Last leg

Tim finished off his last week with MDS and despite being quite sick, he, together with his crew were able to get lots of work accomplished. I arrived back on Friday, from my trip to Florida to see Dr. Fuller, just in time for lunch and was able to get the camper cleaned up and laundry done before Tim came back. Saturday morning Tim winterized the camper while I completed the packing of the inside and soon, after we said all our goodbyes, we were on the road.

Our first stop was Bowling Green, Kentucky (naturally we drove through Tennessee first) where we stopped for a tour of the Corvette Museum. We stopped at a Texas Roadhouse for supper. After supper Tim was not feeling to well, so I took over the driving and drove till somewhere around Evansville where we stopped at a Pilot station for the night.

Sunday morning we headed out towards Kalona Iowa to visit Norman, an Amish friend that we worked with in Birmingham. We passed through Illinois and Missouri before reaching Iowa and arrived at Normans home in the middle of the afternoon. His brother and family were over visiting and after a bit Norman decided he would take us to another brothers home in order for us to watch goats being milked. We rode over in his brothers buggy to tour the goat barn. It is not that much different than watching cows get milked but it is something that we had never experienced before. Too bad it was raining so much, it had actually rained all day on our drive over. The buggy ride was a cool experience and I am very thankful for our cars with heat. After our tour we headed back to Normans house, which he shares with his younger sister, for a delicious supper. We ended up visiting until quite lat before we headed out to sleep in our camper.

Monday morning was the first time we have slept in since our trip began, I think we slept till 8 am. Woke up to the sounds of clippity clop, clippity clop of the horse and buggies going down the street. After a hot shower and a filling breakfast we got in the camper, with Norman and began a short tour of the Kalona area. Our first stop was Midwest Woodworks where they sell quality heirloom furniture. We enjoyed our visit here and picked up a little something to bring home. Stop number two was the old Amish Schoolhouse where Norman's sister Regina was one of the teachers. It was a small one room schoolhouse for Grades 1-8. It was a neat experience. Next on our tour was the Stringtown Buggy Shop where they not only make new buggies out of wood or fibreglass but they also repair existing buggies. We stopped at the Cheese Store and got a couple of bags of cheese curds, thanks to Norman. For lunch we went to the Tequila Grill and enjoyed a great Mexican lunch. We dropped Norman back at home before heading back on the highway, our next destination was Minneapolis. It was great to be able to visit Norman at his home, to see some of his family and to learn how these Amish live in this area.

We made it as far as Albertville before retiring for the night. Almost home! After a wonderful waffle breakfast, (we choose to spend the night in a hotel) we headed to the Nike outlet store so we could purchase some new runners at a much discounted price than at home. Then it was back on the road again. Partly cloudy with clear highways and nice white snow to brighten our day. Just a bit of slippery roads East of Fargo and a few other places along the way.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time away. The time that we spent serving with Mennonite Disaster Service was both challenging and rewarding. It was a joy to serve our Lord! We met and worked with a variety of people from different walks of life. We were blessed to get to know them and know that for some of those folks we will be friends for life. We were touched by the stories of the survivors of the April 2011 hurricanes in Alabama especially for their thankfulness to God for sparing their lives and for the work of MDS in making their home safe to live in once again. These are memories that we will cherish forever. We thank God for giving us safety, strength and endurance to do His work. May He continue to lead us wherever He wants us to go and may we be obedient to His calling.

Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe.

Lord help me to always obey your voice.

Allergy Journey

My allergy treatment Journey.

This morning, March 4/2013, began my treatments with Dr. Joe Fuller. He began by doing some muscle resistant testing, and we could see that I was weak in some areas. Then we took some X-rays of my neck, spine and lower back, followed by some more muscle resistant testing. Next was some chiropractic treatments followed by two laser treatments, one for my hyoid bone (which was injured as a youth) and my left foot (which I broke in 2011).We also began some food testing and discovered that I was not allergic to egg yolks but was allergic to egg whites but I am not any more! Thanks to Dr. Fuller and his treatment, I am having eggs for breakfast tomorrow! Now I sit and wait until my next treatment. Throughout the day about every hour I would see Dr. Joe and he would do a chiropractic treatment and then test for allergies. Once he found an allergy he would treat me for it and then I would have to wait an hour before he could treat me for another allergy. If he treated me for something I would have to avoid that thing for the next hour but after that I would be able to eat/touch it. Today we eliminated egg whites, iron, minerals, corn, chocolate, caffeine and spices.

Tuesday morning I was right on time as I now knew exactly where to go as opposed to the first day when the GPS was not exactly on point. We began the same as yesterday with chiropractic treatments, some laser, muscle resistant resting and then began the allergy testing. Today we have done spices, animal fat, soybeans, bean mix, Vitamin E, Vitamin T/sesame, and probably more. I will add a complete list at the end for when this week is over.

Tuesday night I felt good enough to go shopping and I was actually able to find the few things that I wanted. Had a good night sleep although I was missing Tim.

Wednesday fellow Manitobans arrived and the one is a farmer from the Morris area and the other is a veterinarian who both have their Agriculture degree from the U of M and the vet has a brother who is a prof in the Ag degree department at the U of M, who just happens to be one of Matt's teachers. I know, a small world.

Dr. Joe told me, after we discovered my dairy allergies that most people are only allergic to one or two of the dairy but I was allergic to all four, so now we have successfully eliminated dairy, yogurt, cheese, and whey. Crepes for lunch here we come!

Today, Thursday, I discovered that I am allergic to Seratonin which explains lots of things. I am also allergic to plastic and plastic is in everything, so after being treated for plastic I could not touch my iPad or my bag or anything else made with plastic. Mold is something else that I was allergic to which explains why I got sick for two days after working in one of the homes this past month.

