Hi friends and family,
Several of you have been asking about a baby registry so if you're interested in contributing, we have one set up on Amazon.com that will ship straight to us!
If you want to buy something on your own and mail it to us, please mail it to the following address (as sometimes UPS delivers things while we're at work and in the past, packages have gone missing). It will arrive to me at work! :)
Amber Zoller
35 Clayton Rd
Arden, NC 28704
If you want to check out the registry, it can be found at the following URLs:
Baby Z's Amazon Registry
Baby Z's Target Registry
We also live really close to a Walmart and a Target, so gift cards are very useful.
Thanks so much!!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Update on Baby Z
We had our anatomy scan on Friday, July 20th. Here is an update:
The unofficial report on my spleen scan is that it is still 9cm (HALLELUJAH). I say unofficial because the ultrasound tech is not supposed to tell me the results she sees, but I told her it was 9cm last October and she told me it still looked to be 9cm. So that's good news (should know more in a few days when the radiologist does an official analysis).
Baby is doing just fine and the anatomy scan looked good - we're having a GIRL. However, during the scan, it was discovered that my placenta has grown covering my cervix causing me to have placenta previa. Due to that we'll have to be scheduled for a C-section at around 36 weeks or earlier, which in a way, is somewhat good news -- it eliminates us having to decide how to proceed in regards to the cyst on my spleen. Since C-section is finite now, they think it would be best to go ahead and remove my spleen at the same time. And since it's not as safe to remove my spleen without having first treated the parasite, I am going to be doing the albendazole treatment to kill the parasite starting in the next few weeks and probably lasting the duration of the pregnancy.
The high-risk OBG we met with in Greenville has quelled our fears about a lot of that -- he has done medicine in other parts of the world and has treated pregnant women with the drug and says there have been no ill effects on mom or baby. I have also been researching what I can online and haven't found anything that indicates baby will be negatively affected by the treatment (everything I've found indicates that as long as it's done in the second trimester, everything seems to end up fine with mom and baby).
So we have a definite game plan, so that's good. The placenta previa is going to be cause for concern though - if I were to do anything to aggravate that condition, it could be detrimental to me and baby.
For our praying friends and family who want to know how to specifically pray:
If all goes well, it sounds like Miss Baby Z will be arriving sometime in November. :)
Thankful for all of you and your prayers and support.
-Amber
The unofficial report on my spleen scan is that it is still 9cm (HALLELUJAH). I say unofficial because the ultrasound tech is not supposed to tell me the results she sees, but I told her it was 9cm last October and she told me it still looked to be 9cm. So that's good news (should know more in a few days when the radiologist does an official analysis).
Baby is doing just fine and the anatomy scan looked good - we're having a GIRL. However, during the scan, it was discovered that my placenta has grown covering my cervix causing me to have placenta previa. Due to that we'll have to be scheduled for a C-section at around 36 weeks or earlier, which in a way, is somewhat good news -- it eliminates us having to decide how to proceed in regards to the cyst on my spleen. Since C-section is finite now, they think it would be best to go ahead and remove my spleen at the same time. And since it's not as safe to remove my spleen without having first treated the parasite, I am going to be doing the albendazole treatment to kill the parasite starting in the next few weeks and probably lasting the duration of the pregnancy.
The high-risk OBG we met with in Greenville has quelled our fears about a lot of that -- he has done medicine in other parts of the world and has treated pregnant women with the drug and says there have been no ill effects on mom or baby. I have also been researching what I can online and haven't found anything that indicates baby will be negatively affected by the treatment (everything I've found indicates that as long as it's done in the second trimester, everything seems to end up fine with mom and baby).
So we have a definite game plan, so that's good. The placenta previa is going to be cause for concern though - if I were to do anything to aggravate that condition, it could be detrimental to me and baby.
For our praying friends and family who want to know how to specifically pray:
- Pray that the Albendazole treatment will be effective in killing the parasite and won't cause any complications to baby or to me.
- Pray that there will not be any complications with the placenta previa which could cause me to be on bed rest for weeks to months. It could also cause us to have to deliver baby earlier than 36 weeks which will cause complications in her. Pray that we are able to make it successfully to 36 weeks and that Baby Z will have her lungs developed by the time she has to be delivered.
- Pray that there will be no complications with the removal of my spleen during the C-section.
If all goes well, it sounds like Miss Baby Z will be arriving sometime in November. :)
Thankful for all of you and your prayers and support.
-Amber
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Our Little Miracle
I hope you've had a chance to read the previous post about what has been going on from Amber's mystery illness to receiving the positive pregnancy test result! If not, go back and check it out as that information will likely come back into play as we get closer to baby time. :)
Click here to read the previous entry
On April 6th, just on a whim, I took a pregnancy test for the second time in a week. I was not going to start the medication for the parasite until I was completely sure that we were not pregnant, not that I was expecting it since we tried unsuccessfully for about two and a half years...but I just had an inkling that God was up to something. After I gave the metabolic blood sample on April 3rd, I came home and took a pregnancy test and it came back negative. I didn't really have any symptoms of pregnancy (I had with the previous two) but just had an inkling in the back of my mind, something like wouldn't it be funny if NOW is the time. Three days later I decided to test again since I'd had minor cramps all week but no monthly visitor and low and behold - POSITIVE. It was the Friday before Easter and Paul was getting off work early due to Good Friday. I remember he called and said he had an errand to run before coming home, but I asked that he forgo the errand and come home first. "Everything okay?", he asked. "Yeah, I just need you to come home first," I told him. I didn't want him to suspect anything while he was driving home and I wanted to tell him in person. When he walked in, he asked, "What's going on?" and I said, "Would you care to take a guess?" He didn't suspect a thing so I just handed him the test with the two pink lines. I think he was about as shocked as I was.
