On Becoming a Wife (Lessons I've Learned from my Husband)

You can hope and dream and pray and think (a little song is coming to mind) but I just don't think you can prepare enough for marriage.  There is something about being in the actual trenches that teaches you what you really need to know.  It reminds me of my days in the teaching credential program.  We learned lots of techniques and theories and they were all great and helpful.  But I had no idea what teaching was really like until I was up in front of that classroom with live children who all had real hearts and minds and...well...ants in their pants!  (You know what I mean.)

What I could not have anticipated was how much my husband would help me become a wife.  I'm not trying to diminish anything from my mom or other faithful women in my life.  Of course I learned much from their counsel and wisdom and still do.  But what can I say?  I married well, and I couldn't have imagined all that was in store for me just by marrying Kwacha.  

So over the next few weeks I'm going to cover a different skill or trait or whatever you want to call it that has started to improve in my life because of Kwacha.  Ultimately because of God since He works in Kwacha and in me and He gave Kwacha to me.  

The topics I will cover:

(Some are obviously more vital than others and the list below is in no particular order.)

1. Cleaning
2. Time Management
3. Discipline (Working Out and Eating Healthy)
4. Appearance
5. Getting Enough Sleep
6. Raising a Child
7. Cooking
8. Scheduling
9. Forgiveness
10. Love

So stay tuned.  If I have time during Shirley's next nap, I may post one today.  
Just a little p.s.  I am in no way trying to say that I am a great example in these areas or that I have learned all there is to know.  I mean, this should be obvious without me having to state it.  I just want to be helpful in the very few small things I have learned in my short time of being a wife.  

Thanks for reading! 

Eureka!

Yes, I've found it.  When you discover something amazing, don't you just want to tell everyone?  I mean that's how it should be with the gospel, right?  As most people know, it means "good news".

Side note: If you are reading this and don't know the good news about Jesus, (who He is and what He's done for us), PLEASE email me and ask! acsimwaka@gmail.com.

Anyway, today's good news I'm sharing with you is amazingly less important.  I mean the two can't even be compared.  But it's still pretty great.  It's just a recipe and it's my new favorite thing.

The Oatmeal Cookie Dough Smoothie!

Originally found here, I've made very tiny changes.  It just amazes me that something can taste so much like oatmeal cookie dough without any added sugar.

So without further ado, the recipe:

1 frozen banana

1/4 cup raw oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 Tbsp peanut butter

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Throw it all in a blender and blend until smooth.  Like the original author says, it's best when you have to eat a smoothie with a spoon, right?  ;)

This smoothie is filling enough (and healthy enough) to stand in for lunch.

Enjoy!

That time of year...

Resolutions?  Yes, no, maybe so?  Well when New Year's rolled around I felt that it was almost pointless to make resolutions since I find such difficulty in keeping them.  Plus the whole idea just sometimes seems a little....cheesy to me.  What has happened to me and the idea of cheesiness??  In the last couple years I have wanted as little to do with cheesiness as possible.  But I think I've gone to the other extreme. 

This last weekend we had high school winter camp.  The topic was the glory of God.  To bring God glory should be my utlimate goal and resolution, which I cannot do apart from Jesus and the Holy Spirit working in me. 
1 Corinthians 10:31 "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 
Romans 11:33-36 "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!  'For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?' 'Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?' For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be glory forever.  Amen."

Any resolutions I make this year should stem from this.  And it has become more and more clear to me in the last two weeks that I HAVE to make goals and plans in order to grow and truly bring God glory with my life.  If I don't plan anything it's not going to happen.  A friend asked me recently, "What are your plans for this year?"  And I didn't have much of an answer.  Lame!  The very next day I was reading a book that my wonderful boss gave me and the author was talking about the importance of setting goals to grow. 

