Category: DianaLand

When Lightning Strikes

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Lightning Strikes We Can’t See

Walking through Babler State Park my husband and I discovered this tree.

lightning rips a tree

 

I’ve never been this close to a tree hit by lightning. I have heard it hit but not seen the fresh results. 

The lightning sends its razor hot light onto the tree and causes the water inside to steam, sizzle and pop open the bark. You can see the bark resting on the bed of leaves.

Will this tree recover? Probably. It’s young and new bark will cover the scar. Or it might not be strong enough to withstand the trauma  of the strike.

lightning strikes tree www.dianabrandmeyer.com

In life we are often hit with lightning bolts of a different kind. Your husband has heart issues, a baby is lost, your child no longer calls home, there isn’t enough money to pay the bills. It feels like a strip of ourselves is laid bare for everyone to see.

Except it’s not. The man at the store who pushes his cart in front of you can’t see the pain, a friend has no idea until you mention what  has happened, or we might say “I’m fine” to anyone who asks..

Keeping our scars fresh and hidden can cause them to fester and not heal. Remember when you were a kid and scraped your knees? How you hid the injury under a bandage and tried not to bump it? Then you fell again and the bandage didn’t protect you anymore? Once again you were in pain because the old scrape hadn’t healed.

It’s better to tell someone what has happened. They can  protect you from re-injury before you’ve healed enough to handle another bolt of pain. Even better, take it to God because He understands. He sees your hurts, brokenness and scrapes.

Revelation  21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

After years of trying to figure out why I’m so tired I have hope.
Hypothyroidism makes you draggy and not interested in life. I do have that and have been treated, my blood levels are fine. The only answers I heard were you’re getting older, you’ll slow down. Not willing to accept that I worked out, took boot camp classes, Zumba and walked a million miles around the park. Nothing changed. Instead I gained more weight and became more fatigued than before.

Adrenal Fatigue Zaps Energy
Adrenal Fatigue Zaps Energy

I was at my chiropractor’s office when she suggested using a saliva test to test for adrenal fatigue. Despite having to spit in a small tube the test wasn’t difficult. I did miss that my boys weren’t around for that. I can only imagine the things they would have said along with the laughter.
It took a few weeks to get the results back and yes, I did have it. What a relief to find out there was something that could be done! I’m at week 3 taking supplements and have recently started an anti-inflammatory diet which helps with healing.

Signs of Adrenal Fatigue

These are some of the signs. If it sounds like you, find a doctor who will order the saliva test.

  1. Waking up is hard to do—really hard to do, it’s time to get up but you can’t because you’re so fatigued.
  2. You feel more awake after you eat a meal.
  3. There is not enough salt on anything you eat.
  4. You can’t handle stress anymore—I actually screamed (not loud) when a grocery store worker spoke to me from behind. I didn’t know he was there. Poor man. Scared him too!
  5. Fuzzy thoughts.
  6. Memory problems!
  7. And my favorite—you can’t seem to get anything done.

A book Recommendation


Adrenal Fatigue by James L. Wilson, ND., D.C., PH.D.

 

Adrenal Fatigue Solution by Fawne Hansen and Dr. Eric Wood

It’s a good read as well. I found the second half easier to understand as that part is written for non medical types. The website has a lot of articles I found helpful. Check it out if you think you have Adrenal Fatigue or suspect you do.

Meanwhile could you all keep me in your prayers as I work on The Honey Bride? It’s due in November and could use some more energy.

 

 

Where to find more Information

There is an online test you can take if you want to see if this might be a problem for you. You can do this at Take the Adrenal Fatigue Test

 

This is a blog hope see what’s up with the Letter “A”

Picking Values over Goals

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Why Should you Pick Values over Goals?

 

I love making goals for about two days. Then I hate looking at them written in perfect penmanship, mocking me for what has been left undone and how far I must go to complete them.

The paper sits on my desk with unchecked boxes next to things like clean upstairs closet, clear out old spices, and read all my email. I don’t even know why I write them, they do nothing for my self-esteem whether I do them or not.