Considering our plans to treat me had changed in a matter of minutes to plans to take care of developing baby, we were a bit overwhelmed with emotions and questions and "What will all of this mean?" in regards to my health types of questions. Paul's parents came over for dinner and we had a time of prayer and even though we had a slew of questions about what all of this could mean if we had a successful pregnancy, we still felt a sense of peace. I've never been so certain of God's hand being over me than I was in those first few hours - of course, there's still a sense of worry, especially for me since I like to be in control (which is hilarious...how in control are we of things anyway, but I digress).
We decided since it was late in the day, we'd call the OBG first thing Monday and give her the scoop. In the meantime, I remembered the prescription she'd given me at our first visit just over a year before - she told me that since we had lost two pregnancies (and didn't know why) that as soon as I got a positive next time to immediately begin taking progesterone and a baby aspirin (just in case the previous problems were related to my body having a blot clot disorder or not producing enough hormones on my own to sustain the pregnancy). I took the prescription in to get filled and started that immediately until we could see her on Monday.
Monday morning I called the office and told them I needed to speak with the doctor as soon as possible. They did their usual "Oh, you're pregnant, well let's set you up for the interview and coupons and congratulations and we'll see you in a few weeks", but I was adamant that I needed to be seen that very day. They scheduled me and Paul and I sat down with her and gave her the background of my previous six months, the diagnosis of the parasite, the symptoms of sickness that we were unable to identify, etc. We all agreed that step one was to see if this pregnancy would make it since we had no answers as to why the other two did not. She took some blood from me to see if my hcg levels were rising, asked me to come back a couple of days later and told me to stay on the baby aspirin and progesterone in the meantime. Our first ultrasound was scheduled for a couple of weeks later (at around 6 weeks) since that's when you can first identify baby via ultrasound.
A few days later I was told that the blood work looked good. However, we were taken aback a bit when I experienced some bleeding the weekend before our first ultrasound. It wasn't too heavy and I hadn't lost the pregnancy symptoms I'd developed, so that was encouraging, but any bleeding during pregnancy is cause for worry. I didn't know what to expect when we went in for our first ultrasound - was the bleeding a sign of impending miscarriage? Was it something else?
Our first pregnancy loss we found out the baby had stopped developing at 6 weeks and had no heartbeat; our second pregnancy loss we saw a gestational sac that measure at about 7 1/2 weeks but there was no baby in it, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect this time. But she got me ready, wheeled in the ultrasound machine, and within seconds we were looking at the tiny little bean and a fluttering dot of the heart beating away! I knew I would cry either way, but just the sheer JOY of seeing a heartbeat on that screen was so overwhelming! While looking around at the baby and my uterus, the doctor identified a blood clot in my uterus (which was determined to be the cause of the bleeding). She told us that about 20% of women experience bleeding during pregnancy and of those, 50% will keep and 50% will lose. She said only time would tell if the blood clot would affect the baby or not. We were asked to come back one week later to make sure it looked like baby was growing and that we still had a heartbeat and to check on the clot. One week later, we got to take home our first baby picture:
Click here to read the previous entry
On April 6th, just on a whim, I took a pregnancy test for the second time in a week. I was not going to start the medication for the parasite until I was completely sure that we were not pregnant, not that I was expecting it since we tried unsuccessfully for about two and a half years...but I just had an inkling that God was up to something. After I gave the metabolic blood sample on April 3rd, I came home and took a pregnancy test and it came back negative. I didn't really have any symptoms of pregnancy (I had with the previous two) but just had an inkling in the back of my mind, something like wouldn't it be funny if NOW is the time. Three days later I decided to test again since I'd had minor cramps all week but no monthly visitor and low and behold - POSITIVE. It was the Friday before Easter and Paul was getting off work early due to Good Friday. I remember he called and said he had an errand to run before coming home, but I asked that he forgo the errand and come home first. "Everything okay?", he asked. "Yeah, I just need you to come home first," I told him. I didn't want him to suspect anything while he was driving home and I wanted to tell him in person. When he walked in, he asked, "What's going on?" and I said, "Would you care to take a guess?" He didn't suspect a thing so I just handed him the test with the two pink lines. I think he was about as shocked as I was.
Considering our plans to treat me had changed in a matter of minutes to plans to take care of developing baby, we were a bit overwhelmed with emotions and questions and "What will all of this mean?" in regards to my health types of questions. Paul's parents came over for dinner and we had a time of prayer and even though we had a slew of questions about what all of this could mean if we had a successful pregnancy, we still felt a sense of peace. I've never been so certain of God's hand being over me than I was in those first few hours - of course, there's still a sense of worry, especially for me since I like to be in control (which is hilarious...how in control are we of things anyway, but I digress).
We decided since it was late in the day, we'd call the OBG first thing Monday and give her the scoop. In the meantime, I remembered the prescription she'd given me at our first visit just over a year before - she told me that since we had lost two pregnancies (and didn't know why) that as soon as I got a positive next time to immediately begin taking progesterone and a baby aspirin (just in case the previous problems were related to my body having a blot clot disorder or not producing enough hormones on my own to sustain the pregnancy). I took the prescription in to get filled and started that immediately until we could see her on Monday.
