Check it! Those that are starting your own gardens!

If you  have visited the Home Gardening page on our blog, you see that my sister-in-law is an EXPERT!  She actually is trained to teach people how to garden organic food for themselves!  She is added as an author on our blog & is going to start sharing some of her expertise.  You can also find her contact information on the gardening page for more in-depth or on-site help/services.  She is RAD 🙂

Urban Gardening: Fad or Future?

You may have noticed that urban gardening is gaining in popularity. The number of people I know personally who grow vegetables for themselves or other people, who are training and teaching those of us who want to grow, and who are exploring ways to become more and more self-sustaining grows weekly. WEEKLY. It is an incredible movement.

Often, when movements gain momentum, I want to step back and let the masses take it over. I’m not fond of crowds, and popular things get so… crowded. But this is one time I had to fight that urge: I am just that passionate about urban gardening, about growing vegetables organically in any space you have to grow them, that I not only stuck with it, I decided more and more and more people need to come on board.

And I want to teach you how.

Over the next several months, I hope to share information and encouragement via this blog, as well as answer questions and offer support to all of you who want to  grow your own food and just don’t know how to get started.

Oh, and psssst: “Urban Gardening” is gardening anywhere that isn’t rural. So whether you live in a city or a suburb, a house or an apartment, you can be an urban gardener!

Some of the things I hope you’ll discover:

There is nothing in the world so repetitively incredible as the seeing first sprout from the first seed pop through the ground. It happens every year, with every seed, without fail.

Your most important asset will be a willingness to experiment and patience to observe and learn.

Bugs are not all bad. In fact, some bugs are really, really good. Balance is key. (One of many life lessons – gardening is full of ‘em).

You do not have to till your yard to plant. Not the first year, not any year. It is an unnecessary amount of work and does nothing for your soil. In fact, some would say it is detrimental.

Organic vegetable gardening is not as hard as most people think. Conversely, it is also not as easy as an experienced gardener can make it sound. Like most things in life, gardening is complex. I’m here to encourage you to take one step at a time.

-Marti

Spreading the homegrown vegetable revolution for modern victory gardens – yard by yard, seed by seed.
For more information, or to set up a consultation, please visit Urban Edibles on Facebook

Do you believe in Jesus Yet? Saying Buh-Bye to FPIES AGAIN!!

Let’s just say GOD is awesome!! He is doing miracles right in front of us & His plans are mind blowing. A lot of people have asked me, “Don’t you think that there is a logical, scientific explanation for Gabby’s healing?” Well…maybe my mind would go there if it were just Gabby. But, in the last 4 weeks, there have been 5 babies healed from FPIES. The following story is from a mommy that was apart of both the FPIES/GAPS support groups that I had been apart of. What is so cool, is that I rarely went on the FPIES group after joining GAPS. One day, I randomly popped on and saw a post by a mom that had a young son with FPIES. I did not know why at the time but, God urged me to reach out to her. We immediately clicked. I was struck by what a sweet and beautiful first time mommy she was! I was so impressed with how gracefully she handled the hard, hard world of FPIES with her first precious baby. It was evident that she loved the Lord as well! Please read her son’s story and be inspired by her persistence to chase after the healing promised to her son through Jesus. She is so strong in fighting the fight of faith – I LOVE It!!

June 16, 2012: Our lives were changed forever, for the better,times a bazillion. C entered our lives and we could now grasp how deep and strong a parent’s love is for their child. Entering parenthood has been such a blessing and an emotional rollercoaster. Above all things, it showed us what really matters in life, and gave us a deeper joy and wholeness than what we’ve ever experienced. But it also brought on certain circumstances that would completely drain me physically and emotionally. And then to my surprise, it brought me closer to our Creator than what I’ve ever been.

November 16, 2013: In walks the bad guy, FPIES (Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome), which would deeply rob me of the happiness and fulfillment that every new mother deserves.C reacted to oat cereal. Two hours after consumption, he had projectile vomit for over an hour and would go into bouts of unresponsiveness. We had no idea what was going on and what was going to happen next. Never will we forget that momentwhen my husband thought he was no longer breathing. We grabbed him and ran to the car to get to the ER, not even concerned to make sure he was buckled in his car seat before driving off. Again, no parent deserves that feeling that we witnessed that night. Eventually C was diagnosed with FPIES. We were then told that they really don’t know a whole lot aboutit besides the basics. What do you mean there’s no test to tell usif other foods will cause another reaction? It’s all trial and error? And you can’t give me any solutions or strategies?FPIES had also robbed me of so many precious moments spent with C. Like any mom would, I was fully committed to taking things into my own hands and spent every waking moment researching FPIES, being an active participant in my many FPIES Facebook support groups, and figuring out what I had to and could do as a mommy to help C through this. How dare FPIES take over my life and my thought processes, and how dare I let it. Along with the main FPIES reaction came many other secondary symptoms. His spit up was hard to keep up with; he did not have a healthy gut. I never knew what a “healthy” dirty diaper looked like. We also weren’t known for sleeping well through the night. He easily gagged and threw up from situations. He had many strange aversions and tendenciestowards his bottle. He had an aversion to eating and accepting food. Feedings were an absolute mess as he had many control issues. He quickly learned that anything he ate would make his tummy feel bad. The only times he would accept food for even a bite, would be after a long gut rest. His tummy would feel better, so he would accept some bites of food, but still not much. And even less the next day, until a couple days later when he would clamp his mouth shut as hard as he could.