So, at camp I decided that it might be a good idea to break up my day/areas in which I am involved and see in what ways I need to grow.  That may be a way to figure out some goals and plans to make. 
For me that looks like:
God
Family/Home
Work
Church/High School Group/Evangelism
Friends
Entertainment
Food
Sleep/Rest
Finances

Right off the top of my head I know that in my relationship with God I want to wake up at 5 every morning and spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer.  I want to read through the Bible this year, but faster than one year.  Maybe a few months or more.  I want to spend the majority of my time in the car praying to Him or singing to Him. 
With Family/Home I want to help my mom around the house more.  Be more involved with cleaning and cooking, etc. 
At Work I want to be focused on paying attention to what I am doing.  I want to make sure that I don't draw attention to myself at lunch by trying to be funny or whatever.  I want to take interest in other people.  I also want to take a couple of lunches every week to read. 
With Church/High School/Evangelism I want to faithfully pray for those on staff and the girls in my small group.  I want to choose a day or two in the week where I specifically plan to pray for them.  Same goes with missionaries and people I want to tell about Jesus.  To be realistic, I'd like to start off with telling someone the gospel at least once a month.  I know it should be more, but I want to start off with more than last year. 
With Friends I want to be more purposeful in our conversations.  To ask more faithfully how I can pray for them and then to actually do that! 
With Entertainment I want to be much more discerning in what I watch.  I want to ask myself, "Is what I'm watching glorifying to God?"  If I can't find any way in which it is, I shouldn't be watching it! 
With Food I need to come up with a plan for eating healthy and stick with it.  With the disease I have this is necessary and yet I forget that it is.  I would like to have self control in this area.  I'd also like to spend less in eating out.  In order to do this I really need to come up with how much I should spend a month and stick with it. 
With Sleep and Rest it's pretty simple.  I need to go to bed earlier!  I would like 6 or 7 hours of sleep a night.  If I get up at 5 that means I need to go to bed between 10 and 11.  That means I need to start going upstairs between 9:30 and 10 and that means getting off of FB by 10 for sure! 
And finally with Finances I need to make a budget and stick with that.

Well, again, those are plans that come to mind immediately.  I know that I could come up with more and probably other categories.  But this is a place to start.  It's also probably more than you wanted to know, but I am thankful to have a spot where I have recorded this and now you all can keep me accountable! 

So, what have you decided to do this year as far as resolutions?  What has helped you in the past?  I want to know readers!  Now is the time for you to finally comment!  har har...

Mad About...

Coffee Bean's Belgian Waffle!

This may look like an ordinary waffle, but trust me my friends. This is NO. ordinary. WAFFLE. I remember, about a year or so ago, I walked into Coffee Bean and saw this delectable wonder sitting on the counter in a glass dome. I thought, "Mm, that looks good," but I guess the purse strings were drawn a little tight that day. I left without the waffle. The very next day I was eating lunch with Emily and Erin at work and they were talking about this delicious waffle they had the day before at Coffee Bean. I said, "No way, I almost bought that yesterday." They immediately got crazy eyes and couldn't believe I didn't try it. They said it was one of the best things they had ever eaten. They said I didn't even need to use the Nutella that came with it. They said it was that. good.
So of course it was was only natural for me to try it that afternoon. I was thinking, "Seriously. This has been talked up way too much. There's no way it can be as good as they say. Friends. It was better. I should really learn to trust those girls.
That belgian waffle became a way of life for me for some time. I had to tell other people about it. I had to take my friends and experience their joy in trying it. Ahem....you know...not an excuse to have another one myself...
All was going well until one dark summer day. I bounced into Coffee Bean with the taste of the belgian waffle already on my tongue. I stepped up to the counter. I was a just a tad nervous because I didn't see the waffle out on the counter. But I thought, "They're probably just whipping up a fresh batch." The barista asked me for my order and I gave it to him. And then the 12 words I thought I would never hear came out of his mouth. "We don't have the belgian waffle anymore. No one ever orders it." WHAT???!!!! EXCUSE ME???!!! AM I NO ONE????!! I stood there with what I am sure was a look of shock mixed with horror and sorrow. I think I might have uttered, "Seriously?" And then after a minute? Okay maybe 5 seconds I said, "Okay fine then, never mind. Bye." The barista of doom asked, "You don't want anything else?" I said, "No." And I left that store, vowing I would never return.
A couple of months later I met up with Glenna and Janea and Glenna suggested we go to Coffee Bean. It was a different location. The one at the mall. I reluctantly agreed. We walked in and lo and behold, there. On the counter. Was my beloved waffle. You'd think I was a 5 year old walking up to the gates of Disneyland for the first time. I ordered the waffle with butter. (It enhances the flavor.) It was a blessed reunion.
When I started having health issues, I had to say goodbye to the belgian waffle for quite some time. But recently, I have been able to eat desserts here and there. (Okay I might have them a bit more than "here and there", but that's another blog post.) Shelsy and I will often go to Coffee Bean on our break and order Blueberry Peach Iced Teas. We go to the infamous Coffee Bean that ruined my life for awhile. :) Guess what they sell there now? Yeah. Looks like it was in high demand after all! Barista of doom!

