Love

Love
Family

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A NUT FREE HALLOWEEN!

So I am not sure how many of you know but my son was diagnosed with a severe peanut/tree nut allergy a couple of weeks ago. I am finding that people do not understand nut allergies! Its is not at all that i think that anyone would do anything intentional to hurt my child but that they are simply not educated in the area of food allergy unless they have a child who has one.

I have asked at several restaurants recently if certain food items contain nuts and the answer is no. People think if it does not physically contain nuts it is safe. Well this could not be further from the truth. If it is processed in a plant that also processes nuts it is not safe, if it contains certain ingredients such as coconut oil it is not safe! You must read and read and read!

So now on to Halloween my number one goal is to always keep my son safe. My second goal is to always let him do as much as he possibly can to be a regular kid. My third goal from now until forever will be to raise awareness about food allergies.

I do not plan to go to any church event or anything like that because it is just too dangerous. If Carson got a hold of the wrong thing he could end up in the ER. He can not even touch something that contains nuts!

I do plan to let him trick or treat a select few people in our family. I even considered having a PEANUT/TREE NUT free Halloween party at our house.

You are punishing your other children you say? well we don't have a dog because Meccia has asthma and it could cause her problems. We don't buy popcorn because Hali can not eat it due to he retainer. This is no different. We all make sacrifices for the ones we love! We are a family and we all want the same thing, for each of us to be happy and healthy! Hali is Carson's number one set of eyes! She will tell you very quick if something is not safe for him. Fortunately Hali has two precious friends with food allergy and she was quite educated on the matter before Carson was ever diagnosed. So there is my answer to that.

This year along with our trick or treat bags for candy we will also carry our trick-or-treat for food allergy education and research boxes. We will be taking donations for FAAN. You can order these boxes and help Carson raise money @ http://www.foodallergy.org/Support/Halloween/index.html You can order up to 5 boxes and have them delivered to your house for no cost! Yes it is free to help raise money to save lives!

I also wanted to list some of the candies I have found so far to be safe!
Tootsie rolls
Tootsie roll pops
Smarties both rolls and pouches
Dum-Dum pops
I would like to promote Dum-Dums they are not only tree nut/peanut free they are also milk,egg,wheat, and gluten free! I think this is awesome!
As I locate more candy that is safe I will be happy to list it!

I also found a really cool website oliverslabels.com that sales nut shaped stickers that say NO NUTS really big on them. These are great for those upcoming family get togethers over the Holidays. To help people to remember the allergy! They are also great for sippy cups your child might take into a church nursery.

Just a note...
I found that rabbit food contains tree nuts. Also that burger kings onion ring batter does too! It is the things you would never imagine that can catch you off guard!

As i research I realize there is no way to over react to this. people don't say well this person has cancer and it might kill them but life goes on. People also should not say well that kid has a food allergy and somethings could kill him but life goes on. He will get older and time will go on. He will reach a point when he is old enough to make his own choices and know what is safe for him. For now I am his mother his protection the only thing that stands between him and a food that he so innocently may pick up that could potentially kill him. I take that responsibility VERY SERIOUSLY! I plan to take every precaution possible to insure my son is safe.

Carson has really not been affected by this at all other than a few minor changes in our pantry. He is doing GREAT!

Love you all,
Cody (Mom of a kid with food allergies)

Friday, September 11, 2009

Does your attitude reflect that of a Christ follower?

So as most of you know I can be known to have a slight attitude. I have tried as I get older to control myself, but at times it resurfaces when I least expect it to! Well this morning it happened. I am in the drive thru to pick up my AM coffee and a girl about the same age as me breaks in the line. She squeezed her car right in front of mine! I even rolled down my window before she went and politely (well maybe not so politely) told her it was my turn to go! She then proceeded to go in front of me anyway!

So to make her drive thru experience much more fun I decided to lay on my horn for a VERY LONG TIME! While doing this a lady came up and knocked on my window. I rolled it down. She said "are you ok?" I said "Yes I am just trying to make the girl in front of me mad" She said with that Jesus sticker on the back of your van maybe you should have a better attitude! WOW!