Then Sarah Martin entered the picture. She had so graciously reached out to me. Little did she know I would clamp onto her like a parasite and she would become my FPIES, GAPS, and spiritual mentor. Our family will forever be grateful to her. Shortly thereafter, we read her blog post about how God had healed Gabby and Gracie, two extreme FPIES cases. Their testimonies brought me to tears, and we knew we had to reach out to this pastor.

April 7, 2013: Pastor Gregory’s arrival. He also plays a crucial role in our testimony, and we will forever be thankful to God for him. He and his team came to pray with us at our house. We, along with many other selfless and generous people, had fasted that day and prepared our hearts for what was to come. He brought to life the reality of what the Bible says about healing and how it is still living and present today. Jesus already paid for C’s sickness 2,000 years ago on the cross (Isaiah 54:5). We just need to have faith and take action, and it will be ours(Matthew 15:28, Matthew 21:22, and Mark 11:24). God comes from perfection. He did not give C this sickness. Satan did. We needed to take authority over Satan and never let him have control in our lives again (Mark 16:17-20). It was a very moving and emotional experience, two hours of our lives that we will never forget. I was so excited to wake up the next day and see what would happen. Pastor had told us sometimes it will be a miracle and the healing occurs immediately; other times it would take some short period of time, a day, a week, etc. We were an example of the later. During that waiting period, I tried to keep the faith, and keep out doubt as much as I possibly could. There were constant thoughts flooding my brain. I remembered Pastor referencing Mark 9:24 from the prayer session and I would continually pray “Lord I believe, help me with any unbelief I have!” I knew and believed with all of my heart in the success stories of the other FPIES babies beinghealed. They were much more intense cases, and had to deal with FPIES for so much longer than we had to. Were we worthy enough? Did God have that in our plan too? These were personal battles I had to overcome by continually keeping in God’s Word. I had to keep my eyes on the healing that was to come, praise God for it ahead of time, force out the Devil, and not let doubt or any other negative thoughts into my mind.

April 9, 2013: C received an early 10 month birthday present, the best one ever. God showed us his healing was taking place! The previous day C still would not let his mouth budge open one bit for applesauce or anything else we tried to offer him. But this day was different. My husband offered him the spoon, and C opened his mouth…and took it, without trying to take control of the spoon! And another bite. And another! It was amazing! And again the next day! For the first time ever, our son actually wanted to eat and the feedings weren’t messy anymore. We are now enjoying the ability of offering C a variety of foods in a variety of ways, with so much more libertythan what we otherwise would have been able to under the shadows of FPIES. His other secondary FPIES symptoms have vanished. The previous month I tried to take away his gas drops to see if he could control his spit up on his own results were horrible. Once C was healed, I took them away again and now… I don’t even remember the last time he spit up. His bottle aversions, GONE! He wanted to eat so much more, and I could tell he was putting on more weight than usual. No more random throw ups, and he had “normal baby” diapers. Praise God! I could go on and on. We know that C’s healing has been a process and have 100% faith and belief that God’s blessings are continually overflowing on C as he heals him more and more each day. Not to say that there aren’t struggles. Satan will try to come back, and as hard as he possibly can (Matthew 12:43-45). But in those times we put on the full amour of God (Ephesians 6:10-17), grow stronger in our faith, learn how to work throughthose struggles, and come out on top. And when we overcome them, we are bigger and better than we were before and Satan gets a lot more terrified.

I cannot explain to you the heavy burden that has been taken off of my shoulders through C’s healing. I can sit back and just relish in the joys of spending time with my son, no longer having stressors, concerns, and thoughts bringing me down. I’ve always been a Christian, but this experience has brought me to such a higher level of faith. To believe in testimonies and The Word of God is one thing. But to witness God’s healing and realize how active and ever present He and the Bible still are…that’s another story. I’ve learned not just to believe in the word, but to actively pursue it in my daily life. I crave it. I want to know more and I can’t wait to apply it to my daily living. I cherish the conversation between our group of moms with babies who were healed of FPIES by God’s grace. I look forward to see how God is going to work through us and whathe has in store next.

No, God does not cause these bad things in our lives to happen. We are in a fallen world and have fallen prey to the Devil over and over again. But God DOES work for the greater good tothose called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). If we are willing to accept his guidance and actively pursue his word, he will take us out of any situation, make our faith even stronger, use the strengths we have, and show us many more strengths we didn’t realize we could possess. To God be all the Glory. Amen

WHO IS NEXT?????????

