Rivervalley Campsite

We stayed at Rivervalley Campsite for about two weeks while we took a Swahili Refresher course.  One of the downfalls of our time there was bad internet connection, so there is a lot to post now.  But I think the pictures tell the stories better than I can...

Micaiah turned 6 1/2!!! I know, I know... it isn't THAT big of a deal except that it was also the 6 month mark since she had her ears pierced, which meant that she could now wear dangly earrings!  We celebrated by letting her wear a pair of my earrings as a special treat. :)

This is a sausage tree.  I was thankful to know enough Swahili to talk with the ladies who wash the laundry at Rivervalley.  They warned us to walk quickly under the tree so we didn't get hit by falling "sausages"!

This is what they look like on the ground-- Micaiah could hardly lift it!

This is Tim and I in class with our teacher, Kiobya.  There was another student (Simon) with us for the majority of our two week refresher course.

This is Micaiah in her Swahili class. :)  She did informal Swahili with one of the caregivers the first week, then the second week she joined some of the other kids (and their tutor!) in a class with a teacher, Joyce.  As you can see, they may have had a bit more fun than us-- they even got to play hangman!

This is Micaiah's class. Laura (the tutor), Luke, Micaiah, Nikki, and Joyce (the Swahili teacher).

This is Joyce (Micaiah's Swahili teacher).

This is Micaiah with Polly.  Polly is the laziest guard-dog known to man. :)

 Micaiah had an accident while we were at Rivervalley.  It gave us a good scare, actually.  She was hopping around on these stumps when she changed directions and slipped and hit her head on one of them.  She had a big bump on her head and-- more frightening-- the symptoms of a concussion.  She was threw up several times, was really sleepy, had somewhat blurry vision, some slurred speech, etc.  But thankfully we were able to get some good medical advice and didn't need to use our emergency evacuation plan!  Micaiah woke up in the morning as if nothing had happened.  Praise God for His protection and for healing our little girl!

This is Harold.  Harold is a very large tortoise that was found at Rivervalley.  The kids were given the big responsibility of taking him food every day-- a job that they loved and took very seriously. 

 These are the three very responsible tortoise-feeders. :)

 

This is Laura.  Laura came to Tanzania to help another family with their homeschool/lessons while the parents were in language school.  Laura (and the other family) graciously agreed to let Micaiah join them for school time and helped supervise Micaiah's modified homeschool assignments while we were in Iringa.  We enjoyed many laughs with Laura and these two especially became very close!  There were some very tearful goodbyes when we left.

Tim on the zipline at a nearby campsite!!! After a decent hike to this part of the river, we enjoyed going across and back on this awesome contraption.  So much better than a bridge!

Micaiah and I went together.  Safety first.  She's quite adventurous and thought this was as good as or better than the roller coasters she went on this summer at Six Flags. :)

Don't worry, this is just a posed picture.  I put her out over the air, but she was only a foot or so from the platform. :)

We really enjoyed our time in Iringa.  It was good to see our friends Will and Amanda again and to get to know their daughter Carrie as well.  It's nice to visit places that we have already been and share those memories together as a family.

-JLR

Eat Your Veggies

I eat several meals a day and spent time considering, planning, preparing, and cooking meals for my family.  Early this year, Tim and I started to change our diet for health reasons related to long-term stress and related hormone imbalances (see this previous post for more info).  In the past couple weeks, we've also been watching a few other new-to-us programs on similar issues:  Food, Inc. (a documentary on where food comes from in the US) and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (a tv show on ABC about changing the way America eats). 

I can't believe how few veggies most Americans eat!  Ok, I can.  I never used to eat veggies myself, unless you counted the pea/corn mixture that would garnish my plate at dinner times throughout my childhood.  But for breakfast?  Or lunch?  No thanks-- I'll stick to my meat/carbs/dairy combinations, thank you very much!  I counted potatoes as my veggies-- mashed, boiled, roasted, or fried.  I wish I could blame this entirely on my parents, but honestly I didn't cook many veggies (other than potatoes) in my first years out of the house, either.  Maybe some frozen corn/peas, some potatoes, or a can of green beans, but not fresh real ingredients.  It's only really in the last few years (probably since moving to TZ in 2007 and not having access to the same foods!) that I've learned to cook and prepare a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.  And it's probably only in the past couple months that I've actually started to enjoy the fruits and veggies more than the processed foods.  Why is that?  My theory is that my body was literally addicted to food-related pleasures-- fats, sugars, refined flours, and a whole host of preservatives and chemicals!  It has taken removing them from my diet to actually see that there are better options.  And now, I'm just starting to really appreciate the whole, real foods for what they are-- high quality fuel for my body! 

