Delighting in each other.

My blessed sisters in Christ!

(this started out being about one subject, and the more I wrote, the more blog posts came out. So expect another blog post! If you have any discussion or questions or comments, please feel free to post them!)

I have been thinking a lot about femininity, beauty, Godly beauty, etc for many years. I think we all do. We think about being a beautiful princess when we are babies. We think about making ourselves attractive to find a mate in our teens and 20's (though many, like myself, went the way of "worldly beauty" not "godly beauty". UGH! The trash I wore!!!!). Many of us struggle with our sense of physical beauty after a baby or three tends to realign our "girlish figures" into something a little less girlish :D.

But as I age (I'm 38! WOWOW--I feel like I just BARELY got my driver's license!), I am realizing that godly beauty really *IS* eternal and worldly beauty really is fleeting. Unless some serious medical intervention is arranged, I will never have the figure I did in my 20's. Is it necessary that I do? I need to be healthy, of course, and I need to have discipline in my eating habits, but I am realizing that I do NOT need to make sure I am "marketable" (which is what we see in those women in magazines--they ARE marketable! They are marketing products!). I just need to make sure that my husband is happy, and that I am delightful to him. If I am, then I am good.

I have been looking at my husband and myself. We are both older. We love each other very much. I will never look like a model, neither will he. But we both delight in each other physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.


And shouldn't that be enough? :)

My absence

Hello dear ones in Christ!

I have been off my blog for a while now. Some of it was because I was finishing up the pandemic flu booklet (available for free, of course, if you want it, just send your email addy. it requires adobe reader to view). I also had another project crop up.

However, my most recent absence was due to a VERY VERY VERY sudden med evac of my husband to Seattle for....a brain tumor. He was diagnosed with it the Monday before last after getting a cat scan for a sinus infection. He was med evac'd that day and underwent surgery on Wednesday. He is doing FINE now, thank the most blessed and wonderful Lord! He is right behind me packing up antique shop treasures we found here in Seattle after he was released from the hospital Monday. He looks fierce with a massive slice across his head, 43 staples and a black eye that looks like my slate counter top. The Lord was merciful above mercy, and my sweetie is intact and seems to be well on his way to a full recovery WITHOUT massive headaches.

I cannot tell you, dear ones, how much the Lord saw me through this. This story really is about Him, not about my husband. You never know how truly kind and wonderful and sustaining He is until you cannot depend on yourself anymore, until things are just so bad that you have no choice BUT to trust him.

I am trying to write down all of my thoughts and experiences...I already have about eight to ten pages and I am not even CLOSE to scratching the surface of all that happened. I am not sure if you are interested or not. I know that I deeply desire to remember everything and most importantly give glory to the Lord God Almighty, our most wonderful and merciful Father. He made me able to take more than I could take. He cleared every path. He turned the hearts of everyone towards me and our plight. It was amazing. Miraculous. Humbling. Heart wrenching.

Please offer your prayers, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. He still has a way to go in terms of the reduction of swelling in his brain (his left hemisphere of his brain was pushed into the right hemisphere by 1 cm). He is having trouble with high blood pressure. He is still recovering, though they released him from the hospital. He has to come back here in a month or so for another MRI, and we are still awaiting the pathology report to see if this was cancer or not. It PROBABLY is not, but we have to wait to be sure.

Thank you for your prayers. And if you have any questions at all, please feel free to write me. I know I would be eaten with curiosity (but i am kind of a medical nerd....a "hobbyist" as my wonderful sweetie told the PA lol).

Love, steph

Economy vs Health

My dear brothers and sisters....

I read a chilling quote today from the head of the World Health Organization. The organization whose purpose is to be solely for the HEALTH of the world. This is what Margaret Chan, the head of the who, said today:

"As you may know, several efforts have been made to estimate the impact of an influenza pandemic on the global economy today. These estimates vary greatly depending on the assumed virulence of the virus. But all estimates agree on one point. The greatest disruption of the economy will come from the uncoordinated efforts of the general public to avoid infection. "

Now, we do not know if this is going to be severe, going to be mild, going to disappear never to return, or going to roar back like a global influenza tsunami in the fall/winter when the next wave would be expected if there was going to be one. She was not talking about this pandemic per se but about any pandemic.

But to say that people who are trying to protect themselves and their families are a disruption to the economy, and would be the GREATEST disruption to the economy distresses me greatly. If we have a 1918 pandemic, then the worse hit to the economy, more than the dead, more than the ill, more than the waves of suffering will be the people trying NOT to get sick???