What the He$% is happening? Raising Warriors

After weeks like this in America, a common question that gets asked over & over again is “How does this level of evil exist in our world?!” We wonder how ANYONE could viscously & senselessly take the lives of innocent people…innocent children! It’s almost just too hard to conceive. Until, you whip out the Word of God. Where evil like this is described, explained, and predicted. The Bible…that book we have become desensitized to & that has lost its value to the majority of people in this country. Where answers are written in black, white, and red. Where there are answers that explain the “How?” and where it does makes sense. Where, we have to admit that evil does exist. But, not in the form that our minds and hearts can’t understand. But, in a way that God explains and teaches us how to fight it (and ALWAYS defeat). An evil that is fueled by the spiritual world that we try to ignore. It sounds scary BUT, is a power of darkness that can be defeated really more scary than crazy freakshows running around blowing random people up? No, its not all rainbows and butterflies. However, it is REAL…evil is real – no matter which way you look at it. Ignoring it does NOTHING. It’s the old cliché – Knowledge is Power. And, thank God, there is a POWER that is all things good and cannot be defeated. In Ephesians 6:12, it explains that evil (real evil – not stupid, careless choices people make) is more than just bad people “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Okaaaay…so what does this really mean. It means there is BAD & GOOD. That the fight that we are so used to fighting, is not against human (flesh & blood) but, against the dark & spiritual forces – or the BAD. All of these crazies running around, are not zombies that have ingested too many GMO’s :P. They are those influenced by the evil that lurks trying to kill, steal, and destroy in any way it can (John 10:10). The very force that is kicking & screaming to make things horrible for those that God created for good. What?? Yes, there is a GOOD part. Let’s get to that. We gotta WAKE UPPPPPPPP. There is a God! He is alive and living in people that allow HIM in. And, when we do, we learn that not only do we win in the end but, we can fight and win along the way! Everything we need to fight is written and makes so much sense. Our kiddos are growing up in a world that is getting scarier and scarier. If we don’t know how to fight and we don’t teach them how to fight – where will they be? Victims of random evil acts? NOT MY KIDS – NO WAY! There is nothing more important than teaching your kids The Word. Not only does it breathe life and give them everything they need to live life – it arms them with a fight that will always protect them & lead them into victory. This doesn’t mean life won’t bring trouble or hard things. John 16:33 – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” It does mean, that with God, there is ALWAYS victory. How do you fight? Ephesians 6:10-17 – “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the devil’s schemes…Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” Still, what does this mean?? It means we stop standing around with stupid, little nerf guns saying “Oh gosh, I wish evil would stop wrecking on this country. Or, man I sure wish my finances weren’t getting ROBBED because of the “economy” or I hope and pray my daughter gets cured from an “uncurable” disease…please, oh please… NO! We start saying HELL NO, pick up the artillery that GOD gave us and start kicking some BUTT. A couple months ago, my hubby and I went on a “date” to the shooting range. Please don’t let this get into a debate about guns – I HEART Bambi and I never, ever want to see a human being hurt by a gun. But, my husband is into shooting at the range and I wanted to experience what the fuss was all about. It was when our daughter was really, really sick and ANY break sounded appealing. Although I was really scared at first, it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. In an extremely stressful time of life, it was something that completely took our mind off of all the pain in our life. For those moments that you are shooting a loaded gun, there is NOTHING you can focus on besides firing that weapon properly. The instruction is so important – as using it incorrectly could cause death. The power of the kickback after you pull the trigger has to meet a simultaneous force to keep your body from being thrown back. And, then boom – the bullet hits the target. Were guns scary to me before this? Yah! After, no…cuz knowledge brought power. I think my hubby married me all over again when I asked if next time we could bring the shotgun! J This is it, this is just like The Word. Sure, all of this is a little scary at first. But, then we get knowledge & it turns into POWER. When we turn all of our focus to the weapon (the Word) and take our mind off the pain, we pull a trigger that is simultaneously met with a force that NOTHING can wrecken with. And, once you get a taste of that power, you want to move onto the shotgun and give the devil one big, fat kick in the booty! Not allowing him to steal anymore, kill anymore, or destroy anymore. We’ve taught our boys since they were little to put on the full armor. That by putting on The belt of truth- They learn all of God’s promises: That by Christ’s stripes we are ALL saved & healed (Isaiah 53:5) That God has only GOOD things for us – NEVER bad (Jeremiah 29:11) That He always leads his children into victory & triumph (1 Corinthians 15:57) That He will never leave us alone (Deuteronomy 31:6) The breastplate of righteousness- Obeying the Word and us Their feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace- Knowing how to fight ahead of time…so that they KNOW it is a fight they can win through Christ The shield of faith- Believing in Christ and everything he says to be true – this is it! This captures it all. The helmet of salvation- Accepting Jesus as their savior & allowing Him to rule over their lives And, The Sword of the Spirit- The Word – the Bible. Where there is scripture to EVERYTHING. Obviously, spiritual warfare has to be made age appropriate. But, we are doing are kids such a disservice to think this is too much for them. And then turn around and let them play games & watch movies that are so inappropriate and pointless. Seriously, how many brain cells have been sucked from our kid’s brains by shooting a sling shot at ugly looking birds that are angry. Okay, if you didn’t already think I’m crazy, you might now. But, I don’t care! Because if crazy is JOY, PEACE, ABUNDANCE, CONFIDENCE, & NO FEAR – then put me in a straight jacket! Just not an ugly one…I look terrible in green 😛 XOXO, Sarah

Another Miracle – Lil Man Calvin – FPIES Bites The Dust AGAIN!!!!!

