January 12, 2009

January is marching on and God is filling my life with blessings every day!

First, I have to share my test results from my Dr appointment last week. I still have a ways to go, but, God is answering prayers in what has changed so far. Thank you for praying!! I've been watching my cholesterol for a long time. Now that my liver is cranky, I've really changed to a specific nutrition and natural focus. In just 2 months (between mid-Oct and mid-Dec blood tests) my overall cholesterol has dropped 41 points (yes I said 41) to a normal level! What a miracle! My outrageous triglycerides have dropped almost in half and working their way to normal. My good cholesterol is almost normal, my off the charts bad cholesterol dropped to normal. One of the two liver enzyme tests is normal now and the other is very close to normal. Can you believe it! All this great change in just 2 months!! I think I should be on a Quaker Oats commercial! Yes, I eat oats for breakfast every morning (with orange juice and a handful of raw nuts). Only God could take what I'm trying to do with my health and make such huge improvements. Thank you all soooo much for praying for me!! And keep sending me recipes and tips for healthy, organic eating.

God has blessed my time each day by bringing people into my life; some I've just met, some I haven't spoken with for a while. So many relationships to invest time in. It's been awesome.

I've met a new friend, Brenna, who just moved here last week to study art for a semester. It will be fun to explore NYC together and introduce her to the people at Parable. She will really fit in with that group well.

There is a wonderful family named the Allums, who were visiting NYC while their oldest son was having some tests done at Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital. Parable was introduced to them through the father of one of our members. We put together a nice welcome bag full of goodies to be in their hotel room when they arrived. A home cooked meal was delivered to them at their hotel Sunday evening. Today I was blessed to spend the day with them at the hospital, to play with the siblings while James Christopher went through his bone marrow biopsy. I learned even more how challenged I am at video games while playing with John Thomas. I got to spend time chatting with Mom and Dad at lunch. I was very happy to play 'Sorry' with Caroline (and a little 6 year old girl hooked up to a chemo IV) while Mom and Dad talked to the doctor. Then they invited me to join the family for a traditional trip to Dylan's Candy Store and then dinner (and famous frozen hot chocolate) at Serendipity. It was a really good day. I will be staying in touch with the family and Parable will continue to minister to them as they come to NYC for further testing and the much prayed for transplant surgery. The pediatric ward at that hospital is awesome. I was given information about applying to volunteer in the family waiting room, and some of us from Parable will be checking into that opportunity. Also, Parable is promoting getting tested to become bone marrow donors (the test is very easy). I'll share more later about James Christopher, and how God is using his illness and the story of the family to save lives and save souls.

I'm really enjoying being a New Yorker lately. Even in the cold and sometimes wet and freezing weather. Living and working here is not easy, but it's so amazing. God is so big. His love is so deep. His harvest is huge.

Thank you for prayers, love and support of all kinds. I'm going to be working on more visual communication in the near future. I want you to see and feel what I do in this ministry. We're all a part of it together.

Blessings!!