New Stuff at Our House

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Food and Drink, Household, What's Happening

We had a busy end-of-the-week last week, and as the result of being out and about, we have a few new tools for our house, our business and our boy.

The first new item:  deodorant.  No, it's not for me.  It's for Isaac.  {sigh…} : )

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This is a handy cleaner that we found for Isaac.  It is gentle on his skin, and can also be used on his hair.  I find this a real help on those days when I have to change him from head to toe, over and over.  (well, most days, really.)

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This is a handy little tool for the kitchen.  It's a salad spinner.  Not the pricey oxo one I had my eye on, but a cheapy one from Old Time Pottery.  We'll see how it stands up.  I was able to chop up romaine and spinach, throw it in there, wash it, spin it and store it in my lettuce keeper.  Very nice!

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Doug bought me this sketch book for my jewelry business.  Sometimes, it helps to see things on paper…and sometimes it would be nice if I could take a picture of the image in my head and transfer it to paper through some magical process. 

I am NO artist, and sometimes I can't even manage to draw what I'm thinking on the paper.  However, once in a while, I have some ideas that need to be jotted down before I forget them.  So I keep this pad by my bed for just that purpose.

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And THIS…ah, this little gem of a book has my creative juices really flowing!  It has wonderful projects in it, and gives step by step instructions for some techniques that I had not yet learned.  I am so excited to try some new things, and also to improve on some of the techniques that I use all the time.

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So, those are the new things in our house this week.  Oh, and I'll be trying to find the recipe for this new dish, so that it will be in our house, too:

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It's Spaghetti Primavera, and it was absolutely delicious!  Oh, and Doug's entree wasn't bad, either:

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Veggie pizza with eggplant and peppers.  He really enjoyed it!

Yes, in case you were wondering, we were able to go out to lunch on Saturday, thanks to Grammy!  We went to Carrabba's and had a wonderful time.

I'm wondering…is there anything new at your house today?  I'd love to hear about it!  Leave me a comment below. : )

Blessings,

Alesha

Hope in the Freedom to be Holy

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope

Before we became Christians, we were in bondage to sin. I know it felt like "freedom" at times, but in truth, we were enslaved by our lusts and the desires of the flesh. We had no freedom.

Now that we have believed Christ, and have become new creatures in Him, those things that we were enslaved by should be dead to us. Instead, we should be alive to Christ and the desires that He has for our lives.

Romans 6~
[19]
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh:
for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to
iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to
righteousness unto holiness.
[20] For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
[21] What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
[22] But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

  • The fruit of our lives before Christ was death.
  • The fruit of our lives after salvation are holiness and everlasting life.

We like that "everlasting life" part, but too often fail to practice the "holiness" aspect.

If you are continuing to practice the same sins that held you in bondage before your salvation, something is seriously wrong.

You
need to spend time in the Bible with the Lord to make sure of your
salvation; or you need to spend time in the Word to fortify yourself to
abstain from those sins. (Either way, time spent in God's Word is
profitable for us all.)

We will all face occasional temptations to return to the sins that used to hold us captive,
but with the living Word of God as our sword and the shield of our
faith, we can quench the fiery darts of the enemy and live a life of
freedom and holiness before God.

Such a Lovely Day

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings

I have had such a nice day.  Isaac was happy and content and seemed to feel a little better today.

I got 2 packages in the mail today!  Isn't that exciting?  The biggest box was full of BOOKS from Doug's mom!  Whoo hoo!!!  Plenty of reading material for a looooong while!

The second little package was a mystery to me, until I opened it and found this beautiful hand quilted piece:

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Look how it matches my pillow!!!  Bren didn't even know what colors I had in my living room, but she couldn't have matched it any better if she had tried!  Bren's work is exquisite, I can tell you.  I cannot even begin to wrap my brain around the amount of work – and LOVE – in this piece!  Thank you, sweet Bren!  I will treasure it always.

It is just so beautiful, and I think I might find a place for it as a wall hanging.  Won't that be so pretty???  I'll have to find just the right hanger for it.  : )

So, such a nice day for me – full of loving wishes and great surprises!  God is so good to me!

Blessings to you,
Alesha

Update on Isaac

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Uncategorized

Isaac visited his gastroenterologist today.  He weighed in at 57 pounds, which is down 3 pounds from 8 months ago.  He really shouldn't be losing weight. 

So the doctor increased his daily formula by 100 mls.  He also approved of our adding carrot juice to Isaac's diet.  We are very happy about that.  We are hoping that we might be able to remove one of his medications (the one that keeps his bowel movements regular) by using the carrot juice instead.  Also, just think of all the vitamins and nutrients we will be adding with that juice. : )

They also measure Isaac's height when we visit.  He was 50.5 inches.  That's 4 feet 2.5 inches.  We tell him all the time, but I think today proved our point:  He is just a long, tall drink of water!

Isaac seemed to be a little "under the weather" today.  He was very pleasant, but would have rather stayed home in bed.  We know that because when the people on the radio started talking in between the songs (how dare they stop the music!!!) he fussed; and when he was fussing today, he kept saying "Home!" and "Room!" pretty plainly.  It was clear to us that he did not feel up to a day out, because he usually enjoys them so much.

I have not been feeling well today, either.  I don't know if it's the letdown
after the adrenalin rush of yesterday or something else.  Ya'll know how I go into "possible hospital trip" overdrive, preparing our overnight bags and getting Isaac's meds ready for the trip, just in case.  I am praying
I will feel better tomorrow.

Thanks again for your concern, and for your faithful prayers.  He did not have fever today as far as we know.  We will check him again before he goes to bed.  Lord willing, it was just a virus and he will be back to his perky self tomorrow. : )

Blessings to you,
Alesha

Update to Prayer Request

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Isaac Update, Prayer Request

Well, the doctor could not find anything wrong with him, and assumes he has something viral.  If he continues to run fever for 3 more days, then we will take him back.

BUT she could not check the shunt of course (it's in the back of his head, under the skin…here is a site explaining shunts) and so we will be going to see the neurosurgeon next week.  If by next week, the fever has stopped, then that will be a good indication that the shunt is just fine.

So thank you for praying.  His fever is still down, and he has been acting like he feels ok.  We'll check his temperature again, as the sun goes down.  That's when it tends to go back up.

This has been one of those days that all parents of special needs children will understand.  There's a problem with my child, but because he can't communicate with us, we have no idea what it is.  We visit the doctor, and they can't tell us either.  So we wait, and pray that the issue is resolved or that it makes itself known.  However, we don't want our child to become more ill.  Our only choice is to wait, but that is so difficult.

This is one of those days when that digital readout on Isaac's forehead seems like a really good idea.: )

Birthday boy with daddy

I'll keep you updated on how he is doing.

Thank you again for praying for us,
Alesha

Prayer Request

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Isaac Update, Prayer Request

Hey ya'll…we're taking Isaac to the doctor today.  He's been running fever since yesterday.  Meds do bring it down, but then it goes back up again.

There are so many things that it could be…sinus, ears, throat, g-tube, kidneys, lungs, bladder or shunt.  If it is the shunt, that is very serious.  So since he has no symptoms that I've been able to deduce, please pray for wisdom for the doctor (not our regular doctor either!) to figure out what is going on with him.

I'll be back to update you later, Lord willing.

Thanks so much,
Alesha