Monday morning I called the office and told them I needed to speak with the doctor as soon as possible. They did their usual "Oh, you're pregnant, well let's set you up for the interview and coupons and congratulations and we'll see you in a few weeks", but I was adamant that I needed to be seen that very day. They scheduled me and Paul and I sat down with her and gave her the background of my previous six months, the diagnosis of the parasite, the symptoms of sickness that we were unable to identify, etc. We all agreed that step one was to see if this pregnancy would make it since we had no answers as to why the other two did not. She took some blood from me to see if my hcg levels were rising, asked me to come back a couple of days later and told me to stay on the baby aspirin and progesterone in the meantime. Our first ultrasound was scheduled for a couple of weeks later (at around 6 weeks) since that's when you can first identify baby via ultrasound.
A few days later I was told that the blood work looked good. However, we were taken aback a bit when I experienced some bleeding the weekend before our first ultrasound. It wasn't too heavy and I hadn't lost the pregnancy symptoms I'd developed, so that was encouraging, but any bleeding during pregnancy is cause for worry. I didn't know what to expect when we went in for our first ultrasound - was the bleeding a sign of impending miscarriage? Was it something else?
Our first pregnancy loss we found out the baby had stopped developing at 6 weeks and had no heartbeat; our second pregnancy loss we saw a gestational sac that measure at about 7 1/2 weeks but there was no baby in it, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect this time. But she got me ready, wheeled in the ultrasound machine, and within seconds we were looking at the tiny little bean and a fluttering dot of the heart beating away! I knew I would cry either way, but just the sheer JOY of seeing a heartbeat on that screen was so overwhelming! While looking around at the baby and my uterus, the doctor identified a blood clot in my uterus (which was determined to be the cause of the bleeding). She told us that about 20% of women experience bleeding during pregnancy and of those, 50% will keep and 50% will lose. She said only time would tell if the blood clot would affect the baby or not. We were asked to come back one week later to make sure it looked like baby was growing and that we still had a heartbeat and to check on the clot. One week later, we got to take home our first baby picture:
Baby Z had grown and was measuring close to 8 weeks at the appointment. So far so good! She could still see the blood clot and said we wouldn't know for sure if the pregnancy would be viable until closer to the end of the first trimester, but she said not to worry too much about any bleeding unless it was really heavy. So I tried not to stress - nothing we could do any way but wait and see.
But as we went in for our 10 week appointment, we were able to hear Baby Z's heartbeat via fetal doppler and it was strong! The doctor told us that at that point in time, she was confident that the blood clot was no longer cause for concern. At 12 weeks, we were given the all-clear and congratulations to expect Baby Z mid-December or before!
I haven't had any more bleeding since then and my belly is growing, growing, growing. Nearing 18 weeks, my all-day, everyday morning sickness is dissipating (THANK YOU, LORD) and I'm slowly starting to get my appetite back. We're meeting with a high risk OBG in Greenville, SC next Friday, July 20th to get a look at baby (hopefully we'll find out if it's a he or a she) and we'll get to see if the cyst on my spleen has grown. If it has, we will have to keep a closer eye on how baby pushes my organs -- if too much pressure starts to form against my spleen, Baby Z may be coming earlier than December! If not, though, I think they'll let me carry as long as I'm not in danger. We'll just have to watch and see as baby gets bigger! But regardless, Baby Z should be making his/her debut before 2013! Yippee!
Update on Amber's Health Fiasco
We have been so slack on updating our blog -- our apologies! Paul has been busy teaching himself new skills, such as building a webpage, which means our very basic webpage is getting a very major makeover! With that in mind, Amber realized how much she had been slacking on the blog and decided it might be time to get it in gear! :)
So let's start with what's been going on since last fall. Many of you know that I (Amber) came down with a mystery illness beginning in September. After many, many doctors visits and many, many more tests, we came away with a lot of interesting information. For starters, I have all major organs and they all appear to be functioning normally! That may sound kind of strange -- am I the only one who wonders if maybe I'm missing vital organs just because no one has confirmed they're there? I am? Well, okay, I'm a weirdo then. ;o) It was determined that I don't have celiac disease (allergy to gluten) so that was good news since I love me some gluten. The main suspect in all of the digestive and nausea issues was a parasite or a bacteria brought back from Guatemala (which seemed incredibly likely since I accidentally got water in my mouth while on the trip). However, test after test didn't find anything conclusive.
I prodded my internal medicine doctor to maybe take a rabbit trail and check out my gallbladder in the off-chance that my symptoms were not Guatemala-related. He agreed to order me an ultrasound to check for gallstones. While at that appointment, the tech asked if I was experiencing pain on my left side, which was perplexing because I hadn't had any pain at all - just a lot of nausea and digestive problems. After leaving the appointment, I got a call from my doctor within hours saying the ultrasound revealed a large something on my spleen. I was told to be at the radiology department first thing the next morning for a CT scan. Just as a side note, when one is very nauseous, downing two jugs of dye is TORTURE. But with lots of prayers from friends and family (THANK YOU), I managed to get most of the dye down -- enough to get good scans of my spleen. Five minutes of picture taking and an hour of waiting later, I was told that I have a 9cm splenic cyst (the size of a baseball) that they suspected was due to some sort of trauma to that area. However, I have never had a car accident or any sort of accident that caused trauma to that area. But onward we went to continue trying to determine the cause of my symptoms.