I am not surprised by the idea that we are merely cogs. We chase the dollar at the expense of our families and health and God. We do not understand that we can live such healthy, happy lives with so much less than what we have, treasuring every item we have been given instead of being so overwhelmed with "stuff" that we only see quantity, not quality. We do not spend time with our families or doing good to others because we are playing with our toys or earning money for new toys. Our health is sacrificed, we are removed from the nature that the Lord created.

To have our existence belittled, to have us ridiculed, to BLAME US for economy disruptions during a future PANDEMIC boggles my mind. The fact that it is stated so clearly is disheartening.

It is as if the enemy can flaunt the damage done to the people of earth, to the minds of the people. I am not afraid though, the Lord is mightier than the who and the veils on the minds of the world. Perhaps this will shock some into saying "WOW--wait! I am not just a cog and my child is not just a cog and my neighbor is not just a cog. My life is not about the love of money....or is it?? What have I been doing mindlessly, without thought, that contributes to this?". Perhaps now we can learn the meaning of "godliness with contentment is great gain".

I am going to use this time to pray, to ask the Lord to reveal ways that I might be unconsciously contributing to this. Where is my contentment? What am I wasting? HONESTLY WHERE DOES MY TREASURE LIE?

I know I have a lot of dross to clean out of my life, a lot of poor thinking. God bless us all in our efforts to remove the cobwebs from our eyes and be content.

REcommendation: Vitamin D

Hello my brethren!

I have been reading some more information regarding treatment, preventatives, etc of the flu for the booklet I am (honestly) almost done writing.

I had known for many years that vitamin D was a very necessary nutrient. I found another article regarding such that I think is very worth your time to consider reading:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51913.php

This article talks about vitamin D as preventative for the flu. It is an anecdotal report of a psychiatrist who worked with the criminally insane. In his experience on spring, patients in all wards EXCEPT HIS got the flu during an outbreak. His ward was not isolated--nurses worked in all wards. After reading a study, he realized that his ward was the only one where the patients were getting vitamin D.

This article brings up many other interesting reports about the health of people in various latitudes, outbreaks of illnesses at the same latitudes, why the elderly of some countries die more often in winter, while the elderly of others do not.

Another significant fact about vitamin D is that can decrease the expression of inflammatory cytokines. The over preoduction of cytokines is what leads to a "cytokine storm"--that is what killed most of the healthy young adults who got the flu in 1918. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=16959053


One interesting point in another article I read is that the latitude where one can get USABLE vitamin D during the winter is much further south than I would have expected. In our latitude, just south of the arctic circle, we are getting no vitamin D from the sun, even if we stand outside for hours in the winter.

For our family, we are drastically upping our vitamin D intake. The official "upper limit" of vitamin D is 2,000IU. However, most researchers consider that too low, and toxicity is not seen, apparently, until one reaches over 40,000IU.

I was of the mind that drinking milk would be sufficient, however, milk only has 100 IU.

With our society being afraid of sun damage, as well as kids not drinking as much milk (and some US children showing up with RICKETS!), it as assumed that much of the country has a vitamin D deficiency.

Coupling the positive effects that it seems to have on general respiratory health, the possibility that it prevents flu infection, and its ability to moderate cytokines, I would recommend considering adding vitamin D to the diet. The vitamin D you are looking for is D3...D2 requires sunlight to produce D3.

Interesting Map of H1N1

For those who prefer maps

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124126480414780235.html#articleTabs%3Dmap

Remember these are only laboratory confirmed cases. Because of the exponential transmission of the virus, the CDC this week has announced that it is moving towards a "test new clusters" as opposed to "test everyone with symptoms". So, if there is a school that is showing symptoms of H1N1, they will only test a few representative cases, for example, 5 students out of 80 showing symptoms. They will assume that if some or all of those five are positive, then the others have it.

This is a very important note in many respects. Many governments and health organizations, in order not to cause "panic" will say "But only 5 have tested positive". REMEMBER! THAT DOES NOT MEAN ONLY FIVE ARE SICK! That means only five have tested positive. This is a tactic that risk communicators use in order to put news in the best possible light in order to influence the behavior of people.

This is not conspiracy theory, this is fact. Risk communication firms are hired to do this sort of thing all the time, be it for health issues such as this, or the recent bank issues, etc.

