Under His Wings

It's been an never ending cycle.  I get serious about my health, do good for a few months then give up.   As a result, my health is such a mess!!! My diabetes is way out of control.  As a result, there has been nerve damage to my stomach. I was officially diagnosed with a condition called Gastroparesis in December.  In simple terms, the stomach doesn't digest food quickly anymore.  Thankfully with medicine it's under control now.  A year ago, before my diagnosis I was in misery!! My energy level is almost nothing.  My house is such a total disaster!!  It's embarassing!!! I got a big, serious lecture from my doctor yesterday about the importance of diet and exercise.  With my health issues, they are really the only things that will help.  My doctor said he can encourage me, but it's ultimately up to me to change. I have renewed my membership to my fitness pal page to keep myself accountable.  I've also found some new exercis...

photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.com On Labor Day we decided to take a last minute trip up to our State Fair, about 2 hours away.  On the route to get there, we had to go through Cortland NY, where I lived for 2 years.  Wonderful memories were made there while I attended SUNY Cortland.  A lot of those memories flooded back as I wandered around Walgreens (a new addition to town since I graduated in 1992.) I kept myself busy with a lot of fun activities.   I was part of Cortland State TV (CSTV).  I was an anchor/reporter my first year and news producer/director the next.  I also was on the production crew on various other shows.   I helped my friend Janice lay out the school newspaper, Dragon Chronicle.  There were many sleepless nights doing that :).   I attended Faith Baptist Church, where my former youth pastor Allen Carpenter was pastoring.  Sadly, he and his wife have both died.  I sang in the choir while there.  Th...

Green Lakes State Park August 2009 Last night my husband Tim and I decided to go for a walk.  We stopped to talk to our neighbor across the street.  As we were standing there, I felt a few raindrops.  Since it was a light rain, we decided to proceed with our walk.   The rain stayed light until we turned off a side street heading back toward home.  It started to POUR!!!  Tim took my hand and started to sing a romantic song about singing in the rain. It didn't take long for my glasses to get wet.  It was hard to see, but I actually enjoyed walking in the rain.  It reminded me of the walks we used to take while on vacation at Green Lakes State Park, my favorite park of all times!  I sure wish we could go back again. The clouds have been threatening rain all day.  I'm hoping the rain holds off until later this evening. Elijah has a baseball game and I want to see it.  For one reason or another, I haven't been able to see a ...

On Thursday afternoon, May 29, around noon, 42 year old State Trooper Christopher Skinner was at a routine traffic stop on Interstate 81.  It wasn't too far from my hometown of Chenango Bridge NY.  Trooper Skinner grew up nearby also.  Suddenly a man from Florida swiped the car that Trooper Skinner had stopped and killed him instantly. It was revealed at a news conference hours later, that the man admitted to hitting the trooper on purpose.  Then had the nerve to say that he was in a 'time warp'  that he had no idea how he got from Connecticut, hours away from the accident scene.  UNBELIEVABLE!!! I've seen other law enforcement officers' funerals, the last being in April when a Johnson City officer was shot to death.  This death hit home for me.    My mom went to high school with Chris' dad and uncle.  Chris himself graduated from the same high school a year behind me.  I found his picture in my senior yearbook last night. A tear...

2013 has been a very challenging year.   It was a year of patience testing and a call to fully rely on God!!!! I wrote the following during one of those times, it was at the beginning of my search for some answers for some upper abdominal pain that started in August.  Since this entry, I’ve got my diagnosis, but it expresses my feelings about having a chronic illness. (8/22/13 at a local hospital having an upper GI series... having the first of the 5 tests) The past few weeks have been a test of patience!!!  I have been dealing with a stomach issue at the moment of this initial writing is in the process of being diagnosed. I’ve dealt with pain, nausea, bloating and other digestive yuckiness.  I’ve just felt just plain awful! This latest health crisis has brought to reality what my doctors have been telling me for years…take care of myself not only for me but for my family’s sake. I’ve been in denial for over 19 years thinking my diabetes isn’t taking a toll on...

Glen Payne and George Younce of the Cathredrals singing Search Me O God God has been using recent church sermons to speak to my heart and convict me of some sin in my life.  My pastor's message this morning was based on Matthew 7:1-4  (Why see the speck in another's eye and not the plank in your own) and Psalm 51 (Cleanse every wicked way in me).  In light of this morning's communion service, my mind went to Psalm 139:23 (I thought it was in Psalm 51).  I like how the New International Version puts it  "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." taken from www.biblegateway.com One of my sins is worry and anxiety, so this is a great reminder to me to let God have control of my whole entire life....my anxieties, my thoughts, my actions....everything!!!!  Another great sermon, I heard while I was on vacation, was a reminder to let God dig deep into my life and remove all the sin and hurts that have buil...

During one night of our recent vacation, while Tim was watching the Yankees play on TV, I decided to listen to my radio.  I was looking for a specific station WMHR, part of the "The Mars Hill Nework," a Christian radio station I used to listen to during my college days. The radio station, along with my church, Faith Baptist Church, was a solice for me, especially in my early days at SUNY Cortand. I was only 45 minutes from home, but it was a big change for me to be all alone in a big college campus.  There were months in my first year I could not attend church because of my internship and other school activities, so the radio station was then my only source of Bible teaching. I was able to find WMHR after a few tries. This particular night, I sat and listened to Charles Swindoll, one of my favorite speakers back then.  He still is, but I forget he's on at 9:30 PM.  Later in the week, I was able to listen to a few more of my favorite radio preac...