The next stop was to the Gastro doctor. After an endoscopy and partial sigmoidoscopy, it was determined that I don't have h. pylori bacteria, no polyps, no acid reflux, nothing at all. So that was also all good news. They decided to run a blood test for a parasite called echinocococcus which is a type of tapeworm that is very rare in the U.S. but one that does cause cysts on organs. Two blood tests returned an "indeterminate" reading, meaning my levels came back in the "not negative but not positive" range. Since the Gastro doctors couldn't find anything that would be causing my symptoms, they referred me to Asheville Infectious Diseases for a second opinion on the echinocococcus parasite.
I finally met with that office toward the end of January (and thankfully was starting to have more "good days" than bad). He said he wanted to run one more blood test for the parasite but that since I was starting to feel somewhat better, he thought my body was working through whatever it was. I gave blood that day but soon thereafter, I started to feel good again. So as far as my symptoms go, it seems I probably came back with a bacteria or something from Guatemala and after four months, my body worked it out on its own. I felt pretty much back to normal through most of February and March. :o)
You can imagine my surprise when I got a phone call on March 18th from the Infectious Disease office telling me the last blood test I did came back positive for echinococcosis. Since I have the large cyst and I had a positive blood result, we started discussing the process of treating the parasite. The treatment regimen would include taking a drug called Albendazole for three months (the purpose to kill the adult parasite the first month, kill any eggs that had hatched the second month, and then any other eggs that hatched the third month). After treating with the drug for three months, the next step would be complete removal of my spleen.
After determining the process for treatment, I was asked to come in and giving a metabolic liver reading (since the medication can cause liver problems) so they would have a baseline reading. I gave them that on April 3rd assuming we'd be starting the drug within a week or two. Imagine our surprise when we got a positive pregnancy test on April 6th! HA! For those of you who know our back story, after losing two pregnancies in the first trimester then trying for two and a half years to get pregnant unsuccessfully, the shock of finally getting a positive in the midst of all of the other medical ongoings was ... well ... a shock! But a good one! It seemed obvious to us that God had His hands all over this one - and we've been trusting Him along this journey.
I'll update about the pregnancy in my next post.
So let's start with what's been going on since last fall. Many of you know that I (Amber) came down with a mystery illness beginning in September. After many, many doctors visits and many, many more tests, we came away with a lot of interesting information. For starters, I have all major organs and they all appear to be functioning normally! That may sound kind of strange -- am I the only one who wonders if maybe I'm missing vital organs just because no one has confirmed they're there? I am? Well, okay, I'm a weirdo then. ;o) It was determined that I don't have celiac disease (allergy to gluten) so that was good news since I love me some gluten. The main suspect in all of the digestive and nausea issues was a parasite or a bacteria brought back from Guatemala (which seemed incredibly likely since I accidentally got water in my mouth while on the trip). However, test after test didn't find anything conclusive.
I prodded my internal medicine doctor to maybe take a rabbit trail and check out my gallbladder in the off-chance that my symptoms were not Guatemala-related. He agreed to order me an ultrasound to check for gallstones. While at that appointment, the tech asked if I was experiencing pain on my left side, which was perplexing because I hadn't had any pain at all - just a lot of nausea and digestive problems. After leaving the appointment, I got a call from my doctor within hours saying the ultrasound revealed a large something on my spleen. I was told to be at the radiology department first thing the next morning for a CT scan. Just as a side note, when one is very nauseous, downing two jugs of dye is TORTURE. But with lots of prayers from friends and family (THANK YOU), I managed to get most of the dye down -- enough to get good scans of my spleen. Five minutes of picture taking and an hour of waiting later, I was told that I have a 9cm splenic cyst (the size of a baseball) that they suspected was due to some sort of trauma to that area. However, I have never had a car accident or any sort of accident that caused trauma to that area. But onward we went to continue trying to determine the cause of my symptoms.
The next stop was to the Gastro doctor. After an endoscopy and partial sigmoidoscopy, it was determined that I don't have h. pylori bacteria, no polyps, no acid reflux, nothing at all. So that was also all good news. They decided to run a blood test for a parasite called echinocococcus which is a type of tapeworm that is very rare in the U.S. but one that does cause cysts on organs. Two blood tests returned an "indeterminate" reading, meaning my levels came back in the "not negative but not positive" range. Since the Gastro doctors couldn't find anything that would be causing my symptoms, they referred me to Asheville Infectious Diseases for a second opinion on the echinocococcus parasite.
I finally met with that office toward the end of January (and thankfully was starting to have more "good days" than bad). He said he wanted to run one more blood test for the parasite but that since I was starting to feel somewhat better, he thought my body was working through whatever it was. I gave blood that day but soon thereafter, I started to feel good again. So as far as my symptoms go, it seems I probably came back with a bacteria or something from Guatemala and after four months, my body worked it out on its own. I felt pretty much back to normal through most of February and March. :o)
You can imagine my surprise when I got a phone call on March 18th from the Infectious Disease office telling me the last blood test I did came back positive for echinococcosis. Since I have the large cyst and I had a positive blood result, we started discussing the process of treating the parasite. The treatment regimen would include taking a drug called Albendazole for three months (the purpose to kill the adult parasite the first month, kill any eggs that had hatched the second month, and then any other eggs that hatched the third month). After treating with the drug for three months, the next step would be complete removal of my spleen.
After determining the process for treatment, I was asked to come in and giving a metabolic liver reading (since the medication can cause liver problems) so they would have a baseline reading. I gave them that on April 3rd assuming we'd be starting the drug within a week or two. Imagine our surprise when we got a positive pregnancy test on April 6th! HA! For those of you who know our back story, after losing two pregnancies in the first trimester then trying for two and a half years to get pregnant unsuccessfully, the shock of finally getting a positive in the midst of all of the other medical ongoings was ... well ... a shock! But a good one! It seemed obvious to us that God had His hands all over this one - and we've been trusting Him along this journey.
