Monday, November 5, 2012

On the road again....kinda...for like 10 minutes



Two years ago today (November 2nd) Matt, Rebecca, Grandma Lynne, Max and I pulled in to Knoxville Tennessee. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant we got take out from, but that was some good southern eatin’ that night. We thought we were coming home from the crazy adventure that New York was, but we didn’t know we were just getting started on the next one.

Well now, after two years living with Matt’s mom and fighting hard for health, we are about to embark on the NEXT grand adventure!  On November 12th, exactly two years after moving IN, we will be moving OUT. Matt and I have been asked to live on campus at our church and serve on staff full time as “Staff Interns”. 

“Let me ‘splain – no, there is too much, let me sum up” Inigo Montoya

Our church building used to be a convent, so there are many rooms and, after some renovation several years back, there are a few apartments as well. There are also secret passageways but that is beside the point. Over the years a great Intern Program has grown and has deeply impacted the lives of many young men and women. Also, a number of families have lived on campus, working with the interns and residents and helping to set the tone of life on campus. We have been asked to act somewhere in the middle of the two, living closely with the interns, getting to know them and experiencing life on campus, as well as working on staff. Matt will be the Office Manager, and I will be working in the Intern Department. 

We are so thrilled and honored to be following in the footsteps of some of the people whom we so look up to.  We are also very excited to learn more about ministry at the Coastlands and why we do what we do.

We are so thankful for all that the Lord has walked us through, and we know He isn’t done with us. This new season will not be without challenges, but we know that it will be good. 

Love always!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Food!



Many of our readers have asked us to write a post about what we eat as a family, and especially what Matt eats. It is obvious to all who see him that his health has drastically improved over the last few months, and it is impossible for us (or his doctor) to separate that improvement from his dietary changes. But his diet isn’t just for people with Lyme. Even I, “Carbohydrate Corrie” have recently cut all grain out of my diet, and have seen a pretty drastic turnaround from my usual struggle with bloaty (sorry for the tmi), enhausted, middle of the day fatigue, constantly hungry, craving sugary snacks blechiness. Yes, I made up “blechiness”. 

This all began for us back in June. Matt was at that time reading about the incredible sustaining and healing value of raw milk, researching to make sure it was safe, where to get it fresh, and praying about it. It may sound a little weird that he was praying about it, we don’t pray about our diet changes as a rule, but in this case, raw milk is a huge investment, and I am really thankful that Matt wanted to check in with the Lord and lay that before Him. Matt told me later that he felt the Lord put peace in his heart to go forward with eating not only raw milk, but all the other foods I am about to tell you about. These lightly steamed veggies, pure milk, healthy meats, and power packed nuts are really a nod back in time to the way all people originally ate, and the way some of the healthiest cultures on earth eat today. Matt said he felt like the Lord said: watch and see what I can do in your body if you eat these foods that I have created. 

The following is an interview with Matt : ) about some of the main cornerstones of our diet, and some of the most common questions we have been asked.

What is so great about RAW MILK?
Matt: Where do I begin? Well, first it tastes amazing compared to pasteurized milk, and a lot of times it comes with some cream on top which is also amazing. Also when you have raw milk, you can make your own cheese, whey, kefir etc. I have read that it is about the closest thing to a “perfect food” containing fat, protein, carbs, vitamins, and minerals, and all in an incredibly easily digestible form. Some people have called it “white blood” because it is so easy to digest that you can imagine your blood just turning white it gets there so fast. So if you have digestion issues, it is great for your system. The thing that really separates it from pasteurized milk is that it still has all of its own enzymes and good bacteria alive and intact. Pasteurizing milk both jacks up the chemical structures of the protein, making it hard to digest or even for some people impossible to digest, as well as kills off all the bacteria and enzymes that help to heal your digestive tract, and that you need to digest milk even in its un-pasteurized form.  These are the same bacteria and enzymes that, when alive, work to fight listeria, ecoli, and salmonella. 