Values over Goals

A few weeks ago I read Jennifer VanderKlipp’s blog and my shoulders relaxed, breathing became easier and my goal setting has changed. Jennifer wrote about the difference between values and goals. I know Jennifer personally and the things that have occurred in her life would have flung me to the floor in tears, but not her. She’s my hero. She’s on her knees a lot talking to God, but she’s survived. Her story is pretty amazing, hop over and read it then come back. Oh please come back!

After reading her blog I realized I have a similar problem. My goal making has gone awry, it serves no purpose but to frustrate me. I need to be looking at what I value.

Yes, I still have to clean, grocery shop and clean the bathroom.  But those aren’t my goals. They’ve never been something I dream about and can’t wait to work on.

I’m making a new list.

What do I value? It’s beginning to look a little like this:

Values not Goals

 

Now I’m starting my days with, “What the most important thing I value today and what am I going to do to strengthen it?”

By choosing a value as my starting place I think I’ll be a happier person, the frustration of not getting to the important things in my life will fall away….or so I hope. 

Tell me in the comments if you think this would work for you? 

 

4th of July!

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

 How do you spend the 4th of July?

In America, the 4th of July is a family fun-filled event. Some cities, like mine plan a 4th of July extravaganza. This year the St. Louis River front is being redone so the celebration will be held at Forest Park in St. Louis. It’s a really big deal because the city turned 250 this year and I think it’s the first time the park will host the fair. Everyone here is a buzz about the traffic, shuttles, and buss routes. I’m hoping to go one of the nights to see the fireworks but the crowds will be huge and that might keep me away. 

I love the 4th of July with all the good food-yes I’m gluten free but there are some amazing hamburger buns out there, along with potato salad and watermelon…Now I’m hungry.

 

fireworks
4th of July!

 

Then the fireworks, the sizzle, the bang and ooohs and awes that follow, what’s not to like?

It’s been a long time since America broke free from England. No one that I know of holds any anger toward that country, many of us have been there or would like to go. So why continue this celebration? 

Here are my reasons:

I get to gather with my family informally. There’s no fine china or crystal at this party.

We play Scrabble, shoot BB guns, and slap mosquitoes before we sit back and watch my sons light up the sky. Every year my mom and I wonder if the bull frog will call out or be scared. He almost always has something to say. 

fire4

It’s a chance to think about where I live and how thankful I am. It may sound arrogant, I don’t mean to be, but I think my country is the best. I can wear what I choose, speak freely about Jesus, and I can feel free to say what I think about politicians without fear. It’s my home, it’s what I know and I like being able to travel from coast to coast without a passport. Okay, I don’t have a passport and I seldom travel but when I do I like it to be easy.

I like that we stand shoulder to shoulder as a family to take a photo. It’s getting harder to do that now as my sons are grown and have brought wives and now a grandson into the photo. I want to be the family on the lawn that is so large it sprawls and the cameraman has to back far away to get us in the shot. 

Those fireworks in the sky give me pause to think about those who have fought to give me a safe place to live. I am thankful. This past year I dug around ancestory.com to find out where my family came from. I discovered I had family that fought in the Revolutionary War. I had to sit back in awe, it’s rather unsettling and yet satisfying to know my family has a connection to those who made this a free country.  

If you celebrate the 4th of July what makes it special for you?

Amazing Grace Hate it or Love it?

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

There was a time when the song Amazing Grace played on every radio station and at least once an hour. It was sung by Judy Collins. 

It became a song that my brother and I hated. To us it was the equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard. Plus my mom liked it which of course made it not cool.

The minute it came on we raced to change the station. We  joked that whoever died first, the remaining sibling would request  Amazing Grace be played. Sadly for me the chance came too soon when my brother died young. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t pick that song for him. 

 Flash forward to now.

I’ve since come to love the song Amazing Grace especially this version by Chris Tomlin.

 

Last month, my friend Don died. He’d been battling ALS. A disease that chains you to your bed by robbing you of the ability to move your muscles, while leaving your brain alone. It does other things as well, none of them are pleasant. This great man, battled with the grace of a God-filled man. He never complained to those who came to visit. He had a cheerful disposition when we saw him and wanted to know about what was happening in our life.