I'm thankful for the new USDA Food Guide, which emphasizes filling half your plate at every meal with veggies (and fruit).  According to the CDC via this website, less than 1/3 of adults eat the recommended servings (2 fruit/3 veggies) every day.  Healthy eating takes intentionality.  It is an investment of time and money.  Eating equal amounts of veggies/fruits as carbs/protein really does take discipline and planning.  In addition to getting myself healthy, I also want to be a good example of healthy eating for my daughter.  I want her to grow up with healthy perceptions of food and to learn these healthy-eating principles now rather than having to re-learn them later.  How amazing would that be to grow up with an immune system that's built up by consuming nutrient- and antioxidant-rich foods??  That's an investment!  And if I can get healthier while helping my family grow stronger, then that's a real win-win!

-JLR

Calling All Drug Addicts...

Today I got some AMAZING news from my naturopathic doctor... my thyroid gland is healed!  If you've been following my health issues, you know that I had sub-clinical hypothyroidism along with a whole host of other issues related to stress hormones.  Some of those are still being worked out, but the thyroid is healed!  Woohoo!  The quality of my blood is also doing a lot better (hematocrit and hemoglobin values), so my iron-deficient anemia is also nearly gone. 

I'm in the process of weaning myself off of these natural/herbal supplements, which has presented some challenges.  The big one is how to divide a 45mg porcine thyroid dose into three equal parts... do I need to get out a mirror and a razor blade??  Anyone have any ideas for how to practically accomplish this??  The medication is in a gelatin capsule that I theoretically should be able to open (without spilling the contents everywhere??), but I don't know how graceful I will be with this.  I'm open to any ideas, especially ones that don't make me look like a drug addict... :)

I tell you what, after all this time of being sick, figuring out the 'hows' of lowering my dose is a good problem to have!

-JLR

Rest

I have been dealing with really low energy levels for a long time now.  While I've finally gotten a working diagnosis (CFS) and am working with my naturopathic doctor on some factors she thinks contribute to it (sub-clinical hypothyroidism, adrenal burnout, progesterone deficiency, and iron-deficient anemia), I still have much more to learn.  We wore ourselves out on our first term serving in Tanzania.  I did way too much and my stress levels were way too high for far too long.  So long in fact that it wore out my adrenal glands!  It's more than just being tired, my body (stress hormones in particular) literally burned itself out.

Biblical, Sabbath rest is something I've been meditating on for a while now.  What can we do to live healthier, more balanced lives both here and in TZ?  We've been trying to focus more on Sabbath rest as one aspect of that balance.  We've been more diligent about our Sabbath Rest for several months now and we're trying to really guard our time as much as possible.  The trick has been resting from the activities that make us tired and that we do throughout the week.  For me that's cooking, cleaning, homeschooling Micaiah, email, facebook, and all the other ways that I correspond with our friends/family/partnership team on a regular basis.  But we still need to eat, so how legalistic should I be?  It was helpful to remember that the Sabbath is a gift.  "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27)  So it's not about keeping the law, it's about resting and doing what is best for me and my body.  So we still eat on Sundays, though our food is a lot simpler (cereal, sandwiches, leftovers, etc.) and takes a lot less time/energy to prepare.  We just try to keep in mind that the day we take away from work/responsibilities is our chance during the week to refresh ourselves.  This will get more complicated when we do presentations at churches and home groups on Sundays or ultimately when we (eventually) return to Tanzania.  Church there-- in our second language and in a culture that is often tiring to us-- is not restful.  And yet it's important to be part of the local community, so what do we do?  Those are questions for another day, but perhaps there are options to take a different day or to alternate in some way between Saturdays/Sundays or whatever.  But they're important things to consider to protect our family from burnout

I ran across this post that blessed me so much and made me thankful to know that I'm not the only one asking these questions.  Is it better to burn out than to rust out?  What do you think?  Is that just another area where we are too culturally biased to see what Scripture so clearly teaches?  In our experience, it is true that burnout is a very real thing among missionaries.  I would say that it is more disruptive to missions when missionaries don't take care of themselves.  The chances of them burning out or getting sick (many sicknesses are brought on in times of high stress) at the most inopportune times are high. 

A few weeks ago, God comforted me through the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 18-19.  After defeating the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel, Elijah was exhausted.  Jezebel sent men to kill him, and Elijah was alone, afraid, depressed, and exhausted.  He wanted to die and was in need of deep Rest.  What blesses me most about this story is how tender the Lord is to Elijah in his time of need.  He came to Elijah.  He sent him food and water (physical needs).  He gave him time and opportunity to talk about why he was tired and depressed (emotional needs).  And then God Himself met him there (spiritual needs).  I love knowing that I serve the same God and that He also cares about my physical, emotional and spiritual needs/rest! 

