So this is the first blog that I've created where I have opened up about my mental illness. The cat's out of the bag, so to speak.

I would like to give you a little "peak" into one of my days, which would be today.

I woke up this morning, I believe, to my alarm clock. All night, my back was in extreme pain and I felt it while I slept when I turned in bed. First thing I did upon waking up was go to the kitchen, eat 3 saltine crackers and take 2 Tylenol for my pain.

I got dressed and tried to call my husband and ended up leaving him a message. I was very dissapointed I couldn't reach him.

Then it was time to prepare for my son to go to school. I cooked a special breakfast this morning, scrambled eggs and for my son sugar & cinammon toast and for me honey toast. Thank God for our fresh 99-cent tub butter I bought Sunday coming home from church at one of my favorite stores, Fresh N Easy.

Both my son and I take daily inhalers for our asthma.

Sometimes it gets tiring but they sure help and without them, and yes I've took myself off of them before, and it was VERY scary when I developed sudden asthma attacks, so we stay on ours faithfully. I also take my psychiatric medicine in the morning; it helps me keep stable throughout the day. I also thank God for my psychiatric medicine. My viewpoint on medicine is man used the brain that God created him with to develop the medicine used to treat ill and fallen humanity. Hey, if it weren't for doctors, I would be dead right now. I had a life-saving surgery when I was a little girl, an emergency appendectomy. That is the primary reason that I desire to be a nurse. And LORD willing, one day I will be one!! It takes time and patience sometimes to achieve ones goal but with perseverance, it can happen!

(live interruption--a phone call from my hubby :) )

After Jacob went to class, I drove to my gym and worked out. I drank my protein shake when I got home, then vacuumed the entire apartment, ate lunch, then took a shower. I was struggling to take my shower. I was feeling weak and tired. Maybe it was from the Flu shot I got yesterday, I don't know.

But me & my coffee with Sweet & Low & non-dairy creamer got me through the rest of the day, helped me as a volunteered at my son's school.

One day later:

I ended up not finishing this post so I will pick up now and tell you about my day today :)
I woke up again this morning with severe back pain and took some Tylenol. I knew I was going to be coming home after I dropped off my son from school and not go to the gym. With me being in pain, I need to reserve my energy for things that have to be done around the house. So after dropping my son off at school, I came home and first thing was to do 1 load of dishes. After that, I called and talked to my sister, Becky. We had a good conversation. Becky is kept busy. Becky is going through a divorce right now and she is seperated from her husband and she works full time and takes care of her 2 children mostly on her own. I love my sister Becky and am the closest to her of the 3 sisters I have. I got off the phone with Becky and called my husband.
I cooked some Pinto Beans today with onion, garlic, brown rice and cubed ham. If anyone wants to know how I cook it, leave a reply and I'll post. I felt very accomplished after my beans and rice were cooked!
The medicine I take for my mental illness makes me feel weak and tired sometimes and I struggle with that. Sometimes I think that I don't want to take it anymore, but know it is best. All the times I have gone off my medicine, I always ended up having problems, so right now in my life I am trying to come to a resolution and accept the negative side effects my medicine gives me and learn to live with it. At least I'm stable.
That will be all for now.
"He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction. The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat." Proverbs 13:3&4

A Woman's Hair

I've wanted to do this blog topic for a long time. Blogging to me is like journaling/a book/a way to stay in touch and I thoroughly enjoy it. So, I have my coffee and I am ready to do this. :)
I have wanted to do a blog on hair, particulary women's hair for a long time. I was raised Apostolic Pentecostal and I was taught that a girl or woman was not supposed to cut her hair according to the Bible.
Let's read the scripture:
I Corinthians 11:13-15
"Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering."
If you look up the Greek word "long" in these scriptures, you will find the definition "uncut." Long, according to the scriptures, is uncut. If you read the verses prior to these you will understand Paul is talking about authority: I Corinthians 11:3 "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ: and the head of the woman is the man: and the head of Christ is God."
Verse 10 says "For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels."
I believe when a woman obeys the Holy Scripture and leaves her hair uncut and let to grow, that she has power in the spiritual realm.
I'll be honest, I have disobeyed the scripture in my lifetime, but I have repented, and I now am growing my hair without cutting it.
Praise God for women of God who obey all the scripture.
Study history; all women used to grow their hair and not cut it. It was a shame if a woman did cut it. We need to go back to the book, the Bible.
"Thus saith theLORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16a
Praise God for Godly women of God who will do what is right and live holy!

needles

So today I went and had my blood drawn at my Dr.'s office. It was the longest blood draw I have ever had in my life. The man taking my blood couldn't find my vein and he kept prying the needle in and out, left and right, ugh, not the greatest feeling having a needle stuck in your arm for 15 minutes. I was so glad it was over when he finished.
I visited a local food pantry today because we are very low on food. I only had $10.10 to buy food with this week. I spent more on medicine than I did food. I spent $27.90 on medicine; $10.10 on food. So we needed a little help this week. Last week I came across a sheet up on my fridge of some nearby places that assist with food. I'll be making Kraft Maccaroni & Cheese tonight for dinner--my son will LOVE it!