Does your attitude match the stickers on the back of your car? Are you sporting the name of Christ on your car only o reflect the attitude of Satan himself? I guess my point is I praise God for that woman who had enough nerve to say that to me! I sure needed to hear it! I guess we all loose it sometimes, but is that an excuse for not always showing the love of Christ.

Worse I was on the phone with a friend and she heard the whole thing! I AM SO ASHAMED OF MYSELF!!!! And all over a spot in line... I mean seriously! SORRY BRITNEY!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Which is better two daddy's or one?

Well as most of you know I have a daughter named Hali from my first marriage. Her daddy's name is Chad. Her other daddy's name is Josh. You see Josh and I got married when Hali was just over two years old. Shortly there after we had Meccia. As you all know when you have a new baby you start to say things like "Go to daddy" to your child even though they are really too small to say it. Well Hali picked up on the fact Josh was Meccia's daddy so she started calling Josh daddy too! I think she was so small when we married she doesn't ever remember not having two daddy's.

So with the explanation out of the way now onto the explanation.(HAHA) When Hali went to K4 she started to question why she had two daddy's and some of the other kids in her class did not. We always just gave her this answer "God loved you so much he gave you two daddy's to love you." That worked for Hali and we thought we were in the clear. We also have taught our other children who Chad is and also they as Hali did with Josh have begun to know Chad's mother as Grammy because that is what Hali calls her.

So moving on. Meccia has gotten old enough to realize that Hali gets to leave us every other weekend to go spend time with her other daddy and his family while she gets to stay here. Josh's mom was so kind as to offer to let Meccia spend Friday nights with her on the weekends Hali is gone to help ease some of the confusion and frustration and maybe even a bit of jelousy Meccia was feeling at the time. Well as Josh and I talked about it we realized maybe letting Meccia leave every time Hali did defeated the purpose of Meccia having two married parents. For a while it was like we shared custody with Josh's mom. Knowing she was only trying to help Meccia's feelings! We tried to explain to Meccia one of the benifits of having married parents was you don't have to leave us every other weekend. Even still in Meccia's five year old heart and mind Hali gets to leave for a weekend long sleepover, and sometimes comes home telling Meccia all the fun things she did while she was gone, and Meccia was stuck here with her sibblings and "SAME OLD PARENTS" she has always had! Why don't I get to go mommy?

Now I don't want anyone to think Meccia is not happy with her daddy she loves him. She wants the sleepovers not the spare dad! We have tried many things to comfort her. Dates alone with her dad to help her feel special, play dates to have friends over while Hali is gone. Still allowing her on occassion to go spend the night at Nana & PaPa's who she loves so much, and we will continue to always try our hardest to make Meccia feel she is a VERY SPECAL part of our family.

In the end though it still remains the same. Hali will forever have two daddy's and even a spare whole family, that my other children don't have. There will be many times to come when it will be hard to say good bye to her for a weekend or a while on a Holiday. At some point my other kids are going to realize this is just how our family works and we just have to adjust.

I guess right now I am just praying little Meccia will one day be happy she only has ONE DADDY! Although this is always how life has been she is just getting old enough to realize it, and to try and understand it. I pray that she will find comfort in knowing we love her so and her daddy loves her enough for two daddy's!

This I am sure will be a long road for our family and we always have the intention of being as honest as possible with both of our girls. In doing that we want them to feel loved. I guess every family is different , and we all have our our things we must deal with. For the most part I feel like we are happy and so are our children, but to see one of your children walk out the door and leave you to spend time with another family is hard but it is even harder to see another of your babies cry for her when she is gone!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Work for the Lord or Live for the Lord?

Well it's been a while since my last post so here is whats on my heart for the moment. Question for us all of us today is "Do you have an intimate relationship with Christ or is it with Church?"

I think at times we think we must do for Christ instead of live for him! Look at your life are you consumed with Christ or with church! Do you wake every morning to get into the word of God to read your bible and get closer in your relationship with him or do you get up every morning to get onto your calendar and plan a church event? Do you ponder constantly about what more you can do, while letting your "Christ like" image slip away in the mist of your event planning?

I had to ask myself this question recently. What is more important my work or my relationship. I also had to pray that God would keep clear my spirit so that I do not confuse my love of ministry work with my love for Christ.