But isn’t RAW MILK unsafe?
Matt: There are more recalls and outbreaks on produce such as spinach than on raw milk. And while all raw food is susceptible to bad bacteria getting in there, raw milk is equipped to fight it off. I suggest checking out some of the informative articles on www.realmilk.com as that is where I have found a lot of information, or reading chapter 15 of a book I want called The Untold Story of Milk here: http://www.newtrendspublishing.com/PDFS/15MilkFinal.pdf.

What does KEFIR do?
Matt: Kefir is a cultured milk drink that you can find in many stores. It’s known for being a good source of probiotics. The brands found in stores has usually about 6 “strains” of probiotics (strains are species), and several billion individual organisms per serving. Homemade Raw Kefir made with Kefir grains (little clumps of yeast and bacteria about the size of a mustard seed) has around 30 strains of probiotics, and around 5 trillion organisms per serving. That is more than any probiotic supplement I have ever seen, and I’ve been taking probiotics for several years with really no noticeable effect. So basically it seems to me that it is among the most powerful of ways to heal your digestion, and to not only replenish good bacteria, but also it fights infections like candida and harmful parasites. When made with raw milk, Kefir also provides all of the benefits listed above! I feel like this has been a huge part of this turned corner. 

And what the heck is KIMCHI?
Matt: Kimchi is a primarily Korean dish made of fermented cabbage, carrots, green onions, garlic, ginger, salt, and crushed chili flakes. Those are basically all things known for being anti-bad-bacteria. I take those ingredients, smash them together until their juices start flowing a little, and then add Whey (which I made from raw milk) and let it sit out at room temperature for three or more days. It’s great vegetables, with great bacteria, and a pretty rocking zing if you are looking to clear out your sinuses! 

What are PASTURED EGGS AND CHICKEN as opposed to organic or free range eggs or chicken?
Matt: Organic means that the chicken is fed organic food, and doesn’t have antibiotics injected into it. Free Range is often also organic, but the chickens are allowed to walk around. But in both of these cases, the chickens are usually fed corn or soy…and not worms and bugs, which is what they want to eat. Pastured Chickens are not only organic and allowed to walk around, but they are literally out in a pasture eating bugs, worms, grass and roots. Eggs from pastured chickens have a much higher Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio (which is good) as well as higher counts in all their vitamins. 

What is this weird “GREEN SOUP” we’ve been hearing about?
Matt: I started making green soup after being inspired by a book called Food is Your Best Medicine. The author is a doctor who treated many chronic diseases, and often prescribed a “soup” made of steamed zucchini, celery, and green beans all blended together with raw parsley and raw butter. The idea is that all those ingredients are all high is sulfur supporting the living, and the butter helps your body assimilate the nutrients. Also by having it steamed and then blended, it is much easier to digest, especially for someone whose digestive system needs help. The key is to only steam the veggies for a short while to help break down the fibers, but not long enough to begin killing off the nutrients. I have been making my own variations by adding any other green veggies that I feel like, including kale, collard greens, chard, cabbage, dandelion greens, spinach, and bok choy. I sometimes add a splash of raw olive oil, and I sometimes make it with homemade chicken or beef broth, and throw in a few raw egg yolks. I try to make a blender-full and then drink it for breakfast and then either lunch or dinner.

For those who are interested, here is a sample menu of a normal day around here:

Breakfast!
                All of us: Scrambled Pastured Eggs with some *clean* ham or turkey, spinach or zucchini (and on an awesome day – bacon!); a small glass of raw milk for each of us. Corrie may have some green or black tea. Rebecca has one piece of sprouted grain toast and some Greek or goat yogurt with honey. Matt has Green Soup, and kefir. Rebecca and Corrie are working on the Kefir : )

Lunch!
                Matt: Green Soup, wild caught salmon (usually canned), kimchi, raw sheep or goat cheese, avocado, milk, and nuts or almond butter
                Rebecca: Avocado, raw cheese, yogurt if not at breakfast, fresh fruit, olives, celery, and a little box of organic apple juice (only on the days we are at school). She also mooches mommy’s shakes (see below)
                Corrie: Matt makes an amazing protein shake that can fill me all afternoon. It consists of Coconut Oil, Almond Milk, Almond Butter, 100% Cocoa Powder, Honey, Pure Whey Protein Powder (with stevia rather than any sugars or fake sugars like aspartame), and ice of course. I love taking these shakes for my lunch, along with an apple and cheese, or a loaded salad with either balsamic on top or a homemade dressing that often make.