Precious Love

The string of events in the last few weeks have been unbelievable and we are still pinching ourselves!! Read how the story continues with another precious, lil angel named Calvin. He is nothing short of a miracle and these words from his momma (Tanya) have us bawling!!!

And stay tuned…because there is a fourth FPIE’R that has also been healed! 🙂

Hello! I know this is not perfectly written and it is very long. I feel I needed to write this journey down. I want to keep it for our family, for Calvin, and I want it to be shared with many people beyond just our family. I know that God wants us to share this witness of his love and fulfillment of his promise with as many people as we can. So here is our story from a mother’s heart and first hand witness. I hope you will be touched by it and will share it with many – God lives within us, in the gift of the Holy Spirit and with that gift he left us the POWER through him to heal the sick.

In 2011, we were blessed with a beautiful baby boy – our second born, Calvin. He was perfect in every way. Although, his delivery was a challenging one he didn’t show any signs of trauma and was given a clean bill of health when leaving the hospital. We were grateful to now have two healthy boys in our family! God is GREAT!! I don’t remember any signs of GI problems in the early months of Calvin’s life but I do remember sleepless nights seemed to be constant, more than you would expect with a new born. Other than that common FPIES symptom, looking back I don’t see any hints that would have caused us to think that Calvin had an issue with food. It wasn’t until Calvin was six months old that we experienced our first FPIES reaction. FPIES stands for Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome. It is a severe autoimmune response to food protein that can result in vomiting to the point of shock to many, in some cases all food. We came to this diagnosis through Calvin’s first bowl of oatmeal cereal. Calvin was six months and it was time to give him his first food other than breast milk/formula. I mixed his oatmeal cereal with his formula and fed him. We took pictures and were excited to see him enjoy eating… making that adorable first mess all over his face and high chair!! It is always a fun experience, feeding your child their first foods. In our experience the fun didn’t last long. It was EXACTLY two hours after eating that I heard Calvin crying from his crib where I had just laid him down for his nap. When I got to his crib I found him covered from head to toe in vomit. As I was pulling him out of his crib to get him to the bathroom he vomited again, and again and again. ………….six times in ten minutes. I panicked and yelled for Patrick. What followed was the most terrifying event I have ever been through. Calvin vomited 20 to 25 times in two hours; his body went limp, his eyes rolled back into his head and his lips turned blue. We rushed him to the ER. After getting a Dr. to look at him, they said he had the flu and not to feed him anything other than formula for a week. Immediately…..following Calvin had the most awful diarrhea for days which goes hand and hand with FPIES reactions. One week later we assumed Calvin was over the “flu” and fed him the cereal again… exactly to the minute two hours later he vomited 15 to 20 times again and we were back to the ER. Once again, we were told he had the flu and that we should wait another week until feeding him again.

The story continues the same, one week later, cereal and vomit to shock. However, this time it was much worse and his oxygen level by the time we reached the hospital was critical and they called a code and rushed him away from us as we followed. After looking at Calvin and hearing our story of these three episodes, the ER Dr. walked in the room and handed us a sheet of paper with the words FPIES at the top and a paragraph below describing the condition. I couldn’t believe what I was reading; basically it was saying Calvin was allergic to ALLfood. I was in disbelief. I thought at the time, he doesn’t have this and he is only allergic to oatmeal. I was sadly mistaken and the following weeks would prove her diagnosis correct and a long road ahead to feed our little boy.

Our journey started visiting our pediatrician and one of the best recommended allergist. The take away from both appointments was that the condition was very rare and at this time no answers in how to treat it. We were told that children usually grow out of it by the age of 3 or 4. Calvin was 7 months old at this time. I will never forget what the highly recommended allergist said to us when sitting in his office. He said, “Be prepared to be very frustrated with me, as I don’t have the answers but am learning a long with you”. Our only instruction was to start trialing foods in an effort to find foods his body would tolerate and if he began to vomit, call an ambulance as his body could quickly go into shock and he could die. They also typed up a letter that I could bring with me to the ER or hand to the paramedics explaining FPIES, since no one really knew what it was. Not very comforting!!! So we went home feeling overwhelmed and worried. Then I did the worst thing possible… I started searching the web for ANY and ALL information on FPIES. The information I found was heartbreaking, children that were two and three years old with only a list of three to ten safe foods. Terrified and asking for a team of people to be praying each time, we began to trial food. After six failed trials and six trips to the ER over an eight week period we decided to stop the trial of solid foods and keep Calvin on formula only (his one safe “food”) until his first birthday, which was three months away. At that time I stopped going online in search of information, my mind and heart needed a break.

