He protects you
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me. Psalm 50:15
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Psalm 91:11

9. He wants to give you the desires of your heart
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145:19

10. He is jealous for you
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 2 Corinthians 11:2

Happy Valentine’s Day.  I sincerely love you guys!

This post is linked to ohAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday

MarriedLife Live

Friday night Scott and I attended the MarriedLife Live event at our church.  It was less conference and more a night out for married couples in the church.  We had a live band, dessert and coffee and we did hear from our family pastor.  He talked about seasons of marriage and how some bad seasons tear couples apart and others are drawn together.  To avoid the former, we should store up in the good times, just as Joseph did in Egypt, knowing a famine was coming.  I felt like this was especially appropriate for us as the last year or two has generally been a good season for our marriage but I know the adoption will test us.  Right now is the time to build up our marriage, not only when we’re trying to salvage it.

We also did an exercise where each of us had to fill out what we wanted each other to do and say at four times during the day: morning, saying goodbye for the day, saying hello and going to bed.  I have to say it was eye-opening.  We rarely do anything like that and really appreciated knowing what Scott expects and desires.

Be Red Hot

Saturday morning I attended the Be Red Hot Women’s conference at Dani’s church to support her as she led a break-out session.  I was completely blessed by the main speaker Branda Polk.  The conference was a diving board off the verse about not being lukewarm but either hot or cold.  We want to be red hot in our faith.

One thing she hit on that I hope she doesn’t mind that I share is the thought that the Bible says we ought to do all things unto God. But how do my menial tasks mean anything to Him?  Isn’t it only big people doing big things for God that He treasures?  She likened it to our children picking dandelions and giving it to us as a gift of love.  Practically, they are giving us a weed but because it is done unto us in love, it is a treasure.  Isn’t that an awesome thought?

Dani rocked her fashion session.  She started out speaking to the heart of the matter.  Does God even want us to spend time on how we look?  Yes!  He cares about all things and the way we present ourselves on the outside can say something about what He’s done on the inside.  It also says something about how we feel about the people around us.  I know Scott always notices when I dress up more for work than I do him.  That’s sending a message, true or not, that I care more for what they think than what he thinks.  However, if our vanity and pride are keeping us occupied and unable to give like He requires, it’s a problem!

(top right photo, credit to Sherry Smith)

She also went over the top trends for the year, how she builds her closet and took time to dress up a few folks with accessories she had bought.   I even got to help on stage for a hot second to share her Sneaky Jacket Trick.  She did a fabulous job and I think everyone was ready for a full day conference just with Dani.  I know if there is anything I know about styling, it is all from her instruction over the past 14 years we’ve been friends.  Those blue shoes I have on in that pic are results of an email from Dani…"buy these and this is what you wear with it” (that yellow shirt is my one of my Old Navy shirts)!

Testimony

Fast forward through Saturday family time, Sunday church, dinner and nap and we headed to my parents’ and sister’s church to hear my sister give her testimony.  One day I want to take the time and give you all the intricate details about what happened but the gist of it is this. 

Heather has had a sleeping disorder her whole life.  Without medication, she always wanted to sleep.  Like, she would go to bed at 7 on a Friday night, get up at 1 the next afternoon and then could take a nap at 4.  She finally was diagnosed at 20 and got some pills ($600 a month!) that would keep her awake all day.  However, my mom would have to call her every single morning over and over and OVER to get her to answer the phone long enough for her to take the pills so she would wake up an hour or two later.  It was exhausting and frustrating. 

During the past few years, she had also started playing World of Warcraft video game and found herself addicted.  Addicted to a video game?  Yep!  I remember having the girls’ family birthday here at the house the year before last and she came in with her laptop, hooked it up and was playing through the birthday party.  She was playing every chance she got. 

Well, her church did a 40 day fast last January and God called her to fast her video game.  She did and as she described it, went through physical withdrawals.  Towards the end of the 40 days, God was calling me to do the Daniel Fast (I mention Heather’s healing vaguely in the post).  I had two different dreams about her just days before I started and I knew that I was to fast and pray for Heather.  Heather had given me her laptop so she wouldn’t play it and I prayed over her laptop during the fast.  Yes, I laid hands on a laptop!  I can’t tell you the power I felt when I touched it.  My heart broke and my spirit was completely burdened. 

Three days before the end of her 40 days and Heather woke up on her own at 5:30am.  The next day she woke up again.  The next day was the end of the fast and God told Heather not to take her pills anymore.  That same day, as I closed my fast, God told me that Heather was free from her video game if she chose to be.  He wouldn’t force her, but if she wanted to walk away, she was free.  It’s been 352 days now and she hasn’t take a pill and she is free from her addiction to the game.  God be praised!  It’s been amazing to watch her flourish in the last year and I’m so thankful for God’s healing and Heather’s decision to obey.

So, wow!  Gold star if you read all that!  My heart is so full from the weekend. God is awesome and my church, family and friends are more than I could ask. 

So how about a quick word of the day?

Superfluous means

A sentence might be

I have a lot of superfluous stuff on my desk this afternoon.

or

I am now regretting the superfluous Skinny Vanilla Latte I had this afternoon which is sure to cause some superfluous fat cells.

or

This word of the day post is superfluous.

or

Superfluous is a superfluous word.

Get it?  Good.  Now you are at least as smart as a third grader.