Updates & Ozone

Hello again dear friends and family.  I feel like, over the course of this blog's history, a good deal of our posts have started by us apologizing for how long it's been since our last.  And though this has definitely been the longest interval between posts thus far...I'll just forego that part for now.

A LOT has definitely happened for us over the last few months, ever since we moved on to our church campus, when I started working on staff and Corrie transitioned from children's ministry to pastor's assistanthood.  Not only were those things in themselves huge life changes for us, but they have carried along with them spiritual changes as well.  My world is being rocked by the lessons I'm learning about myself, about Corrie, about marriage, about Jesus, about the kingdom.

I think the central lesson I'm learning, like the trunk of the tree whose roots go out to touch all these different aspects of life, is this (as one of our pastors told me one day): "Don't concede your place."  In other words, know who you are in the Lord.  Know what he has given you.  Know your place as husband, as father, as believer...and don't let the enemy fool you into thinking anything different.  What the Lord has given you to do...do it. When it's hard, fight through. When it's painful, fight through. When it feels like you weren't made for the job at hand, fight through...because you were.  For the sake of the kingdom and the sake of our loved ones, and the sake of the world...fight through.  Because you are not alone.  You may not be powerful or cut out for the job or even minimally able, but, like David, you "come in the name of the Lord," and in him you are, "more than a conqueror."

This blog is one of those places I don't want to concede.  It sounds silly and small and relatively meaningless...I mean really...who cares about a little blog?  But it is more than that.  It's a tangible way of re-orienting my naturally selfish mind to start thinking about others.  When you're sick with Lyme or any disease, it's very VERY easy to turn inward, to let selfishness rule and to start assuming that others exist to help ME.  And lately, I haven't been feeling quite as well as I had been.  Lo and behold, my attitude has been bending back around toward me.

On Good Friday, our pastor spoke on the story of the exodus and the first passover.  He brought us to Exodus 9:13-16:

The the Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me.  For this time I will send all my plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.  But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth." ' "

So God's heart was, of course, to deliver his people because he cared for them and was moved with compassion by their suffering and captivity.  But it was also so much more.  It was, like with Abraham, to make them a blessing to the whole earth.  God wanted the whole earth to know him in his presence and power.  To experience his deliverance and freedom.  To live life with Him, not on their own.

That's why I don't want to concede my place in this blog.  It is an avenue for the world, our friends, and our family to look on and see God's hand in our lives.  It's a way for us to align ourselves with his heart to use our healing journey as a blessing to others.  May my healing not just be for me and Corrie only.  May it be for others' healing, whether miraculous or by treatments we try.  May it be a way for the Holy Spirit to speak a word of life to you.  Our prayer is, "Lord, deliver us...and them too."

A couple weeks ago now, I had another doctor appointment with our wonderful doctor in Los Altos. I told him that, prior to my getting pneumonia in January, I felt like I had plateaued.  I wasn't getting worse...I just wasn't getting noticeably better.  Then shortly after I got over my pneumonia, it felt as if my body started slowly getting more and more inflamed.  From that time until now, my joints have been a bit more swollen and my non-joint, fibromyalgia-type pain has been more frequent and a bit more intense.  Not debilitating by any means, but at the same time definitely noticeable.  Until these recent weeks, it had been months since I had had that kind of pain. 

As I told this to my doctor, he didn't look worried.  But he did look determined.  He wants to act decisively and quickly so that my body can keep making strides forward.  So, in addition to adding some solid herbal treatments, he brought up the option of pursuing ozone treatment.

Now, this is really exciting to me because, if you'll remember, we asked you all to pray that my body would be able to handle ozone months ago.  We ventured to Carson City for one round of joint injections, had a wonderful experience, and then we didn't do anything else ozone-related for several months.  Well, this time around we will pursue both joint injections AND systemic ozone treatment.  If all goes well, it will be an integral part of my treatment plan. Exciting!