-JLR

Freedom

I used to think that freedom in Christ-- when it came to food-- meant that I could eat whatever I wanted.  In this process to get my body back in order, my doctor has also recommended a few very specific dietary changes to go with my supplements.  These include switching to a more whole foods diet, cutting sugar (as much as possible), cutting processed foods (completely, if possible), eating protein (eggs) with vegetables as breakfast, and reducing gluten and dairy intake.  For someone who grew up thinking that vegetables were mostly garnish on the plate, this is a completely new way of thinking.  I had patterns of eating that were largely carb-heavy-- breads, pastas, potatoes, etc.  A few weeks ago a friend emailed me in response to an email about this and said that she is praying, "that this will be an exercise in freedom for you in that you will feel the freedom to not choose what you crave but what you know is good for you."  Woah!  I had always claimed 1 Corinthians 8 as Biblical proof that we can eat whatever we want and not have dietary restrictions!  Is that the wrong way to look at the passage?  Here it is so you can read it again, too:  

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one.  For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"),  yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.   But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.  But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.  Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.  For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols?  So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.  When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.  Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.  1 Corinthians 8:4-13

So what I'm learning and praying about now is that God would free me from my food addictions.  I hope that in eating this way I can be mastered by nothing-- not even food!-- and that I can use food instead as fuel for my body.  If that means completely revamping my diet, then so be it!  If that means cutting out the foods I think I want more than anything else, then God, I pray for the grace I need to get through those cravings!  

So the new verse I'm clinging to (as I still figure out 1 Cor 8!) is 1 Corinthians 6:12: "Everything is permissible for me"-- but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"-- but I will not be mastered by anything.

Now, just keep me away from those Timbits!  :)

-JLR

The Body

I've been seeing a new doctor. She's an N.D. or Naturopathic Doctor and specializes in the area of hormones. I've never seen an ND before and I was really nervous at first. But she's been treating me for hormone imbalance and as she explained to me the connections between stress, cortisol, progesterone and women's issues (for lack of a better term), I was simply amazed. How did I not know all this before? How are there complete gaps in my knowledge of basic human body function? And more importantly, why do my doctors not know anything about this either? It's almost twilight zone-esque sometimes.

So here's the run down as I understand it. Feel free to add or correct if I'm not completely getting it right. I'm not a doctor and like I already admitted I am learning most of this for the first time!

Stress uses a hormone called cortisol. You may already know that Adrenaline is a stress hormone, but it only deals in the short term, giving you an "adrenaline rush." But cortisol is responsible for long-term stress management. Too much or too little cortisol can lead to side effects. (ie: too little can lead to fatigue, too much can lead to anxiety and panic attacks) Ok. are we good so far? Cortisol is actually made from progesterone. So when your body is under stress for long periods of time, it will eventually run out of cortisol and have to make more-- taking from the progesterone supply in your body. Well each person's body needs a certain amount of progesterone to function smoothly. For women especially, a lot of "issues" come from imbalance between progesterone and estrogen, as these two increase/decrease in various parts of your cycle. (As a side note, many people are already high on estrogens because of the environmental estrogen and phytoestrogens... compounds in plastics, refined sugars, processed foods, and even petroleum-based lotions and soaps!) And progesterone... did you know that it is manufactured in the body from cholesterol stores?? Goodness! I didn't catch whether it came from HDL or LDL cholesterol, so sorry about that. Maybe someone can leave a comment and fill me in.

Isn't all that fascinating? Ok, so maybe it's more interesting to me right now because it's actually HELPFUL to me as I get all this worked out. But to see the indirect correlation between stress and hormones was really pivotal in my understanding of how things are (or aren't) working in my body.

And to think that God worked these systems out in our human bodies... can you believe it? What complexities! Scripture tells us "do not fear," "don't be anxious," etc, and with good reason! If we harbor those things long-term we can really get out of balance! It's also a good reminder to be getting Sabbath Rest and to guard that time/energy. It's so easy to work, work, work in North American culture without taking the time to recharge. It's good to think about which activities are restful (as in not requiring much energy-- ie: watching a movie) and which activities are actually life-giving (as in adding more energy--ie: taking a nap or reading Scripture).

I wonder if this topic will be as much of an encouragement to anyone else as it has been to me...

