Any ideas?

I have a sore right "milk jug." I've had infections before, and don't want to spend my birthday tomorrow with one. I'm taking vitamin C and echinacea. Doug bought me a cabbage, because the leaves are supposed to be comforting. I have a feeling it is brought on by stress. I have a bunch of things piling up right before Sabbath, like three bushels of peaches. Any ideas for treatment? It is not infected, but I know that could quickly change if I don't stay on top of it. Thanks!

Praise!

So I lost two babies in one night and cried my eyes out. The next morning, our last baby goat was acting sick. He didn't come when called, didn't eat, and wobbled when he walked. Before long, he wouldn't stand at all. I discovered that he was probably infected with a virus that causes nerve damage, paralysis, and eventually death. Traditional vet medicine has no answer. But a certain website that promotes holistic care of animals recommended garlic. That made perfect sense to me. Doug helped me give large doses of garlic to every animal on the property. (The virus is most easily spread from momma to baby through the milk.) Magnum got 3 doses of garlic and spent about 4 hours sleeping on Doug's lap, and then moved to mine. There was a point where he was very close to death, and we were constantly checking for a heartbeat. Doug leaned over him and prayed for a miracle. He basically put out a fleece. He wanted to know that Yah indeed hears our prayers and is there when we need Him.

As the day progressed, we were thankful that Magnum was still breathing. By evening, we put him down on the dog bed to get a snack for the kids. He put his head up, and then stood up! He couldn't even lift his head before. I headed out with the girls to milk the goats, and when I got back, Doug told me that Magnum followed Isaac all the way down the hall!

We took him out to his momma later in the evening, but she wasn't feeling very patient. So he spent the night in our bathroom. This morning I took him out to his momma again, and he has been with her ever since. He is a frisky energetic goat again! Praise Yah!

We also were able to bring a brand new lamb into the house, give him a headstart and a nap, and get him back with his momma.

Elisha liked peeking in on the new baby.

A long week

It has been a long week and a half, but I have emerged at last, grateful for the ability to somewhat breathe through my nose.  We have had a rough sick week, with no school.  I tried my best to keep us healthy, but sometimes it still gets you.  I think the timing was really bad.  We had warm days and cold days, which never helps.  I also was seriously lacking sleep, between feeding goat kids in the middle of the night and taking on a full milking schedule a little sooner than expected.  My children, believe it or not, spent two whole days on the couch, hardly eating and hardly moving.  You could tell they were sick lol.

But we were able to have a good school day today, and tomorrow I hope to have enough milk to make our first batch of cheese for this season.  We also had five lambs arrive this week, three of which arrived today.  They all seem to be doing well, with their mamas, praise Yah!  The does are doing pretty well with the milking.  I have two newbies that need a bit of training, but I think another week will have them decently workable.  I am getting about a quart and a half a day of milk, which is a decent rate for the time being.  I can't wait to get some cheese made up.  I hope to put up a decent amount of cheddar for this winter. 

I also hope to order my dehydrator next week.  Yah! We have stopped using the woodstove for the season, so I am anxious to still be able to dry food.  Poor Doug was not to sure about the onions I had spread out on a cookie sheet to dry.  They nearly drove him out of the living room.  I dehydrated some orange peel the other day, which made a wonderful citrus cake.  (whole wheat, by the way)

I am knitting the last two rows of the sleeves on Doug's hoodie as I am writing!  Then I just have to put the sleeves and the zipper in, and we are in business!  Good thing, too, because I have decided that I need a hoodie, too.  Mine will be purple, with a fuzzy alpaca hood.

I am trying to keep up with pictures of all the babies around here.  Sometimes they get ahead of me because they arrive so fast.  Keep an eye on my sidebar for totals and pics when I am able to take them.

I am doing research on some articles for the first issue of Torah Family e-magazine.  If you plan to contribute anything, be sure to start sending them in.  Remember that the first issue is due to arrive the beginning of May.  We are especially looking for children's artwork, teen contributions of any sort, and articles or thoughts on Shavuot.  Do you have something special you do for Shavuot?  This issue would be a great place to share it with others.  Thanks!

