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.
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.
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.
You feel more awake after you eat a meal.
There is not enough salt on anything you eat.
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!
Fuzzy thoughts.
Memory problems!
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.
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”
Confession: Blogging takes a lot of brain power and I don’t have a lot in reserve.
That’s why I band together with other bloggers and do memes. We help each other and have fun along the way. =)
The A to Z meme is coming to an end this week. *pout* (Yikes! I need to do a “Z” post!) To keep the momentum going, my friend Patty Wysong and I have been brainstorming and have a short, fun meme idea…
Word Nerd!
Rather than using the alphabet as prompts, Patty and I have put together a list of ten words to use in your post. Use them however you’d like. There are no rules. You don’t even have to use the actual word in your post–just get it… the concept, the idea, the meaning… in the post. However you want.
*you don’t even have to be a writer! Just someone who blogs. J
The ten words and their posting/linky dates:
Fishing – Jan. 23
Giant – Jan. 30
Construction – Feb. 6
Glass – Feb. 13
Exotic – Feb. 20
Tool – Feb. 27
Sign – March 6
Frame – March 13
Plant – March 20
Nuts – March 27
The Word Nerd meme will be starting next week onThursday (*note we posted the A to Z meme on Friday we are switching the meme day to Thursday–First one is Jan. 23!)
Anyone and everyone is welcome to join us. It’s a come as you can thing–no commitment, just jump in and post on the week’s letter as you can.
I’ll be posting a blog hop linky so each of you can have the linky gadget on your sites. It’s more user-friendly that way. =) If you’d like a list of the words and the linky codes, leave a comment asking for them (and your email addy) and I’ll get them to you so you can schedule ahead or simply have them handy.
Here’s the deal for Word Nerd:
Anyone can play. Some of us will be continuing from A to Z, but any one can join us and we would LOVE to have you along! The more the merrier! Grab a friend and join us!!
Anything goes. If you’re pressed for time, pressed for brain cells (a common ailment of mine), stumped, whatever… a simple list will work! Or a picture or a verse—anything to get a post up. Seriously. Just make sure it ties in with the week’s word. It can also be as focused or even a complicated post about a word that starts with that letter. Anything goes, related to the word.
One word a week. Only ten words and we’ll finish on March 27th.
Thursday’s the day. Posting day is Thursday. Or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. ROFL. If you’re like me, you might not remember on Thursday, so any day works. I don’t care, but that brings me to…
Let’s link together! Part of the fun of a meme is linking together so we can encourage each other on. The linky will go live each Thursday, shortly after midnight so you can link up.
Guilt-free participation! Time is a precious commodity for all of us. If you participate, all I ask is that you take a few moments and visit and comment on TWO other participants’ sites. No need to visit everyone, but a couple is very appreciated.
Please remember this is about helping each other so if you love the post tweet it, G+ or facebook it.
Want to know more about memes and why you’d want to participate? Check out Patty Wysong’s page Making the Most of Memes for more information.
Here’s another confession…
This meme is going to push me to write on time—what a deadline? Yes, if I make it one. It’s not going to be easy and I’m sure I’ll be searching through photos on my camera as a quick post. But that’s okay. I’m ready for rut relief and creativity building! We would LOVE to have you join us!!
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments or email me.
When I was a teenager I so hoped I wouldn’t be like my mother. Anyone else have that thought? Maybe it was your father you didn’t want to be like?
Now I realize how valuable my mom is, and what she has passed on to me is mostly good.
Not so good? I find that I have a need to be right about everything, and my medical history seems to be a copying hers.
I look at the keyboard while I’m typing, and I see her hands. I’ve heard her words coming out of my mouth and I think, “I am my mother!”
She’s passed on some great things to me. The love of Jesus, strength when life is really hard–unbearable even. I’ve watched her stand strong when many would have fallen. I’m not quite there yet but I can see some of her strength in me.
I learned how to compete and be a good loser by playing hands of canasta and a marble game called agrevation. Mom also passed on the love of words to me. She taught me to read by the age of 4 using Rebus readers. But then she modeled reading. Mom showed me the joy in the adventure and escape from everyday life by opening a book and turning the pages. She also read me books that made me cry, like The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. I discovered it was okay to be sad and to grieve–even the fictional characters.
I discovered this gem of a photo of mom reading. Look at all those books on the shelf! Not only did the love of reading come from my mom but my grandparents.
My advise? Pass on the love of reading to the little ones in your life. Or volunteer to help others learn to read. You’ll be giving them the world.