We spent the next four months living like there was no FPIES, Calvin drank his bottles for every meal and we stayed out of the ER. His first birthday came in June and we had a big party with family to celebrate this little boy and the sweet blessing that he is. Although, there was no cake for Calvin that day, there was a great party with a large family that loved him very much. Quickly after that day passed, both Patrick and I knew it was time to face FPIES once again. We began with organic white potatoes, giving him only a tiny, tiny taste and waiting in fear for two hours to pass and then three and then four. We did this for two weeks before going to a full serving of potato and calling it a pass. His first safe finger food – white potato! We moved onto banana and then prunes – both fails. After two months of trials we had one pass – organic yukon white potatoes and two fails – bananas and prunes. After the two back to back fails, we felt that there had to be a better way. We couldn’t send him to the ER one more time and watch his body work to recover for weeks to follow. So, I went back online to search again and this time I found something with hope. I found a blog from a mom in Canada who was doing a special diet called GAPS with her FPIES son. I read and read her blog from start to finish that night. I felt she had found a path that seemed to have light and her son was healing. The next day I found another mom’s blog journaling her FPIES child healing on the GAPS diet. I reached out to both these moms that were living across the world and they both reached back (I am forever grateful) and encouraged me with hope that this diet could also help Calvin. I felt God was also encouraging my heart to go this path. Patrick and I discussed it and agreed to do GAPS. On the GAPS diet white potatoes are not allowed… so in with the new diet and out with his only safe food. That was very hard to do, take away his only food after we/he fought so hard for it. But we started from scratch with lamb Broth as our first trial. It was a pass! We were on our way to healing with Lamb and two very special moms walking by our side.

The GAPS diet was not an easy diet to follow or figure out. It is very specific and there is an order in which foods are introduced prepared and allowed. At times I thought it was just as tricky as FPIES. It was A HUGE learning curve, to say the very least. But it made a lot of sense as you learned about Calvin’s condition and what the GAPS diet works to accomplish. The GAPS diet was a blessing; it definitely offered a lot of healing to Calvin and taught our whole family how to eat for nutrition. He went from one safe food and multiple food trial fails… to ten safe foods in eight months with no vomit fails since starting GAPS. That alone was amazing progress! I feel the GAPS diet was the best decision we made for Calvin, it began his healing and kept him from vomiting to shock ever again. We were thrilled that he was eating real food but it was obvious that his body was still very sick as we couldn’t move him on from stage 1 of the diet after 8 months and there are 6 stages. Some of his symptoms that showed he wasn’t digesting foods properly and still in pain was his inability to sleep through the night (an issue many FPIES children have), still waking two to three times crying to be rocked to sleep every night. He had skin reactions in the form of eczema and horrible diaper rashes caused by the acid that would come out in his poop – constantly. He had an enormous bloated tummy when we allowed him to eat his safe vegetables, it looked painful and uncomfortable. Often times we would take his vegetables out of his diet and just feed him meat for every meal to help his bloated tummy go down. He wanted to be held by his mom all day long. He would often lie at my feet if I wouldn’t hold him. The most worrisome symptom was that Calvin started to just lay on the floor for an hour at a time staring at the ceiling and twirling his hair for comfort.

The four weeks leading into Easter both my husband and I felt something was wrong. All the symptoms above seemed to worsen, he was waking six to seven times a night, stomach super bloated, lying around even more often and crying a lot when I wouldn’t hold him. It just seemed everything was becoming more intense. I started to doubt myself and decisions we were and weren’t making. I started worrying about the side effects his very limited diet was having on his body. But worried more that if there were negative side effects what options would we have in changing them. Fear and anxiety grew in me. On Easter I hit my emotional bottom. Calvin screamed the whole day and he wouldn’t let me put him down for a minute. He wanted to eat, eat and eat all day long. I could tell he was trying to soothe his pain with food. But I didn’t have near enough food prepared or packed with us to feed him to satisfaction. I cried on the way from one family event to the other because I just wanted to lift the lid to his tiny body and SEE what was wrong and how we could fix it. I wanted the constant guessing, fear and worry of not knowing to be OVER. FPIES is like one great big maze but those walls are tall and the turns are everywhere – constant guessing and constant setbacks with no guidance. Never knowing if the turn you just made was going to lead you to another turn or a dead end. In addition to worrying for his health…we were exhausted of all the planning, preparing and cooking of his very special diet. I desperately wanted to throw a banana in my purse and feed him while we were out so we didn’t have to circle back home every 2 1/2 hrs. to feed him pureed meat, boiled veggies and broth. That night when we returned home from our “Holiday”, I crawled into bed and prayed. But this time I didn’t pray for answers or healing, instead I prayed to reassure God that although I was worn, exhausted physically and emotionally, my faith was not broken. I stilled believed He was ever present. I felt from the messages He may overheard between my heart and my head that day he might need some clarification… and reassurance! I woke up the next day and had this thought on my mind ALL day long – bring Calvin to a healing prayer service. I had heard of them, I had never been to one. Yes, we did pray for Calvin every day, but I had never felt compelled to bring him to be prayed over for healing specifically, until this day. Another thing that I remember thinking is… it is the first Monday of the month and a church near our house does a healing prayer service on the first Monday of every month. When I realized there was a healing service being held today, on the very same day that I have been consumed by this thought of having Calvin prayed over for healing… I did think God might be trying to lead me but I ignored it and the day passed without moving this thought to action.

Well, God was persistent and graciously ignored my own ignorance the day before. The next day is where our story changes from fear and doubt, to hope and being healed. The following morning I opened Facebook to find a post that made me jump up and run for my phone. I read a post from one of the moms of another FPIES child. It said her daughter, Gabby, had been HEALED from FPIES! WHAT?!?! Then she linked an email from another FPIES mom that her daughter, Gracie, had also been healed from FPIES. WHAT?!?! Now, I know both of these little girls’ stories and they were very sick with only one safe food each. Lamb Broth! Seven days later both girls were eating ALL kinds of food. As I read both testimonies I discovered that these two little girls were prayed over for healing. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?! I thought…hey I have felt that same desire in my heart… oh yeah, well that was just yesterday! I jumped up and ran for my phone to call Gracie’s mom. She answered and I think it went like this.