I'll update about the pregnancy in my next post.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Music and Messages
I don't know what it is about me that is attracted to folk music -- I'm from the north, or, the mid-west to be more precise. I didn't grow up with banjos and fiddles as my predominant musical inspiration as a child, and yet, I just really enjoy listening to it. I was recently introduced to the band The Civil Wars and immediately took a liking to them, especially the song Barton Hollow.
Click here to see the video of Barton Hollow
While I obviously enjoy a good tune, I'm a lyrics girl at heart. I used to spend hours writing out songs that inspired me and songs stuck in my head because the words of those songs expressed things inside of me that I couldn't express verbally. So I love this song, but I can't sing along with it in truth because it's not actually correct.
Ain't going back to Barton Hollow
Devil gonna follow me e'er I go
Won't do me no good washin' in the river
Can't no preacher man save my soul
Hours and hours in my bare feet
Still can't lay me down to sleep
And if I die before I wake
I know the Lord my soul won't take
I know there are so many people that this song could identify with. So many people who have sin and the guilt and grief of that sin on their shoulders every day; people who think that whatever they did (lied, cheated, stolen, hurt someone, wasn't there for their kids/parents, whatever the case may be) can't be forgiven; people who think there's no way out.
Friends, if you, like the song, feel like whatever you have done is unforgivable, please hear this: Jesus Christ came to take your place in God's judgement for those sins. The only thing you have to do is tell Him to forgive you and He will.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. -Ephesians 2:8-9
I find it so fascinating how even so many who "don't believe in God" have such a strong sense of justice. So many of my agnostic and athiest friends will post news stories about the horrible things that happen and say things like "I hope this person suffers for his transgressions" or "She deserves the punishment she gets for that". God made us all in His image - and God is LOVE but God is also JUST. He is HOLY and can't stand the sight of sin. For those of you who believe that being moral is enough to get you to heaven, it is not. But Jesus, oh, Jesus - He is enough. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that we are saved by grace, but not by works. There is nothing you can do (works-wise) to get to God. Accepting Christ and receiving the gift of eternal life by faith is the ONLY way to get to heaven.
So how do you do that? First, admit that you are a sinner and that you can't save yourself.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, -Romans 3:23
Understand that God is a loving God but he is also a just God and must punish sin.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." -Isaiah 59:2
God provided Jesus Christ to die in our place; to take the punishment for our sins. Trust in Him for your eternal security.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. -Isaiah 53:5
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9
So if you happen to relate to Barton Hollow on a lyrical level, please know that while it's true no preacher man can save your soul (only Christ can do that, but the preacher man can help you get there), that no sin, regardless of taking an unmarked hundred grand or whatever sin you happen to be carrying with you, can keep you from God if you only ask for His forgiveness and repent of the sin.
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died to pay the penalty for my sin. I want to turn from my sinful nature and trust in You instead. I invite You to come into my heart and life. Amen.
Click here to see the video of Barton Hollow
While I obviously enjoy a good tune, I'm a lyrics girl at heart. I used to spend hours writing out songs that inspired me and songs stuck in my head because the words of those songs expressed things inside of me that I couldn't express verbally. So I love this song, but I can't sing along with it in truth because it's not actually correct.
Ain't going back to Barton Hollow
Devil gonna follow me e'er I go
Won't do me no good washin' in the river
Can't no preacher man save my soul
Hours and hours in my bare feet
Still can't lay me down to sleep
And if I die before I wake
I know the Lord my soul won't take
I know there are so many people that this song could identify with. So many people who have sin and the guilt and grief of that sin on their shoulders every day; people who think that whatever they did (lied, cheated, stolen, hurt someone, wasn't there for their kids/parents, whatever the case may be) can't be forgiven; people who think there's no way out.
Friends, if you, like the song, feel like whatever you have done is unforgivable, please hear this: Jesus Christ came to take your place in God's judgement for those sins. The only thing you have to do is tell Him to forgive you and He will.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. -Ephesians 2:8-9
I find it so fascinating how even so many who "don't believe in God" have such a strong sense of justice. So many of my agnostic and athiest friends will post news stories about the horrible things that happen and say things like "I hope this person suffers for his transgressions" or "She deserves the punishment she gets for that". God made us all in His image - and God is LOVE but God is also JUST. He is HOLY and can't stand the sight of sin. For those of you who believe that being moral is enough to get you to heaven, it is not. But Jesus, oh, Jesus - He is enough. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that we are saved by grace, but not by works. There is nothing you can do (works-wise) to get to God. Accepting Christ and receiving the gift of eternal life by faith is the ONLY way to get to heaven.
So how do you do that? First, admit that you are a sinner and that you can't save yourself.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, -Romans 3:23
Understand that God is a loving God but he is also a just God and must punish sin.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." -Isaiah 59:2
God provided Jesus Christ to die in our place; to take the punishment for our sins. Trust in Him for your eternal security.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. -Isaiah 53:5
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9
So if you happen to relate to Barton Hollow on a lyrical level, please know that while it's true no preacher man can save your soul (only Christ can do that, but the preacher man can help you get there), that no sin, regardless of taking an unmarked hundred grand or whatever sin you happen to be carrying with you, can keep you from God if you only ask for His forgiveness and repent of the sin.