Shalom for now.  I am actually 31.5 weeks along now, and definitely need my sleep.

My 100th post!

Wow! What a special day!  This is my 100th post!  How shall I celebrate?  I know!  I'll catch a cold and tell you how I'm treating it lol!
Obviously, getting up at 4:00am a few days in a row has worn me down and I find myself with a cold and extreme desire to nap.  Elisha is also not feeling very well, so Mommy must take action.  Herbs are a wonderful thing, so here is how I have been using herbs today.  Sorry, no pics.  I'm not feeling well, remember?

First of all, I made elderberry syrup.  Elderberry is very good at fighting viruses, so everyone in the family gets some.  Here's my recipe.

3 cups water
1 cup honey or vegetable glycerin
dried elderberries, peppermint and yarrow (I don't measure, just get a good mound in your pan.)
Simmer together for about 45 minutes.  Cool and strain out the herbs.
When we are sick, I give a dose about every half hour.  You will have to determine a good size for a dose, depending on the person.

Next, I made a garlic broth.  I chopped up some garlic cloves, onion, celery, and added sage and cayenne pepper, all of which help relieve cold symptoms.  Garlic is particularly good for infection.  I simmered this for awhile and then added elbow macaroni so I could get it in me.  A little salt made it palatable.

This afternoon I plan to make my homemade version of Vicks rub.  Have you ever made your own ointment?  It is a wonderful thing to be able to do.  Here's a general idea.

2 cups olive oil
1/4 cup grated beeswax
20 drops each of eucalyptus oil, lemon oil, and rosemary oil
Simmer the olive oil and beeswax just until the beeswax melts.  Remove from heat and add essential oils.  Pour into little containers, such as a tin or baby food jar.  Let cool and rub on the chest to help relieve congestion.  I find this works very well to help Elisha sleep.

If you haven't started learning about herbs and their usefulness, I would encourage you to do so.  YHVH gave us a wonderful gift in the plants.  We do well to know how to use them.  I learned much from the book Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health
There are also many other books that will get you started on your way.

New Zealand earthquake

I am sure you are all praying for the people in New Zealand affected by this terrible earthquake.  If you would like to do more, you may want to take advantage of this opportunity.  Currclick has put together a bundle of curriculum from various publishers.  It is worth over $200, which you get to download.  Your donation of $20 goes 100% to help New Zealand's Red Cross relief effort.

Currclick New Zealand Red Cross earthquake relief bundle

We have been counting all the coins in our charity bottle.  I think it's a great opportunity to help our children think of the people in other parts of the world and do what they can to help, truly "Love your neighbor" at its best.

A little praise

I would like to share something exciting that happened to me.  It may be a small thing to others, but it was a big thing to me.  I was talking on the phone to Doug at work, when it felt like I got something in my eye.  I had to hang up the phone while I tried to blink out whatever was in my eye.  I couldn't see anything, and it was impossible to get some drops in.  Doug is always warning me, "Don't rub, or you'll scratch your eye."  Well, I was quickly becoming convinced that I had probably scratched my eye from the beginning.  The "object" had never moved the whole time I was trying to get it out, and I couldn't see anything.

So I had awful pain in my eye.  I couldn't open my eye.  I checked on the internet for scratched eyes.  This was an adventure, since it was hard to see.  Basically, everyone warned that you need to see an eye doctor asap.  Doug would not be back till at least lunchtime the next day.  There was no way I could get to an eye doctor.

So I began to pray.  I prayed for healing and thanked Him for the answer.  As I prayed, it occured to me that if my eye was in pain, perhaps my perspective was wrong about something.  So I began to search my heart, and discovered that I needed to fully trust YHVH with this pregnancy.  We have alot of unanswered questions right now.  It had been very tempting to just freak out, but YHVH wants me to trust.  I prayed for a right, biblical perspective, and then I went to bed.  It was challenging to go to sleep with a painful, bloodshot eye, but I did eventually.