I would walk or drive past his house and wonder how can he do this? Being trapped in a bed all day, unable to go outside and visit with neighbors or help with the garden?

At his funeral Amazing Grace was played and it made sense! Don knew his chains would soon be broken. He had the hope and promise of living in God’s house when his body failed. I know this from conversations we had while pulling weeds.

Since then I’ve heard Amazing Grace a few times, and I’ve come to embrace it for its meaning. Someday all believers will have their chains holding them to this earth broken and we will be free.

Now when I think of Don I see him waving at me while mowing his grass, or washing his car or bringing me my mail on snowy days. I miss his him and yet I’m so happy for him because I know Don believed in Jesus and he is a free man right now.

sunset
Amazing Grace

I also need to apologize to my mother. The song is cool.

Have you ever had a song you couldn’t stand become one you loved?

 

 

 

What to Buy a Man for Christmas

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

I’m not sure what to get my husband for Christmas. Every year it’s the , “Really what do you want this year?” conversation. Then he asks me the same question. I think he should tell me what he wants but know what I want. I could give him a list but I need more time to think.

Back to Mr. Quiet, he likes to cut things up and recently found he likes to read on my iPad so…

I’m considering these.


*affilate links

or this?

The question is now that it’s on my blog will he comment? Yes or no? What do you say Mr. Quiet want to go cut some things up? Or read a book?

Please don’t forget to vote for We’re Not Blended We’re Pureed over at www.bookfun.org.
Thanks,
Diana

Overcomer

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Overcomer

a2z: The Letter “O”

How many times do you give up when you think the odds are to impossible to succeed?

How do you overcome obstacles blocking your way?

I came across this song by Mandisa. I knew I wasn’t alone. I have Him who goes before me, after me and lives within me. How could I not overcome?

 

Like everyone, I’ve had to overcome hard things in life. Grief has been able to grasp my ankles and pull me under many times. Some days I wrestle with dark spaces, and I don’t understand why all of my brothers had to go to heaven so soon. I don’t get to experience the annoying, “Hey you’re older than me,” or “What do you think we should get mom for Christmas–since you’re a girl, why don’t you do it?”

God has helped me overcome the sadness through two men at church who have taken the ‘Brother Role’ seriously. They will do something to make me laugh or annoy me,and I remember that I have brothers on earth. We’re related through Christ. I am grateful to Eric. S. and P.V. for providing a bit of family that might  have been.

What have you overcome with God’s help?

 

Mandisa Overcomer youtube
Pin this!

 

It’s blog hop day!


10 ways to Maintain Your Exercise Workout

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

a2z: E is for Exercise

Do you like to workout? I do! But sometimes it starts getting old so what can you do to keep going?

Here are 10 ways to maintain your exercise workout and not in any order of importance.

  1. Change your workout. It’s good for your brain to refocus on doing an exercise a different way.

  2. Don’t work out sick. You’ll end up hurting yourself. If you’re coughing like a 2-year-old who coughs to get attention then you aren’t sick. You’re bored, see number 1.

  3. Figure out your Workout Social-ablity Needs. Answer these questions to help you decide:

Do you work better alone, in a group or a mix of both?

Do you like your music loud but you live in an apartment?

If you have to drive somewhere to work out will you choose the couch instead?

Would it bother you to run into someone you know while wearing workout clothes?

Now find a class or a spare room and get started!

  1. Get a workout buddy to hold you accountable. *note this doesn’t have to be a buddy that exercises when you do. I have a friend who calls and asks if I worked out. I can’t lie to her so this works for me.

  2. Get a tip jar. Love this one, it came from Kimberly Smith, my boot camp instructor. After a workout I add some money to the jar.

  3. Weigh-in only once a month on that scale! Exercising two days in a row won’t change the number on the scale, if it did, everyone would be at the gym.

  4. Measure your progress by the tightness of your waistband.

  5. Schedule your workouts. It sounds like a simple thing to do, but if you don’t put it on the calendar you’ll find something else to do.

  6. Feeling stuck, not sure you are doing a move right? Hire a trainer for a session.

  7. Don’t take more than a one day break between workouts–unless you like starting over.

Bonus!