-JLR

Neck Pain part 2

The pain described in my last post has not gone away. Today is day 18 of my pain and despite my desperate prayers for relief this morning (I was thinking, "wouldn't it be great if God gave me HEALING for my birthday this year??"), I'm still in pain. The pain has definitely diminished. I've been doing physiotherapy and every day I do most of those exercises at home (the ones that don't require equipment). My back is getting stronger, for sure, but I'm still not out of the woods.

The biggest problem for me is the persistent, nagging pain. I can handle pain for a while, but long-term pain has been a real challenge. I wish I could say that I've stood firm(ly?), but the truth is that some days I'm hardly standing at all. Or I'm standing without the victory of a positive, hope-filled attitude. I've been almost afraid to blog about it because I'm never sure if my real feelings-- the raw truth-- will come out and everyone will know what a bad Christian/Missionary I really am. But maybe that's not an entirely bad thing.

A friend sent me a sermon a couple weeks back and I've listened to it several times now. It combines prayer (particularly the "give us this day our daily bread" concept) and the verses I've been meditating on from Isaiah (see below). Which of these three do you think is most impressive?

1. soar on wings like eagles
2. run and not grow weary
3. walk and not be faint (not fall over)

The point this pastor made was that the real miracle in these verses and the climax of the passage in the Hebrew poetry is #3. Taking one step at a time without falling over is the real goal of trusting and hoping in the Lord. I'm there. Well, I hope I'm there anyway. I don't feel like I'm getting very far-- and I'm definitely not soaring or running!-- but each day I get up and don't completely curse God for this pain and these trials, I guess I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. It still doesn't feel like a miracle.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40: 28-31

-JLR

What a Pain in the Neck

This week I've been dealing with a whole host of issues in my neck and upper back.

1. Pinched nerve. Man oh man, do these hurt!
2. Two vertebrae (C7 and L3) that weren't "moving," which led to..
3. Muscle spasms and knots
4. My 2nd rib out of place
5. Not being able to sleep for more than 1.5-2 hours at a time and using Aleve as a crutch 24 hours a day (I'm not a big fan of painkillers, so this is big).

I like to think that I have a high threshold of pain, but I don't know that I can boast of that any longer. I was comparing it to childbirth pain only worse, because I didn't know when/if it would ever end!

I am so thankful for my friend and her husband. They have been real agents of healing and change in my life anyway, and now Dave (who's a physiotherapist) has given me two treatments to help deal with all of the above.

I know that my love for God should never be conditional upon my circumstances, but sometimes when God moves, I can't help but say thanks. God has provided healing (we'll see how I'm doing in the morning!). God has provided people who care. God has provided a couple who are helping me get the physical and emotional healing I need so that we can return to doing what He's called us to do in Tanzania. God has been so present and almost tangible as He pours out His love... so I think what started out being the biggest pain in my neck this week (literally and figuratively) is now my biggest cause for praise.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40: 28-31

-JLR

Immune system

Why do we get sick every time we come back to Missouri? Maybe it's more about being in a new place with germs our immune systems are not used to. I don't know how to handle this. I'm all for the philosophy that uses purell and anti-bacterial sparingly because I think they create supergerms. Plain old soap and water usually seem to do the trick. Micaiah ate a lot of dirt in her first 5 months in Tanzania (not under my supervision!), and we often point to this time as the reason she doesn't often get sick-- her immune system is generally very strong! But at the same time, it doesn't seem to help against bacteria and viruses in the US... why is that?

Have any of you done research on this sort of thing? Is there a way we can guard ourselves against getting sick all the time here without living in a clean-freak bubble? Is it a matter of eating some Missouri dirt, too? Or because of our many travels, are we just doomed to a life of getting sick in every new place until we build up immunity only to start over every time we move?? Ugh.

--JLR

Incident

I have a lot to blog about-- the past week or so has been pretty busy around here. So stay tuned for more posts coming soon...

Ok. So the incident that has prompted this post is that on Wednesday of last week (the day before Thanksgiving), I needed to get our turkey out of the deep freezer. It was to spend a few days in our fridge before roasting it on Saturday. Well, anyway, I got it out of the freezer and brought it upstairs. As I was reaching down to get a pan from a lower cabinet, I lost my grip on the handle/tag and the turkey landed on the second and third toes of my right foot. Ouch! I'll spare you the details of my overreaction and frantic call to Tim, who thought I was DYING! Turns out the second toe is broken and the third toe is bruised. I spent a good part of Wed and Thurs with my foot up and iced. Thankfully by Friday I was able to start moving around a bit.

The good news is that it's my first broken bone in my whole life. Not bad, really, if you consider how accident-prone I am. :)

-JLR