A Recap On My Husband's Last Time Home

I want to share a little from my husband's last time home:

My husband got in on Saturday night and I fed him left over turkey wings and American Blend salad and garlic toast. I learned about garlic toast from my dear sister Becky. She'd always make it when I lived with her before I got married and I adopted the idea with my family. My husband got in on Saturday night and he was tired. Sunday we went to church together. We had a baptism after church. A ten-year-old girl wanted to be baptized! Praise God!

We were able to talk with the pastor after service about some personal issues and I felt a lot better after doing that. Here is a picture of us after getting home all dressed up for church:

Sunday night my son had to go to bed early because he was starting school back up after being on Christmas Break for two weeks. It was hard for him to fall asleep that night. My husband and I stayed up playing Scrabble. Fun! I won him. We played another game Monday and here is a picture of that completed board game: I took the picture because I had filled in a w, making the word owe and own and making a complete square with the tiles, which I had never seen before done in Scrabble.

My husband left early early this morning around 3:30am; he gave me a hug and a kiss while I was still laying in bed and we said our goodbyes. I of course sent him with a bag of food. This time, I sent him a bag of fresh oranges and red apples, 1 turkey sandwhich on whole wheat bread, a 1/2 jar of pickles, his hot pickle cut into slices in a tupperware, some bread, a piece of pecan pie, some roasted potatoes, carrots & sweet potatoes, 1 banana and a can of Chicken Noodle Soup.

I had a Dr.'s appointment today and my blood pressure was NORMAL!!!! It was 120/80!!!!! Yeah!!!! I am so happy. Last time it was 140/something and the doctor had wanted to put me on high blood pressure medicine. I told her I didn't feel comfortable in that and that I would try to lower my blood pressure a natural way. I exercised and watched my salt intake. I need to lose weight on a whole, anyway. I want to lose 130 pounds.

later

A Little Past

So I'm sitting here tonight, dinner eaten, medicine took, yet my son hasn't ate yet, kind of lonely & bored, which is nothing new to me. I came from a large family and I am used to being around a lot of people. I am missing my husband like crazy, which is also nothing new most of (like 95%) of the time. My husband is a cross-country truck driver and is away from home most of the time.

We are purposely making the sacrifice by being apart so we can move out of the city where we live now. We want to move north where it is a more conservative, family-oriented area of the country and for me I am looking forward in cooler weather!!

Tonight at 12:00 and 1 second, it will be the year 2011! Wow! This year went by fast! Hopefully, LORD willing, this will be a year of victory for my family & I. We are moving and after we move, LORD willing, we are planning on purchasing a house! Of which I am super excited for! That means paint! that means border! I can DECORATE!!! :) We can put our roots down and start making traditions & memories, not that we don't do that now, but it's a whole lot different when you know you'll be in a certain house for years to come!

I will share a little bit of myself the longer I blog at this new blog of mine.

I won't share much geographic or personal specifics due to privacy, but I will describe a little in general. I was born in the great state of Alaska in the 70's. I was raised with 2 sisters and 1 brother and years later found out I had another half-sister that lived down in the lower-48, as we call the contiguous United States. To this day, I have never met her before, but have talked to her on the phone & 1 year she sent me a Christmas gift, which I felt was very nice of her. My dream growing up was to be a Registered Nurse. I had a living-saving operation when I was a little girl and I vividly remember the nurses taking care of me in the middle of the night when I was recovering and then was born my desire to one day be a nurse myself and help the sick, hurting & dying. I have much compassion and love for people, especially those in need either spiritually, physically, emotionally, or mentally.

I moved from Alaska at the age of 19 and worked and went to college majoring in pre-nursing. Off and on from the age of 18, I struggled with mental illness.