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died to pay the penalty for my sin. I want to turn from my sinful nature and trust in You instead. I invite You to come into my heart and life. Amen.
Monday, January 2, 2012
The Birthday Project
I had read online a few months ago about a woman who spent her birthday doing one act of kindness in honor of each year of her life and it really spoke to me. I don't do it nearly as often as I should, but I just love doing little things for people (strangers and non strangers alike) to give them a little blessing when they're not expecting it. Since my birthday was only a couple of months away when I read this post, I decided that I was going to spend my 31st birthday doing 31 acts of kindness.
I had planned out in advance about 25 things I was hoping to do, but prayed for opportunities to present themselves. I did many things on my list but many things that were not on my list. :)Here's what I did today:
1. Left flowers on the door step of our neighbors with a little note.
2. Left a note of thanks and a chocolate bar for our mail carrier. Unfortunately, today was considered a federal holiday, so she won't get it until tomorrow. :)
3. Took two dozen doughnuts and a jug of coffee to Skyland Fire Department with a handwritten note thanking them for their service.
4. Paid for a father and daughter who were in line behind me at Dunkin Donuts.
5. Bought a $10 gift card at the grocery store and handed it to the cashier and asked him to apply it to the lady behind me in line. He looked at me like I was crazy. :)
6. Bought a single rose at the grocery store and gave it to an elderly lady in the parking lot. She was so gracious and told me no one had given her a flower since she had a baby and she told me not to bother guessing how long ago that was. (She must have been about 75 years old.)
7. Left flowers and a personal note for two of my closest local friends.
8. Left notes and $1 bills in some books at Barnes & Noble.
9. Corralled some run away carts in the parking lot at the grocery store (caught a couple before they slammed into cars due to the extreme wind today). Took them inside the store so the employees could save a trip to the cart return.
10. Put $2 into a vending machine that requires $1.25 for a beverage. Left a note saying "enjoy a free drink on me" -- whoever took the free drink also got $.75 in change.
11. Offered to purchase a beverage for the gas station attendant. She chose a water. :)
12. Left two little red bags of "treasure" at two different playgrounds. The bags each contained nearly $3.00 worth of pennies. I hope the kids that find those bags feel RICH.
13. Met up with my husband for lunch at a place of his choosing. Decided while we were there to buy the staff a cookie. They, in turn, gave me a coupon for a free sub in honor of my birthday. Thanks, Firehouse Subs!!
14. I didn't eat at Firehouse, but instead went to Asiana for my free birthday sushi lunch. I left a note with the full amount I would have paid for lunch and tip in the envelope for my waiter.
15. As I was leaving Asiana a mother was taking pictures of her two girls on one of the statues outside. I offered to take a picture with all three of them together and she was really excited to let me do it.
16. Went to Park Ridge Hospital and left a baby gift bag with diapers, a receiving blanket, pajamas, a rattle, some wipes, and a note welcoming new baby into the world on January 2nd. I was told it would be delivered to a baby boy who was born there today.
17. I left two 24 packs of water to be delivered to the nursing staff at Park Ridge.
18. I left a little pot of flowers with a get well balloon and asked them to deliver it to someone who was sick who didn't have many visitors.
19. I left coloring books, crayons, glow sticks and two stuffed teddy bears to be put in a waiting room or given to a child who was at the hospital. The sweet lady at the information desk said she'd take care of it for me. :)
20. Took two boxes of hot chocolate to my husband's work place for him and his coworkers to enjoy.
21. Took my husband's car to get an oil change (and paid for it) since he hasn't had a chance to take it himself.
22. Left quarters in the candy machines at Biltmore Square Mall.
23. Bought some teddy bears at the Dollar Store and gave two of them to little girls who I saw at the mall (after asking their guardians' permission). One of the little girls LOVES bears and was so excited to receive it. She told me she was naming him Morris. CUTE.
24. Left a teddy bear "free to a good home" for a child to adopt.
25. Left several quarters in the return slot on some video game and toy machines.
26. Asked the worker at Starbucks to use my $5 gift card on the next person in line.
27. Left a $5 bill and a note in the pocket of a clearance jacket at one of my favorite stores.
28. Got my hair chopped off to donate to Locks of Love. Didn't know this, but Great Clips offers a FREE HAIRCUT if you're donating to Locks of Love. Sweet!
29. Left a very generous tip for the guy who cut my hair (the cost of the cut).
30. Left notes of blessing on some random cars in a parking lot. (If any of you who are reading got one of them, let me know!)
31. Bought my own dinner at Moe's and told them to use my voucher for a free birthday entree on someone behind us in line.
What a great day! If you did a random act of kindness in honor of my birthday, please let me know what you did!
Here's the ones I've heard so far:
Amy: So...I went to Chic-Fil-A to try their new Chicken Tortilla Soup that came out today (fabulous, by the way!), and decided to pay the bill for the person behind me. I pulled up and told the cashier, and she began totaling it up. In the meantime, one of the managers walked up, who happens to be a BBC member with kids in AWANA. She recognized me...I told her I was getting ready to test the new soup...without even knowing I had just planned to pay for the car behind me, she leans over to the register and pays for my soup!! Totally surprised and shocked, I laughed and thanked her, and told her what I had just done. She couldn't believe it and thanked me for "paying it forward!!" My sole intention was to bless someone else, and I was immediately blessed right back, in return! Thank you, Amber, for the inspiration!
Brian: Happy Birthday!!! Paid for car behind me at Sonic for your birthday.... VERY cool idea!!