It is necessary for people not to panic. It is also necessary for people to know the facts so they can make proper risk assessment for themselves and their families. Understand how information is presented, and you will be able to identify the "risk communication" vs the "facts".

To Fret or Not To Fret....

My blessed brethren,

There is a lot of varying information going out about the pandemic right now. Some quarters say it is much worse than we are being told. Some say that it is easy, the best of all possible pandemic scenarios. The VP says he would tell his family not to ride in a subway or plane, but then his managers come back later and say that he means not to do that if someone is sick.

It is easy to fall into panic or apathy, and to waver between the two from moment to moment. Do you trust the WHO when it says it will only count 5 cases from mexico, or the WHO when it says that this is a threat to us all? Do you trust the government when it says that masks DO help doctors but for some reason do not work for laypeople? Do you trust the school system when it says "we need to close" or the one that says "we dont need to close"? Do you trust the fact that Disney says they are taking care of visitors and it is fine to visit, or that several kids from SC went to disney and came back with flu symptoms?

Do we trust history that pandemics generally have three waves, or do we trust when some doctors say that "this might fizzle out"?

I think we prepare as if it was going to increase and have a second wave by fall, just like the past several pandemic have. However, we pray that it does fizzle, and do not worry in any case. Worrying does not make a pandemic appear or disappear. It does not put food in bellies, nor strengthen our immune system. Worry does not build our faith, but weakens it.

Do not worry. Do prepare. Do trust God. Do allow Him to guide your steps. Do what He has provided you to do in terms of preparing (keeping in mind that while you prepare for a pandemic, that might be because you will be in a position to help others, whether a pandemic hits or not).

Vaccines....

One person asked me about Vaccines. Just today I learned that the disease is killing off the chicken eggs it is grown in (remember, this is a swine/BIRD/human flu...if it is going to affect chickens, it is going to affect eggs).

Here are some other points to consider...

Today: "U.S. vaccine supply could be limited in flu pandemic
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most influenza vaccines for Americans are manufactured in other countries -- a scenario that could limit U.S. supplies should a swine flu vaccine be needed in the coming months.
U.S. government officials have taken steps in recent years to promote more production on U.S. soil by a diverse group of companies, but those efforts are far from complete.
If the current strain of swine flu turned into a pandemic, some health experts worry countries might try to reserve flu vaccine for their own citizens.
"If this thing goes global, our lack of capacity makes it very hard," said former U.S. Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Tevi Troy, who worked on flu preparedness efforts in the George W. Bush "


And: It takes 13-26 weeks to grow the flu in chicken eggs (the only way we know how to make flu vaccine). There is a supply situation (can we get enough eggs, supplies), a production situation (how many vials of virus can be produced asap), and a distribution situation of who gets what when. If we do not see wide swaths of people getting sick, meaning everything stays just on time, we can see vaccine getting into our hands in 5-6 months. That is according to the CDC.

Understand as well that there is a hierarchy of when each of us will get the vaccine. Though pandemics like 1918 targeted the young healthy adults, that very group is the very last on the list for vaccinations due to social norms. We place a high value on the babies, the elderly, the sick. This is GOOD in terms of our morals. However, that also means that if the pandemic hits the healthy adults first, we might be unprotected.

The WHO has not decided on whether to even ask for a vaccination, so none is started so far. There is a seed culture that the CDC developed, but that is it. The WHO is still hedging their bets that this will be a non-event.

My recommendation: assume there will not be a vaccine for at least another year. There is simply not the capacity to make enough vaccine for everyone, our vaccines are made mostly out of country (and the countries that have the vaccine plant in their country will probably claim first rights), the vaccine has not been started yet (though the seed culture has), the vaccine that is made for this strain may or may not work on a second or third wave, and there is a heirarchy of who will receive the vaccine.

So prepare in case the vaccine is not available for some reason. This does not mean panic. It means get ready just like one would do if they knew a hurricane was going to hit--calmly and reasonably. That way if it does not hit, no harm done. Simply eat those stashed boxes of poptarts :). If it does hit, and is relatively mild, you can make your decision what to do then, and if it does hit and is severe, you will be in a position to take care of your family. In any case keep your faith in the Lord and in His wisdom. He gave us specific instructions NOT to worry about ANYTHING. That does not mean do not prepare for anything, for He also shows us in many places how the prudent prepare. But it does mean do not WORRY. :)