When I woke up the next morning, I could open my eye.  It wasn't in pain at all, and wasn't even bloodshot.  Praise YHVH!  He is so good.  He completely healed the scratch and I am so thankful.

Shabbat Shalom!

Healing, Part 6

I feel like Job in chapter 42.  I am humbled before an Almighty Elohim who controls the weather and creates mighty beasts that no one can tame.  He is not to be questioned and not to be told what He will do.  I am not worthy of His attention or His favor.  Many others suffer great pain, financial loss, death.  I face none of these things.  I am truly blessed with health, prosperity, and freedom to obey my Creator.  I fall on shaking knees not daring to ask for a thing for me.

But then I look up and see my Savior.  He is suffering great pain, disease, humiliation and death.  He has all power in the universe yet He is brought this low.  And then He catches my eye.  He looks directly into my soul and says, "I do this for you, so that by my stripes you can be healed."

To be given another day is more than I deserve.  To be given eternal life is sufficient.  To have Him care about my little "problems" that mean nothing in the scheme of things is love beyond compare.

YHVH, my Father, you have given me everything.  You have healed my heart broken by sin.  You have healed my life that could have been utterly destroyed if not for You.  It is sufficient.  If you choose to heal more, I can only offer up a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, which is truly no sacrifice at all, but the least I can do.  So for all that you have healed on me beyond man's explanation, I am truly grateful.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Healing, Part 6

Update:  75% of my scar is barely visible, the remainder is not far behind.  Ever since my first c-section, I have had severe bleeding in early pregnancy lasting at least a month and putting me on bedrest.  This time around, praise YHVH, it has been negligible at most.  Praise YHVH!

This journey has been humbling and enlightening, and has forced patience upon me.  Last night I prayed and asked YHVH to forgive me for being cranky with the kids and then getting mad at them for getting mad at each other.  Enter Sadie, 2:00 am.  She wakes up screaming, and I yell at her.  Oh how quickly we forget our best intentions.  A very sobered mother apologized to her daughter and lay awake for at least an hour reflecting on the things learned in the last 4 months.

I have discovered three things about sickness, disease, and injuries.  I humbly present them for your consideration.  I am the mother of the previous paragraph, and I don't know much.  But here are my thoughts.

What causes "disruptions in our health?"

1. Sin.  No one can read Deuteronomy 28 and not realize that our sin does result in curses, and many of those curses affect our health.  Solution: Confess your sins, and begin living your life without those sins.

2.  YHVH is sending a wake up call.  Psalm 91 talks about dwelling in the secret place of the Most High, and being under the shadow of His wings.  What an intimate relationship that portrays!  Perhaps sometimes YHVH sends us physical ailments to bring us back under His wings.  We got too busy, we got dry and boring when we talked to Him.  For whatever reason, we left that secret place.  He wants us back, and he knows that physical pain cannot be ignored and will bring us to our knees.  This has been an important thing for me to learn.  YHVH doesn't just want a holy bride, see #1 above.  He wants a holy bride.  He wants the intimacy and the closeness. 
"Trust in Him at all time; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: YHVH is a refuge for us."  Psalm 62:8

When is the last time you simply told YHVH how you really feel, perhaps with tears?  He already knows, so why not be honest with Him?

3.  YHVH wants the glory.  I think of the man born blind that Yahshua healed.  People asked whether it was his sin or his parents' sin.  It was neither.  He was born blind so that YHVH would be glorified in his healing.  Perhaps sometimes things happen to us so that others can see YHVH work, and glorify Him.

What should our response be when physical problems come our way?  I think we should always start by looking for sin.  Then we should check our relationship with the Father.  Is it as close as it could be, or ought to be?  And, through it all, we should glorify YHVH for how He works in our lives. 

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but YHVH delivers him out of them all."  Psalm 34:19

For whatever reason, we will face physical problems, but the outcome is simple.  YHVH delivers us out of them all, in His way, and in His time.

Praise the name of YHVH!