Jamie: RAOK #1: Helped a CNA get a 500 pounder back into bed; RAOK#2: Helped a one legged man un-jam his prostesis. All three of them were very grateful. You are welcome lol!
Jeni: Random Act of Kindness-paying for a cup of coffe for the person behind be today
Bryan & Kelsey: Hey! Kelsey and I paid for the car behind us at McD's this morning!!! Didn't know where to post this so you would know. Great idea, I might have to do the same thing for my b-day.
Marlys & Chet: We stopped at a gas station in my hometown of Mendota, IL on the way to Wisconsin and bought a gas gift card - gave it to the next person who pulled up to the pump. Happy Birthday, Amber!
Andy: I watched the store next to me so that the gentlemen could go and get lunch.
Steve & Freda: Steve helped a man get soup and I helped an elderly lady get to the restroom and I took her back to her elderly husband when she was finished. She told me she had been sick for three weeks after taking some medicine. She was so thankful that she hugged my neck.
Mike: Happy B-Day Amber. My random act of kindness was not whooping a certain cranky sick person's heinie! Lol
Katherine: Amber, I have a FB friend whose daughter was one of the ones to receive a teddy bear yesterday!! She has autism and was thrilled -- just crazy to see how we're all connected!!!!!!!
Mikki: Paid for the person in the McDonalds drive-thru beside me!
Leigh Ann: So in honor of your bday, I anonymously paid for a Hispanic couple's purchase today at the grocery store. They were behind me in line and were buying bags of rice and fruit. :)
Kristin: I am doing my random act of kindness tomorrow in your honor when I take my sister to the airport. I will pay for the person behind me for parking.
I had planned out in advance about 25 things I was hoping to do, but prayed for opportunities to present themselves. I did many things on my list but many things that were not on my list. :)Here's what I did today:
1. Left flowers on the door step of our neighbors with a little note.
2. Left a note of thanks and a chocolate bar for our mail carrier. Unfortunately, today was considered a federal holiday, so she won't get it until tomorrow. :)
3. Took two dozen doughnuts and a jug of coffee to Skyland Fire Department with a handwritten note thanking them for their service.
4. Paid for a father and daughter who were in line behind me at Dunkin Donuts.
5. Bought a $10 gift card at the grocery store and handed it to the cashier and asked him to apply it to the lady behind me in line. He looked at me like I was crazy. :)
6. Bought a single rose at the grocery store and gave it to an elderly lady in the parking lot. She was so gracious and told me no one had given her a flower since she had a baby and she told me not to bother guessing how long ago that was. (She must have been about 75 years old.)
7. Left flowers and a personal note for two of my closest local friends.
8. Left notes and $1 bills in some books at Barnes & Noble.
9. Corralled some run away carts in the parking lot at the grocery store (caught a couple before they slammed into cars due to the extreme wind today). Took them inside the store so the employees could save a trip to the cart return.
10. Put $2 into a vending machine that requires $1.25 for a beverage. Left a note saying "enjoy a free drink on me" -- whoever took the free drink also got $.75 in change.
11. Offered to purchase a beverage for the gas station attendant. She chose a water. :)
12. Left two little red bags of "treasure" at two different playgrounds. The bags each contained nearly $3.00 worth of pennies. I hope the kids that find those bags feel RICH.
13. Met up with my husband for lunch at a place of his choosing. Decided while we were there to buy the staff a cookie. They, in turn, gave me a coupon for a free sub in honor of my birthday. Thanks, Firehouse Subs!!
14. I didn't eat at Firehouse, but instead went to Asiana for my free birthday sushi lunch. I left a note with the full amount I would have paid for lunch and tip in the envelope for my waiter.
15. As I was leaving Asiana a mother was taking pictures of her two girls on one of the statues outside. I offered to take a picture with all three of them together and she was really excited to let me do it.
16. Went to Park Ridge Hospital and left a baby gift bag with diapers, a receiving blanket, pajamas, a rattle, some wipes, and a note welcoming new baby into the world on January 2nd. I was told it would be delivered to a baby boy who was born there today.
17. I left two 24 packs of water to be delivered to the nursing staff at Park Ridge.
18. I left a little pot of flowers with a get well balloon and asked them to deliver it to someone who was sick who didn't have many visitors.
19. I left coloring books, crayons, glow sticks and two stuffed teddy bears to be put in a waiting room or given to a child who was at the hospital. The sweet lady at the information desk said she'd take care of it for me. :)
20. Took two boxes of hot chocolate to my husband's work place for him and his coworkers to enjoy.
21. Took my husband's car to get an oil change (and paid for it) since he hasn't had a chance to take it himself.
22. Left quarters in the candy machines at Biltmore Square Mall.
23. Bought some teddy bears at the Dollar Store and gave two of them to little girls who I saw at the mall (after asking their guardians' permission). One of the little girls LOVES bears and was so excited to receive it. She told me she was naming him Morris. CUTE.
24. Left a teddy bear "free to a good home" for a child to adopt.
25. Left several quarters in the return slot on some video game and toy machines.
26. Asked the worker at Starbucks to use my $5 gift card on the next person in line.
27. Left a $5 bill and a note in the pocket of a clearance jacket at one of my favorite stores.
28. Got my hair chopped off to donate to Locks of Love. Didn't know this, but Great Clips offers a FREE HAIRCUT if you're donating to Locks of Love. Sweet!
29. Left a very generous tip for the guy who cut my hair (the cost of the cut).
30. Left notes of blessing on some random cars in a parking lot. (If any of you who are reading got one of them, let me know!)
