SelahV Today

ASTHMA, DOPE, AND FAITH-FILLED REST

I woke up one night last week and couldn't breathe.  I was wheezing for air.  Seemed like none would enter my lungs.  It felt as though someone had laid a 100-pound sack of potatoes on my chest, and I could not remove it.  It was scary.  The next morning I skipped my painting class and went to the doctor where I discovered I have asthma.  He loaded me up with steroids, a Z-pak anti-biotic, cough syrup laced with codeine and an inhaler.  Each day I felt a tiny bit better.  However, the coughing jags came and went, then came back again.  So far, they remain a part of my life.  The only way I can stop coughing is to take dope--codeine.  I actually had to take a hydrocodone tablet in order to go to my painting class today.  It's the only way I could stop hacking.  I've taken all the meds the doctor gave me, and since I'm still coughing up junk and wheezing in the night, I wondered how long asthma lasts.  So, I googled it.

Imagine my chagrin when I discovered it lasts forever.  WHOA!  I'm thinking, this is nuts.  I can't live like this!!  Coughing, hacking, and choking on the smell of anything from Dove soap, to bacon frying in the pan.  Gasping for breath in the middle of Wal-mart, and church.  Even the smell of Oklahoma dirt triggers an attack.  I'm thinking, Something's got to give.  I went on-line and discovered a few things that are suppose to help.  First and foremost I have to get my immune system built up.  Time to purge the house of all sugar and processed foods...again.  Yeah.  I've done this before and felt great when I did.  But bit by bit, I let pastries rule my heart and take over my taste buds.  Occasionally one could spot a Little Debbie's snack cake peeking out of my cabinet doors.  For the most part, I am a fruit, veggie, fish and chicken gal.  But carbs want to reign over me.  Time to change.  Back to basics: eating more fish, fowl, fruit and friendly veggies.  Say no to sugar...say no to carbs.

After my painting class today, I went to the health-food store and stocked up on various items to address the asthma issue.  Magnesium, potassium, flax-oil supplements, probiotics (acidophilus--good bacteria), and licorice extract.  I met hubby at Atlanta Bread Company for lunch, and enjoyed a half-Caesar salad with a large piece of salmon.  It was yummy.  Instead of my usual coffee, I ordered hot water and brewed my cranberry tea, laced with 20 drops of licorice-root extract.  I am feeling a bit better at the moment.

Licorice is suppose to reduce the inflammation in my bronchial tubes.  The supplements will help get rid of the mucous which keeps clogging my lungs.  A twice-daily nasal rinse should eliminate and control the allergens attacking my weakened immune system.  Then God will take care of the rest.  I took a deep cleansing breath a few minutes ago and I didn't cough.  It felt amazing.  It's the first rush of air in days that I have felt surge all the way through my lungs.  I couldn't help but consider how seldom I think about breathing.  Isn't it odd how much of life hinges upon little things we take for granted?  Breath.  Oxygen.  Family.  Faith.

I love life, my friends.  God gives me new reasons to praise Him every day, new mercies every morning.  He allows greater challenges so I have to lean harder, and more closely upon Him.  Faith-walking is not for wimps.  Sometimes faith stands upon rocks that wiggle beneath your feet as you gasp for air.  Faith stands firm, no matter how the circumstances of life shake the ground beneath us.  Faith fills all the gaps and crevices where fear lurks and waits to destory our rest in Him.  Faith grabs God's hand, and takes Him at His word.  Faith knows things are in God's care, that He is sufficient to meet the needs I have.  Right now. This minute.  With Him we can breathe easier.  "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." Psalm 150:6  selahV

WRONG WAY OF THINKING, Number 2 of 11

Overgeneralization:  Wow!  This second point could not be more appropriate to today if I'd planned it.  And I didn't.  When I found the flyer in the Christian Counseling Center yesterday, I just thought it might be interesting to bounce my thoughts off their eleven points of problematic thinking for the next few days.  Given the overwhelming discouragement I felt and witnessed in Americans yesterday to the news that Obama/Pelosi/Reid-care had passed, we could all use a pep talk about "overgeneralization" (OG).

According to the flyer, "when we have this kind of thinking (OG), we view negative events in any area of life as forming never-ending patterns of defeat in all areas of our life."  My Momma used to say "If the shoe fits, wear it."

This newly-passed and soon-to-be signed into law health-care bill is not the all-to-end-all in America.  We the People do not stop working because one bill passes.  We the People do not need to conform to the kind of thinking that paralyzes our spirit, and poisons our minds.  It is one bill (albeit a very bad bill).  It's not the Constitution of the United States for crying out loud.  It will not swallow the Bill of Rights.  It's a petty law.  A law that can be amended, rescinded, repealed, reformed, and challenged in the court of law.  It is not Roe vs. Wade.  We do not have to let this "negative event" in the Rose Garden form "never-ending patterns of defeat in all areas of our life".  We are Americans.  The last four letters of American is I-CAN.  I love that.  It's not U-Can.  It's not even We-Can.  It is I-Can.  What can I do?