Healing, Part 5

I have really been grappling with the connection between sin and sickness. Last week's torah portion included Deuteronomy 28, 68 verses of blessings and cursings. If you obey you will be blessed. If you disobey, you will have miscarriages, plagues, terrible itch, boils, etc. It really makes sense when you think about it. The best way to get my attention is to make me feel yucky or in pain. I'll think twice about doing something if I know it will bring discomfort to me.

So YHVH sends us sickness, disease, pain, when we sin. I have been discovering sins and repenting for two solid months, and I thought I was a good person. I feel lighter and more confident in the throne room with each sin I discard. At first, I set out to get my C-section scar healed. I am still seeking that, but what I have gained as I repented is far better.

I thought I'd list some sins that I had to deal with. If you are in a position where you are also seeking to clean house, perhaps this list will trigger something in your life, too.

Unforgiveness towards my husband
Unforgiveness towards other people that mistreated me
Violation of the niddah laws
Inappropriate entertainment, ie movies
Bitterness
Impatience
Lack of a daily relationship with the Father
Selfishness
How dare you attitude
Unsubmissiveness
Self-righteousness
Blaming others
Laziness
Procrastination
Fear
Unbelief
Failure to apologize

Okay, that's enough. These sins caused physical problems in my life. Now that I am dealing with them and forsaking them, those physical problems are leaving or improving. And I'm scared to return to those sins. I don't want headaches that make me nauseous. I don't want my legs to hurt so much that it's hard to get out of a chair.

I hope that we all can come out a little purer as we prepare our hearts for the fall feasts. The feasts are more than blowing a shofar and building a sukkah. It's about becoming a pure and holy bride, ready for the bridegroom. The Father is so merciful. He gives us so much time to repent. But when we delay, we are only hurting ourselves.

Create in me a clean heart, O YHVH; and renew a right spirit within me.
(Psa 51:10)

Shabbat Shalom and happy heart cleaning!

Healing, Part 4

My heart is very full tonight.  I had hoped this would be my last post on healing, but it is not to be.  YHVH told me to make an appointment with my OB when I began praying for healing.  I went to see her today, and fully expected her to find no scar, and be able to give a testimony.  I did indeed give a testimony.  I told her how I have been praying for healing and she was quick to notice that it seems to be vanishing from one side over to the other.  I explained that I was praying for complete healing and she agreed that it would be healed.  I know I did what I was supposed to do, and a major seed was planted in her heart.  Praise YHVH!  But the scar is not completely gone yet.

But my flesh is tempted to wonder.  Did I miss something?  Did I do something wrong?  I exercised faith.  I repented of my sins.  I confessed YHVH before men.  I have praised Him and thanked Him.  As I prayed, I felt very weak in myself.  I shouldn't feel this way.  YHVH is so good to me.  But I want this blog to be an honest blog.  Even in the Psalms, David often cried out, not understanding, tired of waiting.  YHVH gave us emotions, and He understands.  Our emotions bring us to His feet.  We can crawl up in His lap, and He rocks us for awhile.  We cry and He comforts us.  He gives us words, fitly chosen just for us.  Here are my words, chosen for me.

Wait on YHVH: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on YHVH.

(Psa 27:14)

My Elohim, my Abba, keeps His promises.  He knows what is best and understands things far better than I do.  I'm going to keep hanging on to his tsı̂ytsith, just like the woman with the issue of blood.  He has healed my scar so much already.  He will finish what He started.  Praise YHVH!

Shabbat Shalom everyone!  Have a blessed and restful day.

Healing, Part 3

Yahshua healed many people, and usually said something to the effect of, "Your faith has made you whole."

So what is faith?  Is it simply believing?  Is it an emotion?  If I have a weak moment of doubt, is it all over?  I hope not, because in the last 6 weeks, I've had some moments of doubt.  My husband would literally get two inches from my face, and say, "By His stripes we are healed.  You are healed.  There is no scar!"  I needed that from him, and I'm very thankful for it.

I've been trying to figure out what faith really is.  I did some word study, and went over to Brad Scott's website, Wild Branch Ministries.  Be sure to check out his free four part article on faith. 

Here is my humble understanding of faith, after much prayer.

