September 12 Update

I have not written in my blog in forever as life has been busy with cooking, church, homeschool, and just living. School started in September and that has taken a lot of our time. Much has happened in that time and much has been learned. The Bio-Kult did change and it was a bit of a transition, but all is well with it now.

The following is an edited update I emailed to a friend on September 12th:

Truth of God's Word Brings Healing

  Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.  Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.  Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  A new commandment I give you to love one another just as I have loved you.  There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  It is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purposes.  We were created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do.  He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it.  He works all things together for good for those who love Him and whom He has called according to His good purposes.  He knows the plans He has for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may suffer grief in all kinds of trials, these have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and bring praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Your faith has healed you.  These three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love.

God is love.  Love heals.

We are finally on full GAPS after nearly two years.  We are eating bone broths, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, brussel sprouts, asparagus, onions, garlic, parsley, pepper, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, apples, peaches, pears, cherries, grapes, bananas, berries, honey, and more!!!  I have taken communion on 3-4 occasions now with no adverse affects.  CKS (4) drank some juice at VBS by accident and has been fine.

Eczema is gone!  Rashes are gone!  Rosy cheeks are gone!  Echolalia is rare.  Eye contact is usually great!  Tempers and emotional meltdowns are rare!  Development is right on target!  Language is blossoming in all of my kids, on or above level.  Imaginative play rules the day!  Affection and just wanting to be with me is constant.  Joy and peace are present in our home and everywhere we go.  We get compliments on my children's behavior all the time.  Whining and complaining is rare.  My kids are genuinely happy and content, despite the fact that they work harder than any other children I know.

Leg cramps are rare.  Anxiety is rare.  Nightmares and restless sleepless nights are very rare.  Poo is daily, sometimes multiple times a day and is more or less formed and brown.  Smell of pee and poo is much more pleasant.  Still having bedwetting issues, but is now a rare occurrence in our second child.  The two who reacted to the vaccine still have lots of issues with frequency and urgency of urination, but they have more days now where it is less of a problem.  Christopher has actually, on several occasions, made it through the whole day in the same clothes (today was not one of those days).

Since March, I am leading worship with our praise team.  Our children go to Sunday School.  We all are present for all of worship every Sunday.  We participated in VBS and I lead the music and took pictures for the slide show.  My husband put the slide show together.  I led the music for the closing program.  During VBS and this past week, we also babysat my friend's two little boys (both PDD-NOS) because her father, their grandpa passed away.  We also cleaned out the attic, insulated the attic, etcetera, etcetera, and have been renovating the garage to make more room in our small house (which I love because small is so much easier to clean and I know where everyone is pretty nearly all the time).

I tell you all this to give glory to God who worked out all the details and made it all possible and who gave us the strength and ability to do so much.  Six months ago, I could barely get through a day and we never knew if we would make it to church on time (we once went for the last five minutes of service).  My kids reacted to something every time we walked out the door.  I could not even let the littlest ones play at a friend's house.

We are preparing for the start of a new school year.  I have my two girls taking classes at a local homeschool co-op for three hours every Friday.  My oldest two are participating in Classical Conversations on Tuesdays and will be doing much more academics this year.  My littles ones will be home with me except for four hours once a week when they will stay with a friend while I attend the Classical Conversations classes with my daughter (required).  I'm stepping out in faith with all of this.  I can't see how we are going to do all of this, but I know it is what we need to be doing.  I stepped out in faith when I committed to lead the music for VBS and it is amazing how everything came together.  I know that God will work out the details on this one, too.  (The purpose of Classical Conversations is to know God and to make Him known.)

GAPS is a wonderfully healing and nutritious protocol, but what changed was my relationship with God.  He is changing us from the inside out.  He is renewing our minds.  He is filling us with His Spirit.  His Word is powerful and the Truth will set you free.  When I began to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness and I finally began to spend time with the Lord on a daily basis, reading His Word, studying His Word, and talking to Him, then everything began to change.

I have recently discovered that I can make my kids sick in an instant.  When I am critical, their symptoms return.  The rashes and eczema return.  The leg cramps and tummy aches and diarrhea return.  When I love on them, they bloom.  They can eat fruit and honey!  It is still astounding to me that they can finally eat fruit and honey! We try not to overdo it.  Our bodies are His temple.  Christ lives in us.

We must guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.  We must put on the full armor of God.  We must love like our Savior loved.  God is love and Love heals.  All praise and glory and honor to Jesus my Redeemer.

I could go on and on.  I have alread gone on for an hour here.  I hope it was encouraging.  If you think it would be a blessing to anyone else, feel free to share my story.  You can read more on my blog, too.  Please feel free to send others my way.  Gapsfamily.blogspot.com

My faith has grown as a result of this journey and I want others to know the healing power of Christ.  GAPS is great, but God is greater!