Shelsy didn't think I talked it up too much either.

I created another monster.

Tastebud Heaven

Now that I am on a "special" diet I sometimes like to picture myself eating one of my favorite foods trying to remember how it tastes, like warm, gooey, chocolatey brownies, or cheesy savory paninis, or giant, juicy burgers.

That brings me to Umami. Yesterday, msn's delish.com had an article highlighting the top 25 best hamburgers in the U.S. Umami Burger was GROSSLY overlooked. For months, Erin and Emily had been telling me things like, "Oo...look! We're passing Umami Burger!" or "You haven't been to Umami yet!" "Sarah Arnstein is wrong. Umami is better than 8 oz. Burger Bar." I had gone to 8 oz. once and their burger was undoubtedly delectable. If anything I was leaning towards Sarah's side since I lived in ignorance.

Then, one day, Emily told me that we were going out to eat before going to Crystal's house. She refused to tell me where because it was just too exciting and she was going to make it a surprise. I started dreaming big. It was like my anticipation for the finale of "Lost". My imagination went far beyond reality. On the way I guessed that we were going to Umami and Emily confessed. She was disappointed at my lack of excitement. But really, how good can a burger be? My tastebuds were ready for intense euphoria.

When we arrived I was encouraged by the atmosphere. Atmosphere does a lot for me. This place was in a unique area, right next door to a Halloween store with a line out the door extending all the way to Grauman's Chinese Theater. Okay...not that long. We sat down and I received my menu. I'll admit, the choices were impressive. I had never seen that many different kinds of burgers listed before. Than my eyes rested on the words "Truffle Burger". I had never tasted truffle sauce before but I knew it's reputation. My mind was set. And let me tell you.... .... ............. ....... you haven't tasted a burger. Until. You've been to Umami. Words cannot describe not only how good MY burger tasted, but also the ones Erin and Emily ordered. This blog post's ending is slightly anticlimatic, because the real climax is awaiting you....at Umami. Trust me. Is their slogan "the fifth taste" not enough for you? Go. Now. Skip work or school if you have to. And thank me later. ;P