Dinner!
                Matt: Green Soup, raw milk, raw cheese, kimchi,
                Rebecca: steamed veggies, raw cheese, some raw milk, black or pinto beans.
                Corrie: Salad, steamed veggies, raw cheese
                               
Sometimes we have steak (I put mine on my salad) or lettuce wrapped burgers, and we are currently working on a few more recipe options. One thing that is great about eating like this is that it is not a lot of prep! And not a lot of dishes! Both wins in my book.
               
One thing that Matt and I have both heard is “I want to eat this way, but my husband won’t” or “We want to but our kids won’t” or when people are being really honest they just say “That doesn’t sound very yummy”. But if we really sit down and think about it, this must be a relatively NEW way of thinking…and even now it is an attitude only found in industrialized countries. Because if the little Inuit kid wearing his little fur suit, sitting in an igloo says “I don’t like seal blubber” then that kid is out of luck…because that’s all there is.

I say this not to come down on anyone at all…because as Donkey most astutely said to Shrek: “You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's get some parfait," they say, "H@## no, I don't like no parfait"? Parfaits are delicious!... Parfait's gotta be the most delicious thing on the whole d#$% planet!”

FOOD IS GOOD! ESPECIALLY THE KIND THAT IS BAD FOR US!!!!

Dang.

As incredibly hard as it is (and a little sad when those cookies are staring at you through the glass as you stand in line at Starbucks), it’s time to change the way we think about food. Hippocrates said: Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. 

So many diets (gluten free, sugar free, even paleo diets) try so hard to disguise healthy food by making it taste a little bit like something else that we actually do like. But guess what? I have never NOT been let down just a little by gluten free pancakes. We have a recipe for hazelnut flour pancakes that are very good…but still not buttermilk or sourdough good. 

Let’s just let food be what it is…life giving, sustaining, healthful, nutritious, and filling… 

And throw out everything else. 

Because if you are like me, you will find yourself sitting on the couch watching How I Met Your Mother, and suddenly, like a zombie, you will stand up, go to the pantry and begin rifling around for something sweet and snacky – and in that deluded state, if it’s there, I am going to eat it. : )

We promise, after a few days or maybe weeks this healthier food will start tasting better, and you will find yourself not really missing dessert, or enjoying some grapefruit as your dessert. It’s not like it’s just terrible food forever. Your eyes will start to see food for what it really is, and what is more nutritious will start to look more appetizing.  I got downright excited at Megan’s wedding this last weekend when I noticed a kale salad! I piled it on half of my plate! And I only really felt like having a couple bites of the pie. Not because I am so great or have arrived at this mecca of health…I’ve got a ways to go believe me. But because I think we are making inroads toward training our bodies to crave what is good.  

I think that if we stopped worrying about our tongue, and started worrying about our gut, we may experience better health. I am my own guinea pig. 

If you have more questions about what we eat, please feel free to ask us!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Neee-vada!

We decided to relate the story of our trip as just that, a story. We will try not to philosophize too much. But we are the coupling of a Communications Major and an English Major….so pour yourself a cuppa! Cause we wrote a long post people!


Rebecca woke up on Saturday at 7:30 bright eyed, not even wanting to snuggle, sat right up and said “I’m ready! I’m ready to go on my chip!(trip)”  We left the house at 10am, our goal was 9. So far we were right on track.

2,486.17 feet later (google earth is so cool), at the second light on our way out of Scott’s Valley, our little back seat driver asked “Is this Nee-vada?”  She then proceeded to talk until we stopped for lunch in Folsom….three hours later.