Me: OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!, I just read Sarah’s post!
Gracie’s Mom: I know isn’t it crazy!
Me: NO!!!!! I believe!!!! I believe!!! Tell me everything!

So she did and I hung up the phone with the number written down for a pastor on a piece of paper. All I knew was that this man had dedicated his life to teaching, preaching and healing from God’s Word! Enough said! I called him and told him that my son also had FPIES and that we were believers in Christ. We wanted him to be healed! He said to me – Sister don’t worry Calvin is already healed, it is done, you just have to receive God’s blessing! He also said “it is not magic; it is God, not magic, GOD”. I thought that was good he clarified because it did sound a little like magic. Hanging up the phone, with excitement I called everyone to tell them about this story of healing, well everyone that I was sure would still love me even if they were now certain I went crazy! The next evening changed my life forever. I cry when I type this because it is true. My life will NEVER be the same… ever again! We gathered 28 people if you count Jesus and we do. On Wednesday April 3rd, 2013 at 5:30pm to hear the Word of God and to prayerfully receive Gods healing over Calvin. Many of the people I talked to that were there that night said they felt God in the room; they were personally touched by the Holy Spirit. And to watch Calvin wave at the ceiling, smiling and saying “hi, hi!” for a few minutes without distraction as the pastor sat down to open his Bible, was in that moment a sign to me that Calvin was welcoming a very special guest that night to be with us all. It was an amazing two hours. We listened to the pastor read from the Bible, we followed along and we believed the promises of the Lord. We believed he died on the cross taking all our sins AND all our illnesses with him on that day. He already has healed us. That night, our hearts were open, we were parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins that were ready for Calvin’s suffering to be over. We believed. And we received. That night Patrick and I left the church with the most unwavering confidence that Calvin was healed. We couldn’t wait to wake up and feed him!

The next morning Calvin had breakfast – not his usually pureed meat – he had squash and egg pancakes with a banana on the side. Both eggs and bananas were foods he couldn’t tolerate before. He loved it! As he ran back and forth from the table to counter asking for MORE, MORE PLEASE MOM!!! We felt at peace. I felt that someone, Jesus, had removed the stress, sadness, worry, and fear that had been crippling me for the past 14 months. He took it over. He picked up the cross we had been carrying and he carried it for us, this week, just like he did 2,000 years ago. He has not changed. Our God has not changed, has NOT stopped healing the sick. He is doing all the mighty things he did when he walked the earth years ago, today still. You read in your Bible, he gave a blind man sight, AMAZING… well he is still that AMAZING! He gave a little boy, our son, and two little girls the ability to eat for the first time in their lives without being sick. We have said goodbye to the FPIES world (in which we stayed too long) and moved to the Kingdom of heaven right here on earth. We had been here all along, we just didn’t know it. I know this stretches the hearts of all of us to believe, but I am telling you we witnessed a miracle of healing. Our son is healed. He has eaten everything we have given him since this night with NO reactions. In four days he tripled his number of “safe” foods. We went out for pizza on the Saturday following and he ate pizza. We didn’t think he would eat pizza for at least two years, if then. But he slept right through the night. He has slept through the night every night since his healing. I feel that is a mini miracle just for me! God is SO generous! Eating a variety of food and sleep filled nights is not all, Calvin’s eczema is gone! His diaper rash that he has had for 9 months – gone! He is talking a significant amount more. He hasn’t asked me to hold him or found lying on the floor once. Heck no! He has been busy playing just about anywhere in our house; just as a 22 month old should. He is a completely different child. He is no longer sick! He feels GOOD and we can tell. We are a completely different family. We have been filled with the Holy Spirit. I thank you for reading this incredibly long story and I ask that you share it with anyone who will listen. God asks us to witness his love to all; he wants us to share with others his good work. Good work here – don’t you agree! God Bless! Tanya

Buh-Bye Autism…Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya! God didn’t leave out Charlie last week!

Char Char

Little Mr. Char-Char also received quite the healing last week!! (written by his mommy, Sasha)

My son Charlie has gone on 7 years now of SO many issues. You can read his full story at https://tinytemplesbythetwistedsisters.wordpress.com/asd-spectrumcharlies-story/. But, mostly his issues revolve around digestive problems, lack of growth (failure to thrive, developmental delays, and finally his diagnosis of Sensory Integration Disorder. Sensory Integration Disorder, is on the Autistic Spectrum. For 7 years, life has been a constant struggle in just the every day routine of being a little boy. Everything that should come so natural and easy, has been a tremendous struggle for Char. He never wanted to eat, he got extremely bothered by sensations, he had a HARD time talking, he struggled with eye contact. Even more scary, was things like depth perception – he would jump into 12 ft. of water with no fear & not know how to swim. Another thing that has always bothered me, was his inability to understand what physically hurt other people or his doggy. In the last year, his tantrums had gotten so much worse and he was displaying so much anger. His teacher was worried about his progress in school and ability to assimilate into the classroom activities.