Today when the wife of the farmer showed up I thought that she looked and sounded familiar so I decided to play the Mennonite game and we soon discovered that we both look and sound like our mothers and that her mother and my father are first cousins! What a small world! Her mom will be so thrilled when she hears of this. I do remember her parents, her dad has passed already but her mom is still around. For lunch I was invited to join these two couples which gave us more time to talk and reminisce.

This week in Florida has been enlightening and I pray that everything that Dr. Fuller has done for me will be of a great help. I look forward to feeling better. I will have to come back to see Dr. Joe as I am only about 80% done with the allergens, as I just had way too many but I knew that coming in. I am so thankful that I was lead to Dr. Fuller, I am so grateful for all that he has and will continue to do for me.

Here is the list of what I have been treated for so far:
Egg white
Iron
Minerals
Corn
Coffee
Caffeine
Chocolate
Spice I & II
Water (from at home)
Animal fat
Soybean
Bean mix
Vitamin E
Vitamin T (sesame)
Yeast Candia
Gelatin and Turkey
Base
Additives/Color/MSG/Whitenol
SOPA Mix
Whey/Milk/Cheese/Yogurt
Insulin
Peppers
Molds and Pollens
Insect Mix
Crude Oil
Serotonin
Plastic
Chlorine
Amoeba Liver Abcess
Ascaris and Trichuris eggs
Trypanosoma Rhodesiense
Biastcystis Hominis
Ancyiosnoma Duoduenall
Rhino Virus
Cortisol
Cheese Pathways
Milk Pathways

Lord, there are not enough ways to say Thank You for all your mercies. Praise Your Name Forever!

Trusting

My dear hubby has been sick all week. He started coughing on Sunday and it just kept getting worse. There were a number of days that I suggested that he stay behind and try to get some rest but he felt that he could not abandon his crew, so each day he faithfully got up and went out to the job site. Today, after being sick this whole week, I strongly encouraged him to see a doctor to which he finally agreed. Soon he was back after having had blood tests, a shot of medication and three prescriptions for pneumonia. We are all praying that he will make a speedy recovery.

Hubby took a nap this afternoon and I decided to have a short nap as well. The nap felt good but now I am wide awake when I really need to be sleeping. Tomorrow will be my last Sunday in Birmingham, my last time in a church here, and my last time going to a buffet with the long term group and part of me is going to miss it but I am also looking forward to going to my home church, to seeing my family and my friends and just being "home".

Before heading home I will be making a pit stop in Florida to see Dr. Fuller and spend four days in his office hoping and praying that he can "cure" me of all my allergies. I will be sure to keep posting of any results that I may have.

I will be missing Tim and know that he will be missing me but we will both be trusting God to carry us through till we are back together again.
🎵"I just keep trusting my Lord as I walk a long
I just keep trusting my Lord and He gives a song
Though the storm clouds darken the sky o'er the heav'nly trail
I just keep trusting my Lord, He will never fail
He's a faithful friend, such a faithful friend
I can count on Him to the very end
Though the storm clouds darken the sky o'er the heav'nly trail
I just keep trusting my Lord, He will never fail

I just keep trusting my Lord on the narrow way
I just keep trusting my Lord as He leads each day
Though the road is weary at times and I'm sad and blue
I just keep trusting my Lord, He will see me through
He's a faithful guide, such a faithful guide
He is always there walking by my side
Though the road is weary at times and I'm sad and blue
I just keep trusting my Lord, He will see me through🎵
Hohn W. Peterson

Thank you Lord that I can trust in you.

Done

Done! I completed my time of volunteering with MDS. There were times when I was not always sure what I was doing but through it all God gave me wisdom and strength to do the job. Today, is a good example; I painted ceilings which is something that I always find to difficult to do but God gave me the strength to do so.

Yesterday we had a visit from Nicole, a lady whose home one of the groups worked on last week. She brought along her daughter and her mother and shared with us her experience of the disaster and what she has had to go through and then she also shared how the group fixed up her house. Nicole shared that she is a giving person and found it difficult to be on the receiving end but she was so very thankful for all that was done for her. She decided that she would like to help but didn't know how, so she asked God how she could help and he told her to pray. She said that she was praying for us for safety and for strength. I shared with her after that I believe that her prayers are what gave me the strength to do the things that I did, things that normally my body would not allow me to do and I thanked her for praying for us. We really enjoyed her visit with us especially because we were able to sit with her at the supper table.

I had hoped to do more at the home where I was working this week but due to some plumbing that needed to be redone and some wiring and lots of mudding and sanding not as much was accomplished. Nevertheless we did manage to prime the kitchen, dining room, and bedroom, texture the whole bedroom, texture the ceilings in the dining room and kitchen, paint the ceilings in the three rooms, install a new window (that the homeowner purchased), install a new door, rip off a lean to and patch the shingles, close off a door and make it a wall both inside and out, clean up and tidy the work area. So I guess we did get some work done after all and we had fun while doing it. The homeowner is happy and that is what is most important.

Tim and his crew removed a floor, rebuilt a floor, mudded, sanded, textured, painted, gutted a bathroom, changed location of vanity and toilet, re-plumbed, and replaced ceiling tiles. More work is still needed and he is hoping to get it done next week.

God has been so good to us, the people that we have been able to help, the people that we had the opportunity to work with, the long term people that we have gotten to know, it has all been such a blessing. We have really enjoyed serving and wish to continue to serve our God in any such way that he directs us.

God is good!