We pulled into Carson City in the late afternoon, with enough time to hit Mills Park (where there is a PINK slide – a big deal for Rebecca) and have a fun family dinner downtown before bedtime. The next morning we got to attend church at Fountainhead Foursquare Church, where our new friends Louie and Peggy Locke are the pastors. You may remember from our previous post that we had met Peggy and Louie while up at camp during the district pastor’s retreat and they had invited us to join them when we came to Carson.

We were so blessed by their church. First, Rebecca was really excited/curious about what it meant to go to a different church and “meet new fends”, but for Matt and me, we were blessed and encouraged to be welcomed and feel like we had a place to go and friends who care about our journey, even when we are far from home.

After church we headed back up the mountain into South Lake Tahoe to our friend’s lovely cabin where we stayed for two nights. Their cabin backs up against a gorgeous little valley with a creek running through it. It is so peaceful. In the morning a coyote bounced around catching bunnies…he was really cute.

Monday found us heading back up and over the pass into Nee-vada (that is what we call Nevada now) for the doctor appointment. Rebecca and I dropped Matt off, and after five years of doctor’s appointments from Santa Barbara to Riverside to Connecticut and now Nee-vada, for some reason, this drop off was really hard for me. I think I was feeling very strongly the reality of being in a strange town, as well as the pull between wanting to be present for my toddler as we had fun around town, but really wanting to be sitting beside Matt. My thoughts were never far from him as Rebecca and I visited the Carson Children’s Museum, and then the Nevada Railway Museum. And at one point, when I realized my phone had died, those fears, which so often attack my mind came on strong. “What it they can’t get ahold of me?” “What if the injections react terribly in his body and they have to rush him to the hospital” (not even a side effect of these injections…just a ridiculous fear tactic) “What if something happens and you are ALL alone in Nevada! WHAT would you do???”

And then in the middle of Nee-vada, God’s peace washed over me, and He spoke into my heart. He didn’t say “that’s stupid Corrie” or “you are being ridiculous”, but He met me where I was, in my thoughts and said: “Corrie, if something went wrong, you would call Louie and Peggy. You have friends in Carson City now too. That’s why I led you to them.”

 And so Rebecca and I went down the tube slide at the museum, we played on the giant piano that you walk on (reminiscent of Tom Hanks in Big), I taught her how to play air hockey….and then we went to the train museum and stood on a train, and purchased a “talking Thomas” for Rebecca’s tracks at home. And all the while the Lord was meeting us, and meeting Matt. And I’ll now turn the story over to him. : )

Matt:
The first phase of my visit involved what’s called Bio-Energy Testing, which measures MANY different body functions/states all by examining your cells’ mitochondrial health.  The testing was non-invasive, but still…uncomfortable.  I had to hold a huge snorkel-like tube in my mouth that I felt made me look like some superhero or, more likely, supervillain.  

After the testing was over, I finally saw the doctor.  He watched as I walked toward him and his office.  Immediately I knew that he, known around the world for his expertise, had compassion on his individual patients.  As I passed him, he put his hand on my shoulder, and it was one of those moments that carries greater meaning than the simple gesture would imply.  It wasn’t an “OK hurry up buddy, I’m busy here,” or a “There, there now, it’ll be ok.”  It was more of a, “Wow, I see your pain, I see your struggle, I know it hurts and I understand…let’s tackle this thing together.”  In that simple hand on my shoulder, I sensed something of the heart of Jesus toward my sickness.

We sat down together in his office and he listened to my story with rapt attention.  He had many of his own opinions as to how he would treat me if he were my primary physician but was also mindful of the fact that he greatly respects our current doctor.  And as we move forward, he and or primary doctor will probably be collaborating on certain aspects of my treatment.

After we talked, he pricked my finger and looked at my blood under a dark field microscope, which was hooked up to a computer monitor.  We could see my blood cells in almost 3D floating around on the slide, and in his words, “It looks like you still have a lot of work to do.”  Apparently your blood cells are supposed to flow individually through your body rather than in clumps.  Well, nearly all of my red cells were in clumps of 10+.  This is caused by the osmotic pressure exerted on them by antibodies present in the blood.  The presence of clumping, and therefore antibodies, is a surefire sign of not only infection but also autoimmune response.  We also saw several white blood cells, just another confirmation in a long list that I do indeed have infections present in my body.