A few months ago, my sister Sarah, discovered the GAPS diet for my neice Gabby. As we learned that the diet was helpful for children on the Autistic Spectrum, daddy and I prayed if it would also be right step for Charlie. As Gabby started the diet in January, so did Charlie. He actually started on the full aspect of the diet and immediately did great! We were shocked. He went from never eating, to eating: fruits, vegetables, meats, and probiotic foods. He was actually eating ravenously! It was so exciting to see just one aspect of his life improve!! Then, a few weeks ago during spring break, Charlie went through the “intro” part of the diet. Intro, is a very intense phase of the diet that seals the gut so it is no longer leaky. It is so intense because, it aggressively detoxes the body as it builds it back up. This was a really scary week for mom & dad as it can make the body a bit sick as it detoxes. We prayed and prayed that God would have His hand on Charlie but, ultimately be the Healer of our little boy.

That same week, Gabby and her little friend Gracie got prayed for healing by a pastor named Gregory, who is here from India. As both girls received immediate healing, Sarah asked if we would like Charlie to be ministered to as well. Of course! Let’s kick this thing for good! Pastor had agreed to pray with us that Thursday (the Thursday before Easter). Charlie was excited ALL day to meet pastor 🙂 As Gregory met with us, Charlie sat so calmly, listening to all of the healing promises that pastor was speaking over him… Charlie – calm!! I watched my little boy sit there with a receptive heart and take for himself what Jesus was had for him. A pivotal moment in his story. Where he went from being plagued by fog, confusion, and stunted growth. To what is hard to put into words…like his battery got jumpstarted. The fog has lifted. MY SON makes eye contact, speaks clearly, is calm, does NOT have sensory issues, AND has gained 4 POUNDS. Everyone around him is astounded by the difference. It’s like someone picked up my kid for a couple years and brought him back a different boy!! He even told his grandma that he was healed! She asked how he knew that? With eye contact, he replied “I got warm all over & then I was tingly like a popsicle!”

Our days now start with PEACE and we can transition through normal, every day steps without World War 3! This past week, as Charlie went back to school after spring break, we were able to witness one of the most moving moments of our lives. For those of you who know anyone with Autism, you know that it is common for the understanding of compassion to be lacking. One morning, as we arrived to school, I turned to see that Charlie was not by my side. I looked around and finally spotted him. He had gone over to a girl in a wheelchair & just had his hand rested on hers. It was just a moment in time that I realized the Love of God is always given to us – so that we can give it to others. And, that is what my little boy was doing!

We won the lottery!!!!………just kidding – EVEN BETTER!

Banana was a vomit to shock food

I’m having a hard time putting the events of this week into words. Even as I write this, my words seem so unreal. We have experienced an unbelievable MIRACLE and our hearts are bursting with AWE & complete JOY! It is absolutely surreal and can only be explained by something as phenomenal and great as GOD! Our lil girl, Gabriella, is healed….not from “growing out” of FPIES and not from years on the GAPS diet… BUT, night to day; sick to healthy; crazy to normal HEALED! I would be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little self-conscious of people thinking that I may be crazy or am making up some exaggerated story! At the same time, I don’t really care because, I now have a HEALTHY daughter and our lives are NO longer crazy!

Just last week, we were at another low with Gabby. Although we have been traveling through GAPS for 9 weeks, she was still at just one safe food – lamb broth. After several attempts, we could not get her to actually eat the lamb meat itself without severe stomach aches & complete sleepless nights. Furthermore, Gabby was having serious sensory issues with solids in her mouth. She could not chew, gagged, and spit the meat out. We were so incredibly disheartened as we could not move through the next stage in GAPS without her actually eating meat. Which meant, no end in sight for her to wean from nursing & I was so worn out and HUNGRY with just 8 foods I was limited to eating. In addition to Gabby’s poor health and the sleepless nights, my own health was failing. I was really starting to see the effects of my own nutritional deficiencies and did not know where to pull more strength from. As of last week, all I could do was cry…and cry.

Back in January, when we started GAPS, we met another little girl – Gracie (and her mommy Tonya), who also suffered from FPIES. Rare as that is, Gracie was also traveling through the GAPS diet. Just like Gabby, Gracie had been written off by doctors. Also, by prayer, her parents came across the GAPS diet. It was so quickly that Tonya and I became best of friends. As we quickly discovered how similar our girls were, we depended on each other every day for support, guidance, venting, and lots of shared tears. She was the only person in this world that could truly understand the depths of my fears, level of fatigue, and heaviness of burden in finding a cure (or even just a night free of pain & sleeplessness) for my daughter. I wasn’t embarrassed to tell her how angry I was or how much I resented other people who took for granted having healthy children. We talked a lot about what it would be like when our girls were healthy and hoped & prayed to the same God that it would be sooner than later. My heart ached for Gracie to be healthy just as much as it did for Gabby.