Are you so overwhelmed with Church that you forget it is not Christ. Yes Christ loves the church but without him in your life, without that relationship with him where are we all?

Do we hide our trash or our JUNK as Pastor Chris says by covering it with our work? Do we think the work we do is enough to impress God so much that we think the intimate relationship is not necessary? Do we cover our distant relationship with our work so that others won't know just how far we have slipped away from a true relationship with Christ.

When is that point when you break down and say I am working so much in my ministry that I don't even take the time to have a life outside of it. My marriage is consumed by my ministry, my children are consumed by my ministry, my thoughts are consumed by my ministry.

I heard someone say some times doing good things is not always the best thing? In other words you can do a lot of good things and be a good person, but at what cost are you loosing the best things to do the good things?

I guess we all have moments when we loose sight of what is really important in our life. We sometimes forget that it is not our works that gets us into Heaven, but our salvation. We must remember that God our father is in love with the fact that we love him. That we read our bible and actually live what it says. That we are in love with him not in love with what we do for him.

In saying this I have prayed God give me balance. Give me an open heart to know just what is my relationship with you and just what I maybe mistaking for you but is truley just work. Bring me closer to you, consume me with your GRACE & MERCY!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Keeping my "BLOG MOUTH" shut

Well I have kept my “Blog Mouth” shut about all of this stuff, but I think I am ready to share my feelings. I have been praying A LOT for god to help me be graceful. Graceful with my actions, with my words, and mostly in the feelings of my heart. Those of you who know me well know I struggle with my words.

So bare with me! Now Tab Lewis told me along time ago, Cody “People will let you down because they are people but God is always God always perfect, and HE will never let you down.” I have tried to remember that as time has gone on. A lot of times we put our faith in a person, or in a church, or in our works. They are all in the end not Christ, and we will be let down I am sure at some point by all of those other things.

I think we put pastors on a pedestal a lot of times almost like they are superhuman perfection. They are not they are just regular folks who screw up and have bad days just like the rest of us. I think sometimes we pour our heart and soul into a ministry or a church and when we leave we feel like we left God at that church or we left our heart and soul behind at a PLACE????? Well your heart may hurt but it dwells inside of you and so does Christ, he is not a place.

For a short while I wanted to run to that PLACE and defend myself shout at people and tell them can you not see what you are doing! Are you blind to all the anointed in your church? Do you know what GREAT GIFTS you are throwing out the door because you are not willing to sit down and work through some problems? You are willing to throw some of the greatest gifts God has blessed the ministry of WAC with under the bus to save face.

I then realized I don’t have to justify my gifts, or my husband’s gifs, or the gifts of others to anyone. God knows the hearts of all, he knows what gifts he has given, and he has a plan for exactly where those gifts will be used. He has a plan and it is not for us to fight and scream at some one.

I think it is for us to all lift one another up during this time of struggle. That is fully what I intend to do! I have been praying for WAC that God would continue to bless people through that ministry. I pray he would change the lives of people like my husbands life was changed while there. I pray he would give us all a clear vision of where he is leading us now, and what he would have us to do. I serve an amazing God.

So I may have left a place but I have not left my God!

I am disappointed, hurt, and heartbroken, but I refuse to be bitter. I will not let the devil steal my Joy. I have praised God from inside the doors of WAC and I will continue to do that outside of them.

I know God has a plan for me and my family. How could one person be so screwed up and be delivered by none less than Christ and his GRACE & HEALING and not continue to be used in some way!

So I end in saying I am happy in a way, happy God is leading us in a new direction. Excited to see where we will be and what we will be doing!

Psalms 3:3-6 says but you are a shield around me o Lord you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud and he answers me from his holy hill. I lie down and sleep I wake again because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.

It also speaks about SELAH which means stop, look, listen
That is our plan….


My heart morns the loss of a place I held so dear to my heart and the relationships I made there, but I am secure in knowing greater things are yet to come!

In Him,
Cody

Thursday, March 12, 2009

TINKA SOUL!

So while downtown last weekend I met a guy by the name of TimTV he is part of a freak show called The Inner Cirkus! Pretty awsome folks! They spend alot of time hulahooping in falls park! REALLY FUN! I have hooped with them and you do find your inner child again somehow while hulahooping as an adult.