Finally, we got to the exciting part, the ozone joint injections.  After examining my knees and ankle he was confident that these injections would bring relief, since it appears that most of the damage/problems in those joints is soft-tissue rather than bone deformation.  Finances were very tight for us, so I asked him to clarify that the price per shot is in fact $250.  He said, “Well, since you’re getting both knees done, I usually give you a break and charge $350 for the pair.”  I thought, Great!, and told him to go ahead.

As he was treating my knees, the details of which could fill another blog post (with the needles poking way into the knee joints and such…yes, an appropriate reaction on your part is wincing and butterflies in the stomach), I noticed a cross on the wall, and a picture of an old man with hands clasped and two other hands reaching down to him.  In very small writing I thought it said, “Gospel of John” but wasn’t sure…so I asked.
He said, “Yes it does say Gospel of John.”  I took that as my cue to share a bit more of our story: “You know, right around the time I started getting better is when our church started praying for healing.”  And again, one of those moments passed that contained so much more than the casual observer would notice.  He simply said, “Wow!  Interesting.”  I don’t know if he is a believer, or if he simply respects the beliefs or what, but at the very least it seemed as if he was mindfully logging away my story as one more piece of the puzzle to take into account regarding this whole healing thing.

He then told me about a little girl he had treated once:  “She came in with some digestive disease that I had successfully treated many times.  Seriously, this was one of the easiest problems for me to heal people from.  I was thinking to myself, ‘This will be great, I DON’T fail with these cases.’  But she didn’t respond at all to anything I tried.  And after a time of frustrated failure, I finally referred her to another physician.  About a week later I spoke with her parents and asked them how she was doing.  They said she was totally fine!  I asked if they had taken her to the other doctor and they said that they didn’t need to.  They took her to their church where they laid hands on her, and she woke up the next day totally healed!”

It’s nice being treated by a doctor humble enough to allow for the Great Physician to heal also!  After this story, I asked him if he would also be injecting my ankle (the one that’s turned out).  After he said that he was, I asked him to give me a minute to do the financial math to make sure that we could afford the additional shot.  Immediately, he said, “Don’t worry about it.  I’ll throw this one in.”  I had to fight back tears right there in his office.  Really?  Are you kidding me?  This doesn’t often happen in the world of doctors.
Well, he finished with the injections and went out to give the paperwork to the front desk as I put my shoes on and made my way out behind him.  

 When I got to the front, he told me he'd see me next time, for round two of injections, and walked back to his office.  I turned to the administrative assistant, and she said, "Okay, your total for today is $175."

"Wait, WHAT?!"

"$175."

"Did you get the charge for the testing and the injections?!  Even with the break he gave me it should be more than THAT!"

"He told me that it was all included."

Wow!  So instead of leaving his office $1000 or more poorer, we were walking out only having paid $175 and knowing that the Lord is indeed meeting ALL of our needs.  We'll see the full benefits of these injections as the next few weeks play out, but regardless of the outcome, we were blessed immensely by this trip.

Thank you to all of you who helped make this possible through prayer, through giving in various ways, etc.  We can't do this alone, and we know, thanks to you all, we aren't alone.  May God bless you even more in the coming weeks.

Friday, September 21, 2012

A great appointment, and now...a trip to Carson City!

Corrie and I have been pretty amazed lately as we watch God's healing hand pull my body out of what has, at times, felt like an inescapable illness.  It seems like almost daily someone is coming up to us and marveling at how good I look.  My face is fuller with healthy color, I stand straighter, I walk faster...no cane now for almost two months.  We've been praying and believing for these things for a long time, but now that they are actually happening, it's almost hard to believe.

Its easy to wonder...Is it going to last?  Is this really the Lord?  Or my doctor?  Or my food?  Or what?  And something that seemed so easy to believe when it was furthest out of reach now gets assaulted by all of these "more plausible" possibilities. But we and so many others(you included!) have been praying for exactly what is happening.  The God who committed himself to being faithful to his word and to answer the prayers of his people, has done just that...answered prayer.