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.
I’ve had a rough few months in the writing game and spent some time talking with author Staci Stallings. I told her I was afraid. She responded with, “You’re like Peter.” After listening to her I asked her to write a post about fear and Peter. Read it once, then read it again. Staci has shared a lot of wisdom through this piece.
In or Out?
If you’re a Christian, you’ve surely heard the story of Peter out there in the boat on the wind and waves. Then out from the waves there comes a figure–walking. At first Peter and his friends think it’s a ghost, and they freak out.
Through the wind, they hear a voice call out: “Don’t be afraid!”
Okay. I’m a scaredy cat. Truly and honestly. In fact, me and fear go way back. So I can tell you if a ghost came toward me, walking on the water, and said, “Don’t be afraid!” I would probably veer toward afraid even more!
But Peter didn’t.
Why?
Because Peter knew that voice. It was the voice he had heard many, many times. It was the voice of his best friend, Jesus Christ.
Have you ever heard that voice? Maybe it was a whisper in your heart. Maybe it was someone talking about a dream that’s been on your heart, but you’ve not really listened because it seemed so very unattainable.
Then out there from the waves, the voice calls to you, and you think you recognize it just like Peter did. So Peter tested the voice (ever done that?). “Lord, if it is You, tell me to get out of the boat.”
And Jesus says, “Come.”
Come.
Oh, it sounds so simple! Right?
At our church we’ve done this scene in VBS a couple of times, and when Peter starts to get out of the boat, the other disciples FREAK OUT! “Peter! What are you doing?! You’ll drown! Don’t Peter! NO! Don’t go!”
Have you ever been there? Wanting to strike out and follow what God’s put on your heart with your family and your friends trying everything and every way they know how to talk you out of it? In fact, maybe you are even good at talking yourself out of things.
“Well, I don’t have the money.” “Well, what will other people think?” “Well, it probably won’t even work.”
You know Nike’s slogan… Just Do It?
Clearly you are not alone in this indecision because that campaign slogan is one of the most successful in all of advertising.
Peter made the decision. Just do it. Just get out of the boat. Listen to Jesus. Don’t listen to all these people who are not Jesus.
And now we come to the pivotal moment that trips so many of us up… getting out of the boat.
I’m sure the first touch of his tooties on that water made Peter seriously question his own sanity. “Wow! Is that water cold! Maybe this isn’t a good idea. Maybe being in the boat would be better. At least there, I’m safe.”
Have you ever been there? Half in, half out? Have you ever wanted to get out of that boat so badly you could feel your heart dragging you, and yet…
And yet…
Here is a spiritual nugget of wisdom. The most dangerous moment of all for Peter was being half-in, half-out of that boat. With the wind and waves picking the boat up and dropping it, he very likely nearly capsized the whole thing.
What happens a lot is, we as Christians get to this moment and freeze. Our decision become indecision. Our faith becomes doubt. And we stop, clinging there. Half-in, half-out.
I want to encourage you today not to stay there. Do not let analysis-paralysis set in because it’s a cancer that kills dreams. Your dreams. And God’s dreams for you.
Listen to the voice. Make the decision. Breathe and realize that yes, there are going to be challenges. This will not solve everything. But if it’s on your heart to do, God is the One Who put it there. If you believe through the wind and waves, the fear and the doubt, that this really is Jesus calling you out of that boat, then it’s time to Just Do It!
Take a breath. Make the decision. And get out of the boat.
Don’t stay in that most dangerous moment any longer than you absolutely have to because it truly can and will drown your dreams and you just as surely as staying in the boat will.
The boat will not save you. Clinging to the boat with one foot in, one foot out will not save you. The only way to truly be saved, to be truly free, is to be out dancing on the water with Jesus. He’s calling to you. He’s waiting for you. What are you waiting for?
In or out? Which will it be?
Copyright, Staci Stallings, 2013
Love to be inspired? A stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, #1 Best Selling Christian author, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure!
Check out Staci’s
“To Protect & Serve”
Now just 99 Cents!
It’s also blog hop day! Check out these other blogs.
I saw these snickerdoodle muffins on pinterest, but they weren’t gulten-free. I had to try to make them so I could eat them. When though? Time seemed to be filled every day.
Then the undesirable happened. My computer died. Well, that opened up a lot time. But we went to Michigan for a wedding. What is it about water lapping a sandy shore that instantly relaxes tension? I want to bottle that feeling so I can have some every day.
Back to A2Z:M is for Muffins!