Anyways he gave Boo his card so I followed it to his myspace page where I found the following blog. You can tell by the looks of this VERY DIFFERENT 37 year old man, he has a very open mind and an obvious third eye!

HERE'S THE BLOG

Yesterday I wrote a letter to my friend Amelia. As I was writing, this happened and I wrote it as I saw it...
I'm sitting in the lobby area of our public library. It's got softfurniture and tables and wireless internet for people like me who needto send emails to people like you. The ceiling is forever tall andone whole wall is all windows to the sidewalk outside. A little girljust walked by a moment ago. Her walk was not a walk like a regularperson would picture "walking" to be. It was more like a dance. Her spiritinside was dancing so much that it came out through her walk. On herface I could see that she could hear the music of the Universe. Clearas day. Her dad couldn't hear it; he didn't even notice. The manwaiting for the bus couldn't hear it; he was too busy... waiting. Butthat litle girl was like a perfect little kite, effortlessly at onewith the flow of the Way. Isn't it so funny, that what at one time in their lives most peoplehad, they spend the rest of their lives looking for...? And evenfunnier to me; they always look OUTSIDE themselves to find it. Heh.
ai o komete,
me


Anyways I loved this blog because it made me think of my Meccia! She at only five years old much like her parents marches to the beat of a different drummer! She is her own little person who can sometimes be found in her own little world! She is a kind and caring person who is wonderful inside and out! Sometimes in the middle of my stress and crazy day I am running around like a wild person I will find her in a tutu dancing around with not a care in the world. She sings all the time her latest is "life is a highway" LOL Anyways when we named her Meccia Soul we could not have hit the nail any closer her soul flys free. She is the little girl in that library and I hope somehow she can hold onto that free spirit. I would be just as proud of her if she turns out to be a dancer or maybe even a hulahooper as I would if she where a boring doctor or something! I love you Meccia keep listening to the song life sings to you and keep your heart open one day it will take you great places!
Mommy

Saturday, January 10, 2009

ok so here goes i have been having some issues with my weight i was on the depo shot and i take a medication for OCD both make u gain weight on top of that i had two boys 15 months apart but that being said i weigh 20LBS more now than the day i came home from the hospital with East so i must take some responsibility i am frustrated and want to be skinny again like i used to be! i have been on a low cal diet for a week tom/ SUN I have been walking everyday pushing my boys in a double stroller combined wieght is about 90LBS boys + stroller so i give myself a little extra credit for that think it does not make a difference then i challenge you to try it alone and then push my boys alone is much less work i know i have done it! anyways back to walking i reached my 4 mile a day goal today I WAS SO HAPPY! plan is to stick to that 4 miles a day everyday! i have been a little frustrated because dispite all my hard work this week i have yet to loose one single pound! i thought i had then learned my scale was off! i went to the bariatric clinic and i just cant do it i want to do this on my own with out having to take pills i have changed my birth control and i am determined to beat this! i am not going to put my actual weight on here but will post when each ten pounds has been lost i would like to loose 55 LBS! i even thought about putting a sign in my front yard that states how much weight i have lost so when all my neighbors see that crazy girl pushin those poor babies around the block over and over twice a day they will all know why! today i passed some girls i went to high school with in a store i heard them whisper theres cody she has gotten big! i got in my car called josh and just cried josh said cody you have always been fueled by anger you know i am the person if u tell me i cant i will just to prove you wrong so josh said dont let it upset you let it make you mad! so i did and as i was huffin and puffin my way around my block that last mile i heard those whispers in my head and it helped me to press on and keep going! others negativity only makes me stronger! now i am not writing this so a bunch of people can tell me what diet worked for them or even to get kind words i know from having 10LB babies with no medication when it comes down to pushing it out no one can help you it is just you and the strength god gives you! so i dont need your help i know to get this weight off its just me and god unless you wanna push me around the block in a stroller what i would like from those of you who are reading this who really know me pray gods blessing opon this mission i have set out for myself pray god would give me a strength only he can provide pray health into my life and dont stop at just one prayer i will take as many as u all are willing to send up! i am tough i know i can do this!