Certainly, the treatments I've received have been invaluable in my healing.  And my diet has been just as if not MORE valuable.  But those things are tools that the Lord has used to answer our prayers.  I used to think that this type of thinking reflected a lack of faith for miraculous healing...and I still think it can.  Sometimes its easy to fall into the trap of thinking that God will only heal through medicine and doctors, but we don't believe that the Bible limits God in this way.

I also think that, in these last several months, as we've been convicted by the Lord that he is our healer and that it is his heart to bring healing to those who are sick, he has stood with us and been our Captain in battle as we've chased down my healing through all available methods.  I believe that faith for healing can be answered in a miracle...and it can also be answered by having the Lord himself supercharge your doctor visits, treatments, research, and food choices.  It's as if he says, "I hear your prayers, and I will heal you.  Let's go hunt down this promise together.  I will fight for you and with you, and lead you through the battle."  And that is no less a miracle than the man whose withered limb is strengthened in an instant.  Or the woman whose cancer disappears overnight after hands were laid on her.

ANYWAY...the goal of this post was to tell you about our latest doctor visit...  Corrie and I went to two doctor's appointments on Friday August 31st.  And they were awesome!  The first appointment was with the doctor (whom we've written about before) who has done a lot of my previous testing to find my parasite and viral infections, etc..  The first thing she said, as she started tested was, "WOW!  You've been a saint with your food!"  That was so funny to hear, because, yes, for the last couple months I have been eating far different than I ever have before.  And I strongly believe that it has been part of this latest huge healing that's been happening.

To summarize her findings, most of my infections (which had been numerous) are gone.  Lyme and bartonella (a common co-infection) are still present, as is blastocystis hominis (a parasite).  But their prevalence in my body is SO much smaller than it was before.  It actually feels like my body has been able to get a leg up on them and start fighting back on its own!  There were NO more viruses (other than a cold virus I was fighting at the time), no candida, no mycoplasma...it was amazing!  Usually the test results she prints up are 4 or 5 pages long of infection numbers, this time we walked out of there with 2 pages of results!

Also, my hormone and thyroid function have massively improved.  For example, my testosterone was deficient at my last visit, but is totally normal now.  And blood tests for my thyroid were also below healthy, but those same tests this time came back healthy and normal!  My one weakness, she said, is my adrenals, which is probably mostly because I've been on prednisone, which has a tendency to knock them out a bit.

That same day we took those test results to our main doctor who was just amazed at how much I had improved, both visually and on paper.  As usual, he asked what I felt was going on in my body, and what I thought was causing this improvement, and I told him, "My food!"  I started telling him about everything I've been eating, and he got really excited.  He himself has been eating much the same for years now!  By the way, I plan to write a whole separate post on the food I've been eating.  It's amazing how healing FOOD has been and at how God designed our bodies to heal themselves if we give them the things that he provided for us to eat. 

So our plan going forward is to keep attacking the remaining infections with the same herbs I've already been using (they've been working so far!).  Also, we've just decreased my prednisone dosage from 20mg per day to 15mg per day.  That is HUGE!!!!  In the past, my body would not have been able to handle this without a huge flare of pain and swelling.  But it's been 3 weeks now, and while I've noticed a small increase in pain, it is absolutely nothing like what it would have been 3 months ago.  I can still function and exercise and do everything I was doing on 20mg.

I am so thankful for this answer to prayer, that God is healing me to the point of beginning to go off the prednisone. AND by the way!  The doctor who was doing my testing commented that, according to her tests, it appears as if prednisone has NOT been damaging my body as it could have been!  We asked you all specifically to pray that my body would not suffer any of the harmful effects of prednisone.  And my doctor confirmed that answer to prayer nearly word for word!

So, in short, I am still doing some herbal antibiotics (less than before), vitamins and supplements (much less than before), detox and exercise (MORE than before), and EATING WELL (again, another post on that soon).

The last part of our update is our trip to Carson City!

We leave TOMORROW!!!!!

