May 27, 2017

Greetings My Friend, Lately I am reminded about the Apostle Paul's teachings being content in all things, whether he had an abundance or he had little both of which he dealt with in his life. I ran across a 2nd passage where Paul mentions to be satisfied with food and clothes for the body, this teaching has been rolling around in my mind quite a bit in regards to my Parkinson's. Prior to the diagnosis, I was anxious about what had been going on in my body, steadily loosing my ability to walk straight, walk for any amount of time along with brain fog tremors and fatigue. Figuring out how to pace myself was hard because I was operating under the thinking of a well bodied person so I pushed myself trying to get past that wall that held me back.When I was told my diagnosis I felt peace and overall continue to thrive in that peace of knowing what I am up against now with my focus on prayer and guidance how to live my life as fully as I am able. The first hurdle I faced was "should I take the Carbidopa-Levodopa" that was prescribed by my doctor. When I read the leaflet that came with the medication it scared me big time with all the side affects. After some praying, talking to the pharmacist I decided to go ahead and take the medication. I took the initial dose for a good six months before I needed to have the medication increased. My doctor was happy because usually people need an increase sooner. I believe they start people off with a lower dose to get them used to the medication then increase it.I understand that generally a person will stay for quite sometime at this dose for a few years even. The first few weeks with the stronger dose has been difficult with a need to stay awake well into the night, sleep more during the day and a total mix up on my routines. Next I discovered using essential oils to help me get sleepy and a breathing strip to open my nasal passages along with the CPAP to help me breathe better which now has me sleeping a lot during the day and all night too. As I write, it is the first day that I feel awake an hour after getting out of bed, my thoughts are more coherent and I sense that peace the Apostle Paul is teaching about. The journey to this point has found me relying on God seeking His guidance and assurance that I am doing what I need to be doing to be as healthy as I am able. Through this process God laid on my heart the Lord's Prayer and the 23rd Psalm which finds me repeating over and over when I am struggling to get to sleep or trying to quiet my mind of all the internal chatter that tries to rob me of my peace. This morning while reading in 1 Timothy the Apostle Paul stated we should be content with food and clothes and I felt that contentment. As I wrote in my study journal I reflected that God has had me on this journey for sometime now. He is teaching me to love the simple life, a life set apart from the mainstream of people. He has laid it on my heart to enjoy the bounty of the earth, preserve the food from the ground that is provided to us. I use dehydration as my method of preserving food, we buy meat from a meat packing plant for several months at a time, we have propane and wood/coal for heat and cooking and 2 generators for when the power goes out. After the 2nd storm in the last little while that has knocked our power out God has pointed us to using a simple solar power method where a solar panel and a battery is hooked up to the lights in our home. We have a well for water and the next phase would be to start growing more of our food. Our property has raspberries, blackberries, chestnuts and even walnuts growing on it already and we are learning to harvest these things and use them in our diet. The more I learn to rely on God the more I am able to be at peace with my disease, with my life and I find it to be the wholesome living I have longed for. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet