Book Review: Miracles: A Journalist Looks at Modern Day Experiences of God's Power by Tim Stafford

 

 

 

 

 

The author, Tim Stafford claims to have written this book from a journalistic view. However to write something from a true journalistic view, it should obtain little to no opinion and be based on facts and observations. Tim Stafford does not hold back on his opinions in this book, and I feel that his opinions cloud things up.

One statement he makes that I simply can not agree with is to the affect that "a miracle must be instant, complete and permanent". This is a mans description of a miracle. But what is God's description of a miracle?

I really do believe that believing in miracles comes down to faith. People want miracles so that they will have faith and then be able to believe in God. Unfortunately I don't think it works that way. Miracles definitely do boost our faith and we need that! However if you walk around demanding miracles of God as a ultimatum to your belief, you might be sorely disappointed.

Despite my personal dislike for this book, I do think that there is some decent information in here for the general public. However, understand that the author is not an expert and really just an average person writing his opinion (as am I), so take that with a grain of salt.

I received a free copy of Miracles in exchange for my honest opinion. I received no other compensation.

"Impressive Recovery, Difficult to Explain"

"Impressive Recovery, Difficult to Explain". Those are the words my Nephrologist wrote in my medical chart after seeing me on Friday the 10th. To me those are beautiful, amazing words! Praise be to God!!

Let me explain.... The last three weeks I have been feeling so much better between dialysis sessions. Throughout this time I have noticed several positive changes physically as well. One was that I was having very little to no visible swelling (due to kidney failure, fluid will build up in between dialysis treatments causing visible swelling usually in the feet, hands, etc). The second is that my body was producing urine like it used to before my kidneys failed (One of the functions of your kidneys is to produce urine and the worse your kidney function, the less urine your body produces). I started wondering if my kidney function was getting better so I called my Doctors office last week and requested a test to see what my current kidney function is. When the results came in I went to see my Doctor. He said to me "well, your kidney function is better. But the question is why is it better? I don't understand why its better." I couldn't help myself, I told him I knew why! "God is healing me!" I must say it was an uncomfortable silence after I uttered those words. His expression didn't change and my heart dropped a little. But we moved on in the conversation and he told me he wants me to stay on dialysis (although I am going from 3 sessions to two a week) and do another test in two weeks to see how my kidneys are functioning then.  
One month ago my Creatnine was 5.70, as of Tuesday of last week my Creatnine was 3.47 (which takes me from stage 5 to stage 4)! Before I started dialysis my GFR (glomerular filtration rate) was a 9 (anything under 15 is considered renal failure). Mine is now 28 (normal is 60)!!
I am giving the praise to God but we are also praying that God will continue to heal me. I'm not out of the woods health wise as stage 4 is still considered critical but I feel that just having these last 3 weeks where I have been feeling better is a miracle itself and I am thankful for that!

And if you are wondering how I know what was written in my medical chart... well... it is my medical chart and all you have to do is ask the right person. :)

Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer

If you're like me, you've read a lot of books in your lifetime. To me thats a great thing, at least until all the story lines start to run together. Theres nothing more dissapointing than picking up a book to read only to find that you've read one or two others just like it. However, I didn't feel that way at all about the Short-Straw Bride! It was a new and intriguing story line and I enjoyed the read. Karen Witemeyer is a great story teller and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

This is what the publisher has to say about the story:
No one steps on Archer land. Not if they value their life. But when Meredith Hayes overhears a plot to burn the Archer brothers off their ranch, a long-standing debt compels her to take the risk.
Years of constant vigilance hardens a man. Yet when Travis Archer comes across a female trespasser with the same vivid blue eyes as the courageous young girl he once aided, he can't bring himself to send her away. And when an act of sacrifice leaves her injured and her reputation in shreds, gratitude and guilt prompt him to attempt to rescue her once again.
Despite the fact that Travis is no longer the gallant youth Meredith once dreamed about, she vows to stand by his side. But will love ever be hers? Or will Travis always see her as merely a short-straw bride?"

Are you intrigued yet? I was! This is a great, quick read. Be sure to check it out on Amazon or Christianbooks.com!

{Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review. All opinions presented herein are my own.}

Update On The Health Front

I have found it really hard lately to do updates on my health issues. Originally one of the big reasons I started this blog was to talk about Kidney Failure and hopefully to promote the need for living kidney donors. There are thousands of people out in the world waiting for a kidney transplant and most of the public doesn't seem to understand the severity of kidney failure and the horribleness of a life spent waiting on dialysis. But while living this disease every day I find that I don't always want to talk more about it because it can bring on feelings  (such as resentment and frustration) I don't want to cater to. So if my health postings are sporadic, that might be the reason.

But to give the real update I am still keeping on... I am off peritoneal dialysis for the time being and doing my hemodialysis treatments in center three times a week. Hemodialysis is tough, I feel sick after treatments and the schedule really makes it difficult to lead a normal life. I can't make long term plans or go away for the weekend without missing a treatment. I am still believing God for his mercy and healing!