We are so stoked to be combining a doctor visit with an early fall family vacay. Last week Corrie and I traveled with our pastors and a team of people up to our campground near Sonora, where Corrie led the childcare team for the District Pastor's Retreat. And who should be in that district but the church in Carson City! So, having met the pastors of that church, and watching their grandchildren at camp, we will be visiting new friends. Tomorrow we will head up and over the mountains to land us in Carson City. We will spend the night there, go to church the next morning, and then head back up into Tahoe.

A very kind couple in our church is letting us use their cabin in South Lake for the remainder of our stay up there. During my appointment on Monday, Corrie and Rebecca will do some exploring in Carson City, possibly visiting the children's museum and cool looking park right there in town. I'll join them for as much as I can in between and after my two appointments. We've heard that its a pretty cool little city.

If internet is available to us, Corrie hopes to write an update while we are there, if not, we will try to update you all just as soon as post trip unpacking, laundry and getting back to life-ness allows.

Prayer Requests:

1. Please pray that the Lord blesses our travel and keeps us safe.
2. Please pray that we have an enjoyable time as a family.
3. Please pray that the Lord blesses this doctor in NV and his staff, and that his treatments are successful in my body.
4. Praise God that my body is gaining ground! That prednisone is not affecting me negatively, and that we are beginning the weaning process!
5. Praise God that I have several tutoring students and several more in the works!

God is good always! We are so grateful for all He has done, is doing, and will do on our behalf.

Love, Matt and Corrie

Friday, August 24, 2012

Learning about prayer


Many of us learned the Lord’s Prayer by heart as children. In it, Christ teaches us HOW to pray, which is good because how else would we have felt comfortable approaching GOD on our own, when, before Christ, we had priests to do it for us. And even with this example prayer, how often do I still pray and feel like my words hit the ceiling and fall?

“Dear Jesus….um, thank you for this day…please help me to control myself today…dear God please let Rebecca figure out this potty training thing…amen.” 

Or often it’s “GOD! Heal Matt. Heal Matt. Heal Matt. Heal Matt. Heal Matt. Heal Matt. Heal Matt. amen.”

Now, aside from the Lord’s Prayer sounding eloquent (at least to us today) there are some good clues in there about how to pray, that I think I previously had missed, and therefore want to share them…
This is the Lord’s Prayer as Corrie remembers it off hand:
Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name (I’ve got some King James going on here!),
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever and ever amen.

Matt and I are constantly seeking the Lord for miraculous healing, even in the midst of apparent healing at doctor’s hands. And I would not argue against you if you said the two were intrinsically related. But praying for the Lord to reach down and just heal has brought up questions for me about what I believe about the Holy Spirit, and about the Kingdom of Heaven. But something new in the Lord’s Prayer jumped out at me recently.

Jesus instructed us to pray: Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Now, the way I had memorized this as a child, I naturally stopped to take a breath in between “Thy will be done” and “on earth as it is in heaven”, thus separating the statement. But it clearly says that we are allowed to ask, even instructed to ask, that the Lord do on earth exactly what would be done in heaven. And what does scripture say the Lord wants in Heaven?

Revelation 21:4 is a hopeful preview:
“and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

And Jesus defined the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 10
“7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.”

So when Christ tells us to pray that the Lord’s will be done on earth, just as it is in Heaven, and then gives us examples of what that looks like, I find some clarity in what I can pray for. When we pray “Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”, we are really praying “Bring it on God!”

I had previously struggled with “Your Will be done” because it sounded too Laissez Faire, too se la vie, too “que sera, sera, whatever will be will be”. I had even prayed “Lord, please heal so-and-so, BUT Your will be done”…and I walked away confused, and feeling rather helpless.

I do not see that scripture says anywhere that it’s the Lord’s will that people stay sick, and I don’t know why there are people who stay sick despite asking and believing. I DO NOT think it is as simple as “you must not have enough faith,” but even so, Christ did not EVER deny someone healing who asked and believed. He NEVER said "it is God’s will that you stay sick even though I am standing right here." Nor did He send out his disciples saying "Try your best to heal people, but…"

Indeed not. Rather, Matthew 10:1 says: Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

So whether we got tired of asking, or He has other things in our life He is working on, or there is bitterness over unanswered prayer, or our hearts are right and we believe but there is still a battle going on with the prince of this world, I still believe that there is more healing than we are currently experiencing. And I believe we can hold on for it, and continue asking, asking, asking.

 The Apostle Paul and his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) are often pointed to as an example of someone staying sick despite asking. But even there, it is a stretch to conclude that the infliction is only physical, as it is called a weakness in most translations*, and Paul himself categorizes the “thorn” as something sent as a messenger of Satan. Thus clarifying that it is Satan who sends the thorn, and God who turns it into His glory.

Now the Lord is in charge of what He does in all situations, and He is the one who can choose to heal or not, and is allowed to have other things going on that we can’t see. But He has also shown us in these verses (and others)  that He desires no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering.

Is it possible, that in wanting to ensure that we submit to the Lord’s will, we have at times, lost the urgency that is allowed in prayer? We shrug and say "perhaps that was the Lord’s will…"

What does that say to a hurting world? Does that represent a close and loving God?

When did we become satisfied with sickness? Our world, our nation, is VERY sick! The National Institutes of Health estimate “up to 23.5 million Americans suffer from autoimmune disease and that the prevalence is rising.” (http://www.aarda.org/autoimmune_statistics.php)

MATH LESSON!!!
There are 314,227,023 people in the United States! (http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html)
Approximately 23,500,000 have autoimmune diseases…..
We divide autoimmune by population as a whole to get percentage…..thank you God for calculators….

= 7.5% of our nation is sick with diseases for which standard Western Medicine declares there is no cure, only treatment of symptoms. That is a lot of hurting people...and that's only autoimmune disease, not cancer, not Lyme's disease, not heart failure, or asthma, or any psychological pain.

Sickness came into the world as a result of the fall, therefore I believe God HATES sickness. Let’s not forget that God is highly emotional. Not in an irrational, moody way, but real, holy emotion. In frustration and grief He shook the world when Christ died and ripped a foot THICK piece of velvet. It hurt Him. And it pains Him when we still suffer the effects of a fallen world.

He longs to heal us inside and out. But just as we must ask for salvation…and freely He gives it…so I believe that we can ask for healing.

I know that people have taken this conclusion too far before, and that many have been hurt and confused by declarations of “you are now well”, or “if you had faith, you would be healed”. That is not what I am suggesting. I AM suggesting continued prayer that stands on the promises of God. Prayer that DOES declare: “this is what you said, Lord!” And I am suggesting that we ask for eyes to see what else the Lord is doing, how else He is paving the way for His glory. And of course we pray for patience, because the Lord’s ways are not our ways, and He is not constrained by time.

~ And as a side note, if you are reading this, and wanting prayer, I WANT to pray for you and with you. So call us, or message us on Facebook, or post a message here. We really want to stand with you.~

I re-wrote the Lord’s prayer in my vernacular, just to see if it sounds different. Sorry your Highness King James, but I like my version better  : )

Father God You are so good! Your name is Holy and high above all other names! Father let your Kingdom come and be on earth as You promised. That same Kingdom where there is no pain, no suffering, no tears, no loneliness, no sickness, no death! Just as it is in Heaven! As you said: Behold the Kingdom of the Lord is at Hand…let us see that! Give me just what I need. No more. I’ll trust you for the rest. Forgive me again and again for how I screw up every day. And please give me Your love so that I can forgive those who screw up around me, and even hurt me. Don’t even let me walk into something that will tempt me! And stand strong around us and through us as the Enemy attacks. All this is YOURS, all power is YOURS, all glory is YOURS forever!

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*Paul’s thorn in the flesh is called an “infirmity” in King James Version. I did a little Greek word search on “infirmity” as used in Scripture, and even then it was used to describe “want of strength, weakness, infirmity of the body (native weakness and frailty, or feebleness of health) and infirmity of the soul (want of strength to understand, to do great things, to restrain corrupt desires, and to bear struggles).”  (www.blueletterbible.org) That is still not conclusive proof of illness to me.