So, for the joint injections, in a month I will be seeing a doctor here in SC who, since our trip to Carson City, has been trained by the "inventor" of the treatment (the doctor in Carson City).  I've put two appointments on the books with him, one for May 2nd and one a week later.  It will be exciting to see what effect these shots have on my arthritis now that I will be receiving the recommended minimum number of treatments (2), with probable repeat treatments.

The systemic ozone treatment is what I am even more excited about.  The doctor in Carson City uses systemic ozone all the time as a routine procedure for his chronically ill patients.  Ozone used in this way has so many powerful effects that I'm considering doing another blog post just about that.  But basically, ozone not only kills pathogenic organisms, of which I have had many, but it also is a powerful detoxifying agent.  The more I learn by studying and by experience, the more I believe that detoxifying is even more important than killing the infections.  Detoxifying is what actually allows your body to heal so that IT can kill the infections.

While in Carson City back in the fall, the doctor told me that, if I ever wanted to pursue systemic ozone treatment, I could actually buy my own machine and administer treatment myself.  He said this would be at least 95% as effective as what he does in his practice.  At that time, purchasing an ozone machine was definitely outside of our finances. So we began praying for it. And we are so excited to be able to say that God made a way! So...with our doctor's encouragement and guidance, we bought a machine, and I will soon begin that form of ozone treatment at home.

In the midst of all this, getting joint injections from one doctor, administering ozone treatment to myself under the care of my usual doctor, still going forward with my already established treatments (infection killing herbs, supplements, detox enemas, exercise bike, etc.), I have also scheduled a phone consultation with the doctor in Carson City.  He is world-renowned in the realm of healing and particularly in the use of all types of ozone treatment.  Since I've already established myself in his practice, I want to bring him on board as we go forward in this new phase.

By the way, let's not forget about food!  Corrie, Rebecca and I have been diving headlong into eating healing foods.  I don't believe any of these treatments would carry nearly as much weight if we weren't eating the way we are.  We spend a lot of time and resources on getting good, nutrient-dense food, but it's the foundation for everything else we're pursuing.  We've written about it before, but it's probably time for another post soon. 

There you have it...some spiritual mixed with some practical.  But really, it's all spiritual.  As we're pursuing healing and the breakthrough of God's kingdom in power, we're also seeing him guide us in the physical pursuit of healing.  We will go full throttle in praying for miraculous, undeniably-Jesus healing as well as in praying for him to lead us to the right foods, treatments, doctors, etc.  And we are seeing that pursuit of one doesn't necessarily mean abandonment of the other.  In each case, we bank on what moved the Lord to heal in the Gospels, his compassion.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
1) Please pray that the joint injections will have profound healing effects on my arthritic joints.  May they produce results beyond what they could without prayer.
2) Please pray that the systemic ozone treatment we are about to begin would give my body what it needs to rid itself of toxins, to kill infections, to normalize out of whack systems, and to heal.
3) Please pray that my body would move beyond the plateau that it's been at, and that I would quickly start to see improvement and decrease in inflammation/pain.
4) Please pray that, in all this, my body would start to be able to stand more on its own and that I would be able to wean off of prednisone.
5) Please pray that my mind and spirit would be strong in the joy of Jesus.  When I have bad body days, my countenance can be down, which is hard on Corrie and Rebecca.
6) Please pray for Corrie, that her body would be strengthened in the midst of her infections, and that we would be able to start treatment for her too.
7) Please pray for Rebecca and any future children (not that there are any to announce right now...).  May this health battle end with my generation.  May the Lord cut it off here.
8) Finally, please pray that the Lord would continue to provide for our needs.  As you can imagine, treatments and supplements and doctor visits and machines are expensive.  Also, the healing foods that we have discovered take a considerable portion of our income.  But we believe Psalm 103:5 which says that He "satisfies our mouths with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagles" and Philippians 4:19 that "God will supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

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 12^th, 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!

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!

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.

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