Still on Hemodialysis

At the end of May I posted about the peritoneal dialysis fluid leaking through a hole in my diaphragm underneath my right lung. I haven't posted much since then because frankly I've been on a roller coaster physically. Right before leaving the hospital on May 25th my Nephrologist took me off of Peritoneal Dialysis and arrangements where made for me to start hemodialysis (part of that process was having an IJ catheter placed into the main artery that goes directly to my heart).
(You can check out the post here. )  For two weeks after my hospital stay I did hemodialysis exclusively. Then about mid June my Nephrologist decided it was time to start adding peritoneal dialysis back slowly. We started at 1000 liter fills for a week, then 1500 liter fills for a week, each week followed up with a chest xray. Then on Friday the 29th the Dr upped it to 2000 liter fills. And that's when it started.... the next morning I went to dialysis, came home and was exhausted. My mother called and said she and my step dad needed help at the garden so we packed up the family and headed over there. I picked raspberries for about 30 minutes then couldn't stand to be on my feet anymore. I went to the van and slept until everyone was done. We went home and I took some pain pills and went to bed. The next morning I got up determined to go to church. If I remember correctly I told my 16 yr old son that I was going to church whether he had to carry me there or not. Ignore the mental picture.... lol. 20 minutes later I realized I was too sick to go. My lungs hurt, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to lean over. I was nauseous and had no energy. I slept the whole day.
Monday morning I had my scheduled xray and after hours of waiting in the Dr's office I was told what I already new.... fluid under my right lung, again. My Dr told me he wanted to take me off PD (peritoneal dialysis) for a week, take an xray next Monday and if the fluid has reabsorbed we will try again with 1700 liter fills this time. I'm praying this hole heals itself and quick. My body is exhausted. Half of 2012 is gone and I've spent the entire 6 months of it being sick. This wouldn't be so bad if I was an old single cat lady (no offense to any elderly people with chronic disease, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes either) but being a wife and mother of three kids... well, I feel like life is slipping away.
Please Lord heal this hole in my diaphragm and let me return to doing PD. I am tired of feeling sick most of the time. This post here accurately describes the symptoms and how I feel about 50-70% of the time after a hemodialysis treatment. On the flip side of it I want to be content and find a way to strive with whatever the future is. If I have to stay on hemodialysis then I pray for the patience, resilience and grace to get through every single day and to accomplish what I need to on a day to day basis.

Reflections on Writing

I often think of posts to write, narrating in my head exactly what I want to say and how I will say it. My mind seems to constantly be going so for me its not hard to think on what I'd like to share. But often reality gets in the way and I don't share even a quarter of what I wanted to. My goal on this blog is not to write a post a day, that would be such a difficult achievement to reach and I can see burn out ahead of I attempted that. Instead I just want to share once or twice a week when time permits. Sometimes I've wondered if having such a multi-topic blog would repel people. There are so many wonderful blogs out there. I love to read the homeschooling blogs, the homestead blogs, the adoption blogs, the large family blogs and the list could go on and on. But how can I keep my blog to just one topic when my life is not? Its not one topic, its many. One thing I don't want to do as a mom is compare myself to other moms because it just wouldn't be fair. And in a sense it isn't right to compare my blog to others either.

I started out just wanting to share my thoughts and feelings regarding dialysis but as a homeschooling mom I want to share that aspect of our lives also. Unfortunately there is not a lot of homeschooling going on these days and the health issues just seem to take over. So for now I will just keep doing what I am doing. Posting when I can, sharing whats relevant at the moment and working on letting God lead my thoughts, my posts and my words.

Introducing....

Our newest family member, Fluffington Braveheart I (the 1st)! Now I have to say that I had no plans to add any new additions to our family. We already had two cats and one of them needs to go to a new home without children. But... on to our story of the new family addition.
It was a cold and rainy afternoon.... my sister had just come home from work and she stopped over to say hi. As we were sitting and chatting she happened to mention that while she was getting her mail she heard some excessive meowing from the bushes behind the mail boxes. I was instantly concerned and asked her "what if its hurt?". Her response was that she was afraid it was some 'creepy' guy hiding in the bushes waiting to abduct her and so she wasn't about to go searching for it. I rolled my eyes in exasperation and said "well I'll go look for it". And since I was not afraid in the least that there was some creepy guy hiding in the bushes, I bundled up the boys and down the road we walked in the drizzle to the mailboxes. Soon as we reached our destination I could hear the meowing. Whoever it was was very upset/scared or hurt. I started to search through the bushes for the sound, but it took me about 5 minutes until I saw who was crying and what I saw melted my heart! A sweet, precious little orange and white fluff ball about 6 weeks old. Of course we brought him home and fed him, he was sooo hungry but in surprisingly good shape. Then the boys started asking what we were going to name him. At first I kept saying "nothing, because we aren't keeping him!". But eventually that changed into "well... I don't know what we should name him..." So now we are a three cat family! lol