I can encourage every single person who is discouraged.  I can accept the parts of this bill that are worth the paper it is printed upon.  I can work with legislators to change the parts that give government the right to intrude upon the rights of Americans.  I can canvas my neighborhood.  I can write letters, email, twitter and build a network of other Americans who will and can make a difference.  Obama-care does not ask what I can do for my country--it demands I accept what my country can do for me.  I do not have to accept this as my norm forever.  I do not have to believe we are defeated because Raum Emanuel got his temporary victory in the Rose Garden today. 

Folks, I have more hope for Americans today than I have had in a long, long time.  We may not have won this battle, as Bob Adams said in his email from the American League of Voters.  "but we won a more important battle: we won public opinion."  Public opinion is a very potent thing.  When America had her financial meltdown in the fall of 2008, McCain had risen in the polls and was gaining momentum to win the White House.  Then he suspended his campaign to work on that Bailout Bill that the vast majority of Americans did not want.  When he voted "yes" to that bill, American's voted "no" to him in November.  The "maverick" was a push-over.  He caved.  He was nothing more than any other politician who ignored the will of the people.  He paid a heavy price for ignoring Americans.  Pelosi and her minions, Obama and his socialistic advisors, will pay a heavy price for ignoring the American people, too.

We may have lost a tiny battle, but we will win this war on socializing America.  We will not bow down to Baal.  We will rise up and march around Jericho till the walls fall down and two-thousand-seven-hundred-seventy page bill falls like the wall President Ronald Reagan demanded that Gorbachev tear down.  We will not sit idly by and let negativity rob us of hope.  We may be dismissed as screaming Astroturf, but we have learned a great lesson from our President about "community organizing".  There's a difference between Obama's organization and ours.  We believe in freedom, liberty and "the people".  We believe in standing on the history of our founding principles and forefathers' faith.  He believes trampling upon our history and manipulating people to fundamentally change all that is strong about America.  He believes we are subject to government, and the more controlling a government is, the better.  He believes in bowing down to foreign kings and dictators.  He apologizes to the world that seeks to destroy our liberty, freedom, and faith.  We the People believe government is subject to us, and we make no apologies.   

Americans, myself included, have sat back watching the world go by for years.  We've slowly let a few concerned citizens go to the polls for local elections and vote into power, judges, school board members, mayors, councilmen, and A.C.O.R.N. organizers who defined our lives.  We gave them the authority to do it, whether we voted for them or not.  We are awake now.  We no longer sleep.  And those who think we will return to our slumber, will hear us soon.  Change is in the air, my friends.  Change is in the air.  And it smells like victory to me.  selahV

[Interesting fact about Besty Ross who is credited with sewing our first American flag:  Following her first husband's death in the Revolutionary War, "Betsy became a part of the "Fighting Quakers" who supported the war effort, which was unlike the traditional group of Quakers.  Betsy married Joseph Ashburn, sea captain, in June of 1777.  They had two children together.  While the British were around in 1777, they forcibly occupied the Ross home.  After the Battle of Germantown, she took care of British and American soldiers."

I find it fascinating that Betsy was forced to house a government she did not want occupying her home.  Much like we are today who do not want government forcing us to occupy our homes and lives.] 

LIKE SHEEP TO THE SLAUGHTER

Democrats are taking Americans over the cliff, despite that the majority of Americans (Democrats, Republicans and Independents, alike) do not want to go.  A special thank you to all you who voted for the "BO" in 2008.  You've just nailed the coffins on thousands of grandmothers and grandfathers.  I hope you sleep well with the fiasco you are bringing upon America.   November is coming!  

Devotion for Today, and "IF God is in Control..."

Last week I wrote a devotional for Devotional Christian entitled: When Life Falls Apart, Jesus Holds It Together.  It is published today at their site.  I am compelled to link it here for my readers in light of some of my posts of late.

It is not my intention to create more fear in our lives as I write about combustible gases on tankers, trials of terrorists in New York, and the injustice of health-care reform in America.  It's also not a weakness in my faith that nudges me to write prayer requests for my brother's situation with emphysema or the safety of his daughter as she lives in New York city.  My faith is strengthened by my dependence on the Lord.  My posts are meant to show our complete reliance upon Him as we do what He leads us to do in the scheme of things as we walk in this world.  I was reminded by a dear friend today that nothing and no one can do anything "unless it is given to him of the Lord".  In other words, God is in control.