31. Bought my own dinner at Moe's and told them to use my voucher for a free birthday entree on someone behind us in line.
What a great day! If you did a random act of kindness in honor of my birthday, please let me know what you did!
Here's the ones I've heard so far:
Amy: So...I went to Chic-Fil-A to try their new Chicken Tortilla Soup that came out today (fabulous, by the way!), and decided to pay the bill for the person behind me. I pulled up and told the cashier, and she began totaling it up. In the meantime, one of the managers walked up, who happens to be a BBC member with kids in AWANA. She recognized me...I told her I was getting ready to test the new soup...without even knowing I had just planned to pay for the car behind me, she leans over to the register and pays for my soup!! Totally surprised and shocked, I laughed and thanked her, and told her what I had just done. She couldn't believe it and thanked me for "paying it forward!!" My sole intention was to bless someone else, and I was immediately blessed right back, in return! Thank you, Amber, for the inspiration!
Brian: Happy Birthday!!! Paid for car behind me at Sonic for your birthday.... VERY cool idea!!
Jamie: RAOK #1: Helped a CNA get a 500 pounder back into bed; RAOK#2: Helped a one legged man un-jam his prostesis. All three of them were very grateful. You are welcome lol!
Jeni: Random Act of Kindness-paying for a cup of coffe for the person behind be today
Bryan & Kelsey: Hey! Kelsey and I paid for the car behind us at McD's this morning!!! Didn't know where to post this so you would know. Great idea, I might have to do the same thing for my b-day.
Marlys & Chet: We stopped at a gas station in my hometown of Mendota, IL on the way to Wisconsin and bought a gas gift card - gave it to the next person who pulled up to the pump. Happy Birthday, Amber!
Andy: I watched the store next to me so that the gentlemen could go and get lunch.
Steve & Freda: Steve helped a man get soup and I helped an elderly lady get to the restroom and I took her back to her elderly husband when she was finished. She told me she had been sick for three weeks after taking some medicine. She was so thankful that she hugged my neck.
Mike: Happy B-Day Amber. My random act of kindness was not whooping a certain cranky sick person's heinie! Lol
Katherine: Amber, I have a FB friend whose daughter was one of the ones to receive a teddy bear yesterday!! She has autism and was thrilled -- just crazy to see how we're all connected!!!!!!!
Mikki: Paid for the person in the McDonalds drive-thru beside me!
Leigh Ann: So in honor of your bday, I anonymously paid for a Hispanic couple's purchase today at the grocery store. They were behind me in line and were buying bags of rice and fruit. :)
Kristin: I am doing my random act of kindness tomorrow in your honor when I take my sister to the airport. I will pay for the person behind me for parking.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Guatemala July 15
Friday, July 15
We got up early Friday morning to start making our way back to Guatemala City for our flight home. After Amber made the whole team stop for a few minutes to deal with some motion sickness (BOO!) on the really curvy roads out of Comitancillo, we were on our way with no issues. The plan for Friday was to drive half way (or so) and stay in Panajachel which is a little city that rests in a HUGE dormant volcano near a bottomless lake. If you have never heard of Lake Atitlan, check out Wikipedia for some more details.
On our way to Panajachel, we noticed a big gathering of people and some buses dropping even more people off. Our driver told us that one of the candidates running for President was about to give a speech at that very location. We did not see the candidate, but they only have elections every four years and Amber thought it was awesome that one of the candidates was at the very spot we were driving by at that moment. (Also, they have 22 political parties and around ten people running for President. And I thought OUR political system was wacky enough with two predominant parties and two predominant candidates. Eep!)
We arrived in Panajachel around lunch time and no words could adequately describe the beauty of the area nor do the pictures do justice. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking.
We relaxed for a while and then wandered around the area the rest of the afternoon and went to the market to buy souvenirs (and worked on our bartering in Spanish skills). We got caught up in a rainstorm while at the market and walked back to the hotel in the torrential downpour making our few remaining clean and warm clothes completely drenched. Again, Amber was fighting sickness through most of the day (presumably still trying to get rid of whatever was ingested on Wednesday) and right after dinner decided sleep was the best option.
We got up early Friday morning to start making our way back to Guatemala City for our flight home. After Amber made the whole team stop for a few minutes to deal with some motion sickness (BOO!) on the really curvy roads out of Comitancillo, we were on our way with no issues. The plan for Friday was to drive half way (or so) and stay in Panajachel which is a little city that rests in a HUGE dormant volcano near a bottomless lake. If you have never heard of Lake Atitlan, check out Wikipedia for some more details.
On our way to Panajachel, we noticed a big gathering of people and some buses dropping even more people off. Our driver told us that one of the candidates running for President was about to give a speech at that very location. We did not see the candidate, but they only have elections every four years and Amber thought it was awesome that one of the candidates was at the very spot we were driving by at that moment. (Also, they have 22 political parties and around ten people running for President. And I thought OUR political system was wacky enough with two predominant parties and two predominant candidates. Eep!)
We arrived in Panajachel around lunch time and no words could adequately describe the beauty of the area nor do the pictures do justice. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking.
We relaxed for a while and then wandered around the area the rest of the afternoon and went to the market to buy souvenirs (and worked on our bartering in Spanish skills). We got caught up in a rainstorm while at the market and walked back to the hotel in the torrential downpour making our few remaining clean and warm clothes completely drenched. Again, Amber was fighting sickness through most of the day (presumably still trying to get rid of whatever was ingested on Wednesday) and right after dinner decided sleep was the best option.
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