  1. Start working out on Monday and as early in the day as you can.

woman doing a hand stand

  1. Another good way to be accountable is to join myfitnesspal or sparkpeople both are free.

  2. Use the DVDs you probably have stuck in a basket or hidden behind closed doors on a shelf. When you’re able to predict the next word out of the instructors mouth change to a different one.

  3. If you don’t want to put money in the tip jar, fill a jar with stones and for every pound you lose remove a stone. Thanks Doreen Warfield, my amazing Zumba instructor, for that one.

  4. DO IT FOR YOURSELF. Don’t start this so you’ll look good at a wedding, reunion or special event. It’s a lot of work to get into shape and if you aren’t going to respect yourself to do it for life– then don’t do it. YOU ARE WORTH the time it takes to walk around the block!

And here’s a bonus, if you want to get those 6-pack abs check out this post 10 Best Core Exercises.

Can you add to my tips? If yes, leave them in the comment section please!

Blessings,

Diana

Do Christians Doubt

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

 

a2z: D is for Doubt

Are you someone who sees a new opportunity and instantly feels this could happen? No doubt for you, nothing but smiles, rainbows and dare I write it? Yes, unicorns.

Is your faith so strong that you have no doubt that everything will turn out fine?

That is not me. I have fallen into the big hole of doubt. I won’t even look at it. When a question comes up that suggests a good outcome I run because I think it’s not possible.

woman holding question mark

“Be merciful to those who doubt.” Jude 22 Click to tweet.

I’m not sure when this switch happened. I used to cling to the verse, “Everything is possible through Christ.”

I still belive that verse, it’s just that I doubt it will work out for me.

Now, don’t be sending me off for antidepressants or to seem my favorite therapist Marty Lintvedt (co-author of We’re not Blended We’re Pureed) I’m fine, really I am.

My doubt turns to fear–did you all know it does that? My fear is about the world we live in. Is it going to implode next week? Will the taxes in Illinois cause us to lose everything? I’m probably wrong, but I’ll be close enough–small businesses like ours pays 44% in taxes right now, that doesn’t include our personal taxes.

The world around me is changing so fast between terror attacks and out of control government I think surely the end of the world is in a few days, so I doubt I’ll get that next book written or the fridge cleaned out. (Yeah probably hoping for that last one a little too much.)

Then I look back at history and realize as far back as Genesis it looked like the world was done for and what happened? God saved us, over and over again until the only thing he could do was send his Son. And that’s what it’s really about, waiting for Him to return and take me home.

So doubt go away and please don’t return another day.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23

Is doubt an issue for you?

Do you think it’s okay for Christians to doubt? Please tell.

Yay! It’s blog hop day. Check out these amazing blogs and see what these authors come up with for the letter D.

a2z


The Power of Reviews

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Do you write reviews?

Do you read them before you buy a book or a product?

I do write them and it’s not always easy. If I love a book I give it a 5 star it’s the ones that I’m not so sureI love that I struggle with. If it’s a book I don’t leave a three star on Amazon because that’s as bad as a one star, those books I don’t post reviews.

Products? That’s a different story.

chalkboard with word review
Image credit: wayoutwest / 123RF Stock Photo

 

 

This past week  I left a one star on a product. I wanted to leave zero stars but it wasn’t possible.

If I had taken the time to read the reviews on this product I wouldn’t have bought it, but I didn’t think about it.

My cats go outside and I needed some flea protection for them. I was at Wal-Mart and usually I pick up Pet Armour. They were out so I snagged a package of Adam’s Top Spot.

Serious mistake. One of my cats, Wendell had a terrible reaction. He was shaking, staring off into space an his fun came out in chunks! I’m fortunate it wasn’t worse. After posting my review I read through the others on Amazon. Many cats have reacted to this product in even more dangerous ways, seizures and horrific sores.

wendell icecream

Wendell is fine now. This is an old shot of him feeling well– on top of the fridge.

He’s not quite back to normal but I’m hoping for a full recovery.

So do you write reviews?

Do you think it makes a difference when you post a negative review? In this case I hope my review protects someone else’s beloved cat.