We might ask, as a reader recently wrote me via email, "If God is in control, does that mean He is controlling us?"  Whew!  That's some  heavy stuff to lift above our finite minds, isn't it?  To believe otherwise would make us seem to question the sovereignty of God.  But to dissect the entirety of this question, one must also remember God's sovereignty is big enough to allow us choices in life.  With every choice comes a consequence.  And the blessing within God's protective grace is that He is, indeed, in control of the consequences, too.  Who are we to challenge His decisions?  Who are we to tell Him when to pour forth rain, withhold it, or grant us sunshine?  Who are we to decide which calamity will bring greater peace? Who are we to tell him that our illness is not the best part of His plan for us? if we trust with all our heart that He rules upon this earth as He sees fit for His glory?

Maybe the question we should ask is, If God is not in control, do I want to be?  Really?

DON'T QUOTE ME...

...BECAUSE I'M PARAPHRASING HOW I UNDERSTOOD WHAT I HEARD.

I was watching Laura Ingraham tonite who was sitting in for Bill O'Reilly (yeah, I watch The Factor sometimes).  Tonite it was particularly interesting because Laura had a guest on and they were talking about the health-care bill and something in it about old folks like me.  If this passes (which in some form or another, it will, eventually), they want a mandatory meeting for old folks with a government representative.  I didn't catch at what point an old person gets their first visit.  But the purpose of the visit was the thing that had warning bells and whistles going off in my brain.

It appears that this government rep will come and discuss with old people (like Social Security recipients, I suppose), the rationale behind their health and the care they are receiving to see if they are making the best choices.  And they may need to evaluate the fact that they don't have much time left, and they'd had a good life and so....   "Ding, ding, ding!"  soooo...they should consider putting themselves under Hospice care rather than spending money on healthcare.  I suppose the government rep will have this handy dandy little list of things that helps determine the quality of life an old person has.

Laura was pretty upset.  She said she didn't want some rep coming in and interviewing her 83 year-old dad and telling him he needed to just accept he'd had a good life.  The gal she was interviewing had a rather condescending expression (in my biased opinion) as she told Laura that it was up to her father and not her what he did.  Ah..."Ding...Ding...Ding".  I see.  So the rep will talk to the old folks and their family members won't have any say-so in the matter.  Ah...the good old national healthcare system.  Won't it be wonderful?  We'll just bump off advise the Social Security recipients.  We'll explain how they'd be better off and so would their families and all the young people in America, if they'd just step aside and go on to Gloryland as the better choice for all concerned.  And I suppose if the old person doesn't agree, the health-care system can just cut off their dialysis treatment and blood pressure medicines and chemo.  I'm just guessing though....don't quote me.

Hey, that would take care of the Social Security going bankrupt, now wouldn't it?  If all of we baby-boomers (especially those of us who are struggling financially), were to step aside for the good of the younger generation? (Surely we can see how much better that would be for our grandchildren's benefit).  Then Social Security could be solvent again.  And no one would have to pay for our healthcare, either.  Hmmmmn. 

I'm getting cynical in my old age, folks.  Downright cynical.  selahV   

I'VE JUST GOT TO ISSUE MY PROTEST...

While I was getting ready for an appointment this a.m., I was listening to Fox News.  Senator Tester from Montana was being interviewed about the stimulus bill and the healthcare hopes he has.  He said the system would be like what the VA has now.

IS HE NUTS?

I mean does that man have a clue what he's wishing upon the American people?  THIS is the kind of healthcare they want to thrust upon folks?  My husband has been in that system since his heart attack that left him with congestive heart failure and a 38% ejection fraction.  We've seen his assigned doctor exactly twice in two years.  Know why?  Because three times that he had an appointment they called him the morning of said appointment and cancelled.  So the "system" sets him up another appointment for five months later.

The real irony is that if he misses two scheduled appointments himself, then he is out of the system and has to reapply to get back in.

He's had to stop taking heart medication that he is suppose to be on because he can't get through to the nurse to have them reorder it.  When he finally got through, they said they'd call him back.  That was two months ago.

There is a myth floating around in the world that when a person is on VA that their medicine is free.  NOT TRUE.  There is a co-pay of 8.00 even though you can buy the same medicine at Wal-Mart for 4.00.

If you need to see a doctor it is a myth that you can walk into the clinic and they'll see one.  If you need care you have to find the closest VA hospital for help.

People...get real.  The government stinks at handling healthcare.  Ask the majority of veterans who have no other choices in their care.  They wait months for minor and major care.  And then you are in and out as quickly as they can get you through the door.

Senator Testor needs to go through the "system" and have follow-up care for a heart attack.  He needs to get a colonoscopy and have the incompetent nurses climb on the table and pound on his stomach to get the tube through his intestine.  He needs to enjoy the pleasure of that experience with no anesthesia like my husband had.  Maybe, just maybe, he'd be beating another drum about healthcare.  But then, he doesn't have to have that kind of care.  Taxpayers give him great care.  Uh...come to think of it, wasn't that the same care Obama promised the citizens of the USA?  Just like the Congress enjoys?  HA.  selahV