The original recipe appeared here on Eat Me I’m Delicious if you aren’t eating gluten-free head over there for the real recipe.
1 1/4 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt mixed with 1 tsp. baking soda
2 1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour ( I use Jules which has xantham in it, if you don’t have that you’ll need to add xanthm)
1/2 cup sugar and 1 TBSP cinnamon mixed together for rolling
1. Cream the butter and sugar until soft. Add in the vanilla. Next add in one egg, mix, now add the other egg and mix.
2. In a separate shallow bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and nutmeg.
3. Alternately add the flour mixture and yogurt mixture to the egg-butter mixture. Start with flour and end with the flour. Scrape the bowl so you get it all.
4. Scoop about 1/4-1/2 cup of muffin batter and drop it into the a shallow bowl with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the muffin until covered. Put into muffin tin. You should get about 12-14 muffins.
5. Bake about 20-22 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until pretty golden brown.
These are so good even Mr. Quiet ate them.
Have you ever made snickerdoodle muffins? What’s your favorite muffin?
Not just get it, but grab you by the ankles and pull your feet out from under you?
What does it take to shock you so much you GASP? Your lower jaw drops and you intake a huge amount of air?
Yes, like that.
The recent Miley Cyrus act should have made my face resemble the above photo.
It didn’t. It made me sad for her and for the girls who loved her as Hanna Montana. There is a great blog post written by Daphne E. Tarango called the Day After for Miley Cyrus that says everything I felt.
Maybe I can’t be shocked enough to GASP anymore. The world around me has fallen into such deprivation that even my friends aren’t gasping at what’s happening in the news.
Then my cell phone and the house phone rang at the same time that suprised me, two friends calling at the same time.
There was news, bad news so shocking I gasped.
I called another friend and told her, same reaction. Pure shock. Gasps occurred every time I told a friend.
So what caused this?
My hairstylist is quitting. If you’re a woman you probably gasped too. It takes years to find the right person, to train them to do your hair the way you want it done and then one phone call and you have to start over.
It’s refreshing to know if something is personal my friends and I have the ability to rapidly suck air into our lungsand let out a gasp.
What we need to do is to relearn to be shocked enough to gasp at what is happening in the world. Even though we are not of this world we do live here, we need to be shocked enough to gasp at what is wrong. Not just losing our hairstylist.
Perhaps we (I) need more courage to face the things that should cause me to gasp and call them evil.
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13 TNIV
Have you seen the infomercial for the Zumba program and thought that looks like fun but I can’t move like that.
Have you driven by countless churches and dance studios advertising Zumba classes and thought about trying it but drove on past?
That’s what I did until last fall when a Dealsaver too good to pass up, arrived in my inbox. I had an all access pass to all classes at Studio L for a month.
Zumba was offered. Scared through the darkening roots of my hair to my toenails I went, not sure what to expect.
She welcomed me with that smile. Then told me not to be afraid if I couldn’t keep up or figure out the routines. What was important to remember was be safe.
“Be safe?”
“Yes, if you’re getting tired, march in place run around in circles just don’t stop. Do the foot work the best you can and ignore the hand movements until you feel ready. Have fun! There is joy in moving your body.”
I was hooked. It wasn’t until later I discovered Doreen’s story. She too had wandered into a class and loved it so much she took the classes to teach. In the process she lost 35 pounds. I’d say she gained in new friends as well. She’s so full of energy and brings it to her classes.
I’m over 50, I don’t even mind admitting that. I’m glad I found Doreen’s Zumba class because the music and movement have given me back my excitement for living. Yes, I’ve lost weight but I’ve also done a few other things like power stretch and essentrics. What’s important to me is that I’m not sitting on a couch explaining my non movement as my right because I’m getting older.
Instead I’m toning up, able to lift items with ease and have more energy.
Another bonus to taking classes is that I have met many new friends–and not all of them are 19! Some are my age. There’s the proof that you too can do Zumba.
Who knows maybe there is a Doreen waiting for YOU to arrive!
I made a list of things I tend to do without thinking.
Ten things I do on autopilot
Check email
Writing blog posts
Making dinner
Holiday get-togethers
Church
Going to Target
Working out
Calling my mom
Feeding the cats
Saying “I love you” to my husband.
While all are good things I’m not liking my list. I want to do more than operate on autopilot.
I want to feel the repeat, know that what I’m doing is good and right. I want to look forward to the next time I do the task.
So my goal for the week is to think before repeating a task and see if I can find joy in what I’m doing even it it’s from unsubscribing from a shopping site.