Blood work and signatures

Yesterday was an extremely busy day for me, but also a day where I was able to get a lot of important things accomplished.  Several months ago, my mom was diagnosed with having severe Celiac Sprue Disease (where your body is allergic to gluten, which is in SOO much food).  Two other family members have also been diagnosed with this diseases and it is highly genetic (if one person has it, chances are many others do, too). My mom had been struggling with stomach problems for over a year and had dropped so much weight (she was weighing in at about 100 pounds) that she was just feeling terrible all the time.  She ate like normal, but she could not do anything but lose weight.  She also felt very tired and sluggish and just plain yucky.  Since her younger brother had been diagnosed with Celiac, we decided to research it. She had many of the symptoms, so her doctor ran a blood test and her levels came back high.  The next step to officially diagnose the disease is a biopsy.  My mom's was so severe that the doctor said he didn't even need to send her biopsy off for testing because it was obvious she had the disease.  Her body had been so deprived of nutrients for so long that it has caused her to develop early osteoporosis and many other health problems. Her doctor told her that if she had any children, they should probably be tested.  I had been having some stomach and health issues myself that seem to fit the disease.  What is so crazy about Celiac is that it manifests itself in different ways in everyone who has it.  Some people gain weight; some lose it, as well as many other symptoms.  Needless to say, I put it off for many months because I do not want to give up my gluten foods :) But I got to thinking about all the damage it had done to my mom and I want to make sure that I stay healthy to raise my baby boy.  Yesterday, I finally went and had the blood work done.  If it comes back high, then a biopsy will follow.  If not, then I guess I am just a tab bit defective :)

I also got to FINALLY close on the refinancing of my house!!!!!  The only thing material thing that I really wanted to keep in the divorce was my home.  It was something that I worked very hard for and that my parents helped us to purchase, so I wanted to keep it.  More importantly, I wanted to keep it for Brian so he could have some stability in his changing life.  It is a new house in a nice neighbor hood and I wanted that for him.  I knew I could make the payments (barely!) but working it out in the divorce was more difficult than I expected.  But God provided and now the house is officially in MY name!  Althought it takes the majority of my money to make the payment every month, I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love my home because of the memories it holds and will continue to create.  I love coming home to my baby boy everyday and playing in his room.  I love taking him for walks around the neighborhood and coming home to cook a meal that he usually will not eat (haha).  And I love getting to tuck him in at night in HIS OWN room.  Sure, I could have lots more money if I had an apartment or maybe even another house.  But this was our home and I wanted to keep it that way.  I asked God so many times during the divorce to help me accept things the way HE wanted them to go.  If that had meant not keeping the house, I would have learned to deal with that.  But everything has just fallen into place!  I got a much needed raise at work last week, I got to skip 2 house payments with the refinance and a lot of my monthly bills have become much lower!  Thank you LORD!  God always looks after us!

On a side note....
When we were in Texas a few weeks ago for a shopping trip with my mom, we were having breakfast in the car outside of Whataburger (Brian loves the taquitos!).  There were some birds in the parking space beside us looking for food the entire time we were eating.  We had quite a bit of leftovers so I started tearing off pieces and throwing it out to the birds.  They were so excited!  They were even going into the bushes and telling the other birds!  Soon, birds were everywhere and they were having a feast!  Right then, Matthew 6:26 popped into my head, "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"   Those birds were pecking around, looking for food and then all of a sudden, they were given a feast.  The same goes for me.  So many times I am trying to make money stretch or figure out what to do, and God always takes care of me.  He always has something in store for me and it is always exactly what I need, when I need it.  He is so much better at knowing what I need than I am :)