"Colitiscope" as Lainey Calls It

It's time to just lay it all out there, since most people know I have ulcerative colitis anyway. Although this post isn't to say, woe is me. Many people have diseases far far worse. I literally have nothing to complain about. But I thought I did for awhile.
Am I the only one to ever get a bit cocky and think...I could handle that person's trial? Or, sometimes I even pray for trials but I usually have specific ones in mind. I tend to romanticize even trials. Then God, in His perfect "knows-you-way-more-intimately-than-you-even-know-yourself" kinda way, sovereignly allows a tailor made trial into your life, and you think, that's not the kind I meant when I asked for one!
Well, just shy of a year ago, about six months after my dad died...I started getting some unnerving symptoms. I definitely won't go into any detail on here. For any of you science nerds...like me...you can look it up on Google if you really feel the need.
For some reason, it really freaked me out. Particularly the procedure I had to undergo to get diagnosed. It took about three hours max to gain the right perspective after my dad died. God was so gracious and calmed my heart quickly with His peace beyond understanding. But this...for some reason it took longer...weeks if not months. And it seemed like such a smaller trial in comparison written down on paper. I found myself questioning and doubting more than trusting. I hadn't heard of this disease before...I didn't know anyone who had it. The famous "why me?" question reared it's warty head. That sounds gross but isn't doubting God gross? Finally after His grace alone, He confronted me in His Word, maybe through a sermon, I'm not sure...but He showed me my sin. And the symptoms went away as it went into a kind of remission and I gained back all the weight AND THEN SOME that I lost when I was first diagnosed and not sure what I should be eating. The G.I. doc put me on some medicine to take indefinitely and said that it is effective in 70 to 90 percent of patients. He said that diet has nothing to do with it and I could pretty much eat whatever I wanted and to stay away from foods that bothered me.
Well...eating whatever I wanted quickly turned to gluttony. That doesn't always mean you become fat, but who knows if I continued to eat every single dessert that was on the Customer Service table!
And soon I found myself in a flare up worse than ever that lasted for two months, the medicine wasn't doing a thing and I wound up in the hospital with swollen legs so much so that I couldn't walk. At least not without extreme pain. Right before that my ankle's were taking turns swelling up. The first time I went in they said I had sprained my ankle even though I hadn't remembered hurting it in any way.
All this to show God's crazy amazing faithfulness to a selfish brat like me!
A couple weeks before I had gone into the hospital I had found a diet...or a way of eating online. I had typed in "colitis and diet" in the Google browser and you know how those ads pop up at the top? Right above the actual articles and websites that you are actually looking for? Well, the first ad must have sounded good because I never click on those, but I did this time. And sure enough, it sounded REALLY gimmicky. "Pain free in one day!" "Great taste, no pain!" The woman behind it, Sherry Brescia, had a four day menu available as a PDF that you could download for free. Then if you found it worked for you, you could purchase her book for about 40 bucks. Yeah. Right.
I downloaded it anyway, but pretty much ignored it.
Well, when my legs started swelling up again on Christmas night and I had to miss church the next morning with no hope of seeing a doctor on the holiday weekend, I thought I would try anything. I thought I would stick very closely to the diet and see how it went. (Also, on a side note, I had recently seen my new general practitioner and she said that she has lots of patients with colitis who all swear by diets and she herself believes its legitimate. Kinda makes sense!)
I noticed a HUGE difference in how I felt the very first day. After two days I had hardly any symptoms but was majorly wanting sugar, so I ate a truffle at my Grandma's house and had symptoms immediately. Hm. So I went back onto the strict diet. Now this was during the holiday season people. I was grumpy, to say the least. Not trusting God again. It took a few days for me to realize my sinful attitude and repent of it. Then I just was so excited because this thing was working!
And it still is! Seriously no more symptoms! It's almost unbelievable! The gist of the diet is that it's about combining foods. Eating starches and proteins separately. Sherry and others who promote food combining say that starches require an alkaline enzyme in our bodies to digest while proteins require an acidic enzyme. As you learn in Biology class, alkalines and acids neutralize each other. Well, apparently the same thing happens in your body when the two enzymes mix, and then the digestion process is massively slowed down. Which causes problems. Especially in certain people like me. So most desserts are out because they are poorly combined in themselves. Flour and sugar with eggs and milk. I have to eat fruit completely by itself. I can pretty much eat most vegetables with anything. And peanut butter and honey have become my new desserts. :) It's really not that bad, and it is so worth it to feel this great.
I am so thankful that God allowed me to find that site! And that He answers prayer. I knew I wasn't having self control in the food area and I was praying that He would change me. Well, I was stubborn and while there may be other reasons why I was allowed to undergo this small trial, I know He has taught me so much through it. Why is He so kind to me??? I'm a blockhead!

Well, if you read this far, thanks! Always trust our loving God and turn to Him FIRST in your trials!