I went through a period of depression when I thought my choice to stay in Alaska and not go to nursing school initially wasn't working out for me and not turning out like I had imagined it would. Then I experienced full-blown anxiety attacks. Mental illness runs in my family, so I guess I inherited it. I am now under the care of a wonderful Nurse Practitioner and am stable and happy with the medication I am on for my mental illness. My Nurse Practitioner has been awesome to work with with finding a good medicine management plan that works for me & helps me still function in being an active stay-at-home-mother. In the past I have been on different meds that made me very tired and drowsy and made me want to sleep during the middle of the day every day. As my mother says, you are your own best advocate when it comes to working with your doctor! A good doctor, sometimes, is hard to find, like friends are in life, and when you find one, hold onto them!

In my mid-twenties I met and married my sweetheart, Wendell. The main reason why I chose my husband was because he believed the same way I believed. He was a born-again Christian.

I prayed for my future husband since I was 12 years old. I had to learn a lot of things in my young adulthood before I married. I was a stubborn one and had a lot of expectations in a man. For some reason, I was extremely picky! I even attended Bible College and turned down one man's advances towards me. But hey, if you're not attracted, you're not attracted, right?

So I guess that's enough talk about my past for now.

Moving on to brighter things/the present:

My husband is coming home tommorow night if all goes as planned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!! I get SO HAPPY when he's home!!! I turn into another person, literally! I know it's important for me to stay busy when he's gone and to have goals I'm aiming for, but hey, when my man's home, it's time to celebrate!!! I love my husband so much and am so thankful for a good man to call my husband!

Goals for next paycheck:

To SAVE some money!

To not spend it all at Wal*Mart!

I need to learn how to live more frugle.

It's better to have money stowed away in case of an emergency than to rely on credit cards with all those not-so-wonderful FEES!!!

Just turned the radio on to The Dave Ramsey Show. Dave Ramsey is a financial advisor that is great to listen to.

Enjoy your New Year's Celebration, ya'll!

A Daughter Of Jesus Christ, Sarah

Introductions

Introductions, I suppose, are in order first :) My name is Sarah; I will leave out my last name for privacy's sake. My name is Sarah. The definition of my name is princess or God's princess. I plan, upon starting this new blog of mine, to be candid. I am warning you beforehand, if I offend you, I apologize; I in no way intend to offend anyone; I am merely trying to voice my opinion, my thoughts, my mind and of that I don't think anything wrong with. This does happen to be my blog; I am the author, and thank God that we live in a country that we (still) have freedom of speech. One day we may not be as fortunate.

One of the purposes of my blog is to connect with other lovely ladies, whether you be girls, single, married, divorced, seperated, or widowed or even fatherless.

I thank my Jesus that I recently found a number of blogs dedicated to the Christian, Godly woman, wife and mother--what a JOY!!!

The title of my blog: I am a daughter of God whose name is Jesus Christ. I became a daughter of God when I obeyed the Holy Scripture according to Acts 2:28 and John 3:5 when I repented of my sins, was baptized in the glorious, beautiful, magnificant name of Jesus Christ & then received the gift of the Holy Ghost evidenced by the speaking of other tongues as the spirit gave the utterance! I have been born again!!! Hallelujah!!!! Praise be to my Jesus Christ, the ONE I love with all my heart, mind, soul & strength!!!!!! For the greatest commandment is: "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:37-40 King James Version Holy Bible

What religion am I? Well I guess to "catagorize" myself, I would say Apostolic Pentecostal; I will indulge what that is in later posts, so read!! read!! First and foremost, I follow the Bible. I read The King James Version Holy Bible. I was taught that that is the most accurate translation that man has. I follow the Bible. I believe in the Bible. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. If someone can show me in the Bible something then I will believe it. I also believe in rightly dividing the Word of Truth. We have to compare scripture to scripture and not just run rampant with one scripture.

So for starters a little about me at this point in my life: I am a young woman (in my 30's). I am married and am a mother to 1 child. I feel blessed. My husband and I are best friends. One family member once told me, "how can a husband and wife be best friends?" Well, my theory is that if you can't learn to be friends, you will soon be enemies! Yes, a husband & wife love each other, but one time my Grandmother told me that she was married to her first husband for almost 30 years and never once had a normal conversation with him; never once was his friend. Her marriage did not last. That is why I feel it is important when dating or courting to be friends first; get to know each other first.

My 1 child is a boy; he is 6 years old and he is my Gift from God. He was unplanned when I conceived him, but sometimes God knows better than we do.

I will include a little photograph of my family & I:

Welcome to my blog & I hope you enjoy your time reading & I hope to connect with like-minded women of God who are endeavoring to keep the faith.

In closing: "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." Titus 2:3-5 King James Version The Holy Bible

this is my family & I several years ago when our son was around 2 to 3 years of age standing in front of the church building where we got married at!