The world gives us a picture of many religious roads, all of which lead to the same god.  I think there are many roads, but they all lead to different gods.  How do we know what god a person is heading towards?  By identifying the path they are on.  Each god has certain requirements, and if you are fulfilling their requirements, you are on their path.

YHVH's path is heading in an opposite direction from the other paths.  What identifies his path?  TORAH!  Who completely embodies torah?  Yahshua the Messiah!  How do you know you are on YHVH's path?  You follow Yahshua and keep torah. 

Faith is defined by what you do. 
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (Jas 2:17)

Faith is obedience, and trust.  The idea of trusting a father is also implied in the Hebrew word.  Do your children worry about whether they will eat dinner or not?  Or do they show up at the table and expect a plate of food to be put in front of them?  Hopefully they say thank you lol!

The same goes for us.  YHVH promised to care for us and heal us.  He wants us to rely on Him for everything.  Will we trust Him as a little child, expecting to be taken care of, with no questions?  Will we show that YHVH is the god we trust by following HIS path and doing what HE says?

I have had to say out loud that YHVH is the only God that can heal me.  He is the only God that promised to heal me, and I'm going to show I have faith by obeying torah and thanking Him ahead of time for healing me.

YHVH, help my unbelief!  You are the one and only true Elohim!

Healing, Part 2

My next question while seeking healing was: Why did I have two c-sections? Why did I need healing in the first place?


Scriptures are clear on the reason for sickness and disease. But I don’t think it’s an answer we want to spend too much time on. Of course, we will all admit that sin causes sickness and disease. But it’s a little harder to admit that MY sin caused MY sickness and disease.
Here are some verses I pondered.

Deuteronomy 28:15-68 It lists all the curses YHVH will send to us if we disobey. Note that He does not “allow, “ but rather He causes, brings, sends.

Follow the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness. Who sent the plagues? Who sent the snakes that bit them? Who sent leprosy to Miriam? Who healed her?
It has become quite clear to me that when I get sickness or pain or disease, YHVH sent it as a direct result of my sin. So why did I have a c-section? Once I realized that sin was the problem, my heart was quick to tell me that I lived in fear during that whole first pregnancy. I desperately pleaded with God to make everything go okay. That’s sin. I did not have faith, or trust. I worried to the point of unbelief.
So I repented of that sin, and my scar continued to fade, to the point that I could see a difference from day to day. Praise YHVH! But my journey was not over yet. Stay tuned!

Healing, Part 1

This is about my prayer for healing. Let me give you a little background first. My first baby was born by c-section. My next three were vbacs. Then I had another c-section. I want to have as many children as YHVH blesses me with. My birth history is beginning to work against me.


July 3, 2010, I listened to part of a teaching by Thurman Scrivner. It is called “The Tongue” and can be found at http://tlsm.org/ListenOnline.cgi. His teaching got me thinking. I have spent my entire life basically not believing in modern healings. Healing ministries were considered frauds. Healings only took place at the time of Yahshua. But Thurman was showing scripture that very clearly says YHVH wants to heal us.

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
(Isa 53:5)

Heal me, O YHVH, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.
(Jer 17:14)

If those scriptures are true, then healing is accepted as a matter of fact in scripture. If our five senses don’t line up with scripture, then we need to go with scripture.

Wow, that is amazing! I had this overwhelming sense to ask YHVH to remove my c-section scar and any evidence of a c-section. I prayed the scriptures, claiming them for myself. Talk about a spiritual rush. But the next morning, my scar was still there. Now, looking back, I know that YHVH was planning to use this to teach me a great many things. So the scar was still there, but noticeably softer to the touch. I soon learned that when YHVH heals, he doesn’t always do it instantaneously. Does that make the scriptures not true? No, we just have to keep believing scripture, even though our eyes are telling us something different.

You see, if by Yahshua’s stripes we are healed, then my scar was removed 2000 years ago, when Yahshua took my place on the tree. It’s already done. The natural world just has to catch up with the spiritual.

Praise YHVH! I’ll continue my story in the next post, and I hope it will be a blessing to you.
 
Shabbat Shalom, everyone!