My Dad

Well, I promised a blog update on Facebook for those who don't know what's going on with my dad. I don't know how many people actually read this thing...but here goes.
As some of you may know, about three years ago my dad picked up some nice little spores in the air (yes, Secret Garden fans, Colin did have something to worry about after all) that resulted in Valley Fever. I don't know much about the illness other than it effects people differently. He started getting terrible headaches while we were on our Christmas vacation in Oregon that year, so terrible that he we had to leave a tad early and he couldn't drive us home. The spores produced a disease (I hope I'm getting this somewhat right) called coxy. The coxy traveled to his brain and he ended up with meningitis. The doctors gave him medicine instructing him that he would be on it for the rest of his life, and that was that. The headaches went away and it seemed that all was well.
Well, a year or so later my dad started having back problems. He went to a few chiropractors but nothing seemed to be working. I had a suspicion that it might be related to the Valley Fever, but there was no evidence of this.
To make a long story short, the backaches eventually morphed into loss of feeling in my dad's legs and now he can barely walk. After many many months of doctor's visits, referrals and the like; the doctor's discovered that the backaches and the loss of feeling are all related to the coxy from the Valley Fever. The coxy moved to an area where no one expected, my dad's spine. Something, we found out, so rare that the doctors didn't even think of that as an option. And apparently, the medicine currently available does not reach the spine.
My mom asked the doctors if the coxy could possibly move up the spine and effect his arms. They don't know.
On Monday, my dad was admitted to the hospital for a week to ten days where he will be receiving medicine pretty much continually through an I.V. in an effort to stop...kill...do something to the coxy. We are praying for the best, but know the reality that it may not work and my dad may wind up in a wheelchair.
Let me tell ya, I don't feel too old. I did just turn a quarter of a century but I often, whether it's a good thing or not, feel like a kid. I don't FEEL like either of my parents are old enough to be experiencing something like this. My dad's not even 60 yet. Don't let the gray hair fool you! :0)
But age has never been a determining factor in trials.
If you're reading this and you don't know the Savior, I want to let you know that we're not questioning God's goodness. My sister and I were privileged to attend the Resolved Conference a couple of days ago and wow! God's timing is superb! We were able to hear wonderful messages from John Piper on the sovereignty of God; particularly over sin and it's effects. Already I've seen TREMENDOUS growth in my mom's trust in the Lord. I've been encouraged to see my dad's lack of complaint, especially since he's been in the hospital and found out he may wind up in a wheelchair. My dad has always been an active, hearty, loud-laughing man. It's WEIRD to think of him in a wheelchair, but he doesn't appear scared. We've already had the opportunity to tell my grandma, who does not understand why God is allowing this to happen to her "good" son, that GOD is good, and He is allowing this to happen for a very good reason(s). God has revealed my own sin to me and shown me much grace...my sister too.
We may have to move to a one story house, if I get married someday, my dad may be rolling me down the aisle, "The Office" style. :0) BUT, this place is not our home. We are all hopeful in our precious, infinitely loving Savior!
Thanks for praying!

Attack!

Original uploader was TimVickers at en.wikipedia

The past month was a very busy month. Clint and Kim Archer came out for Resolved and Junior High camp, and with them came six other South Africans. Lyle and Liz Wetherston, Kerry Drew, Vicky Ramsden, and Warren and Jen Upton. We had the privilege of having the Uptons stay with us. It was such a blessed time and I am so thankful that God allowed them to come out here. It was just very sad to see them leave yesterday! We were able to do a lot of fun things with them. The Resolved Conference, Disneyland, the 4th of July, and more. There was many a late night. So, the day after they left (thankfully), it all caught up with me and I now have the flu/cold. (Along with a disturbing case of pink eye...okay, it's not THAT disturbing. Most people didn't even notice it and it's almost gone.)

Laying here with my muscle aches, I was suddenly very curious about what causes muscle aches when you have the flu. So I went ahead and looked it up on good 'ol trusty Wikipedia. (Looking up various topics on how our bodies work just happens to be one of my favorite things to do...call me a nerd if you must...or...don't call me a nerd!) Anyway, it's fascinating. It all has to do with the immune system. When we get a virus, our immune system kicks in and produces antibodies that fight it off. The antibodies travel to our muscles by way of our blood, and they can cause the muscles to contract. The constant contraction makes our muscles sore, apparently.

There are a host of things that fight disease that I didn't even consider before. Tears, coughing, sneezing, saliva, and gastric acid are just a few among the many. I could go on and on. (By the way, the picture above is a "single neutrophil (yellow) engulphing anthrax bacteria (orange).")

The one thing that prompted me to write this post was the annoying presence of evolutionary terms on the wikipedia page. It makes it hard to distinguish betweeen what's true and what's not. (Well, I guess that's a problem with Wikipedia in general. :0) I am not suffering from the same delusion as Michael Scott.) One thing that always strikes me as I study anything about the human body is the fact that people can actually still believe in evolution after they themselves have studied this topic. All the functions that take place within the human body point to a Creator! None of those things could have just happened by accident! It's just one more thing that points to what an Awesome God we have!