I am so grateful for the answered prayer in discovery of the GAPS diet. It has taught me so much about how we are truly meant to nourish our bodies. Even more, how to feed our children REAL foods that grow their little bodies and minds properly. So, that they can be whole and well & avoid so many of the illnesses that are freakishly increasing in this country. Furthermore, to treat the body like God instructed “Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received as a gift from God?”  1 Corinthians 6:19.  I will never, ever go back to the SAD (standard American diet) EVER! However, even this answer to prayer (the GAPS diet) had not lightened the HEAVINESS and burden I was carrying on my shoulders every single day. I still carried an overwhelming amount of fear that FOOD would send my baby into shock, crushing weight to research and figure out how to do everything perfectly, and exhaustion that is humanly impossible. I cried to God every day – seriously this yolk is NOT light – please God take this from me. I’m humbled to admit that I even asked Him to take me from it all. It was just TOO much.

This last week, an opportunity was brought to us to have Gabby prayed over by a pastor that ministers to people who need healing. Honestly, at first I was pretty turned off and not interested. As we had been let down so many times, when it came to Gabby being healed. More so, even as a Christian, I was so skeptical that some made for tv theatrics would manipulate our broken hearts into believing something and we would ultimately be let down again. A couple nights before the pastor had offered to come to our home, I was sent a story about a little girl that he had prayed for and was healed. It was a 3 yo in the UK who had been dying of exactly what Gabby & Gracie had. After being prayed for, she was completely healed and was able to eat immediately. Okay, this sparked my interest. Then, Jayme came to me and confidently said he wanted to pursue prayer for Gabby. He had gentle authority that I respected, so I paid attention to what he was feeling. I prayed that night that God would open up my heart and show me if this was something we should do. I woke up the next morning with 100% confidence and overwhelming excitement that this was it, this nightmare was about to end. We studied the scriptures on healing that pastor had sent to us and PRAYED for faith that we did not have. The only sadness in my heart, was the thought of Gracie being left behind. Nervously, I texted Tonya the testimony of the 3 yo girl in the UK and asked if she would want to come over as well to have Gracie prayed for. Honestly, even with how close we had gotten, I expected her to write me off as a lunatic! BUT, she agreed!

As everyone showed up to our house at 5:30 this past Tuesday, I was still nervous and did not know what to expect. Pastor was just a regular guy in blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt (and an accent 🙂 ). He didn’t start performing any crazy, freakish rituals or start making people fall over like you see on tv. He just sat on our couch with his worn & tattered Bible and started reading scripture after scripture on healing. He explained how simple it can be and it ultimately comes down to faith. I was worried….I know I did not have enough faith… But, he explained an aspect that had never clicked with me before. All we have to do is pray for faith. As we were all listening so intently, I peeked in at the kids playing in the other room. I noticed that it looked like Gabby had something in her mouth. She NEVER has anything in her mouth (oral sensory aversion). As I got closer, I realized she was choking. I started freaking out calling for Jayme. Inside, I was thinking “see God, I turn my back for ONE minute and you let me down – my daughter is choking on YOUR watch!” Everyone came into the kitchen and pastor started praying and a top of a strawberry came flying out of her mouth. Oh great, strawberry is a vomit to shock food for us. But, a peace swept over me and we piled back into the living room. To shorten things up, the next hour was amazing but, so simple. Just the Word and prayer.

I felt that Gabby was healed but, so nervous of how Tonya would feel. She stayed behind, after everyone had left, and I hesitantly asked her how she felt. I was shocked when she said, “Gracie is getting breakfast tomorrow!” Ha! So is Gabby!

Both girls started eating foods on Wednesday that their doctors would have said they weren’t ready for. And, anyone wise in the GAPS diet, would tell you that the severity of illness in these girls would definitely require more than just the first food on the first phase to render healing. They both enjoyed foods that they shouldn’t be able to have for MONTHS or what we thought would be YEARS of traveling through the phases of the diet. By day 2, we went from one safe food that did not cause reactions (lamb broth) to 12 Foods!!!!!!! Gabby was chewing, swallowing, and EATING FOOD! No reactions and no vomit to shock from the strawberry that she had choked on. One food that had sent us to the hospital was banana….she has had a banana every day since Thursday. OH, and did I mention, that both girls went from waking up every 30 minutes at night to only 2x to nurse?!
If all of this isn’t enough, I have to say this mommy’s heart is also healed. I am not drowning in fear. I can breathe & it doesn’t feel like my lungs are being crushed by a boulder. I can EAT without feeling like I am going to poison my baby. The burden of me figuring things out is gone. This crazy life we lived for 16 months is already becoming a memory & JOY has returned to this house.

Seriously, like I said in the beginning, this is all crazy to write. I feel like a nut case. I feel like if it was just Gabby that was healed, I could doubt the MIRACLE. But, 2 babies in 1 night??? I know the human mind searches for logic and as some of you read this, you will look for holes in this story that offers rational explanation. I will tell you this….you will find HOLES…in a man who was pierced over & over again over 2,000 years ago…
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are HEALED.” – Isaiah 53:5

Here is Gracie’s side of things (written by her mommy Tonya)

I am writing this with a HAPPY HEART! I can say that is very different than how our lives have been for the last year. My heart WAS heavy with fear, grief, anxiety, sadness, exhaustion, confusion, and anger. Our new baby girl was about 4 months old when she was diagnosed with food protein enduced enterocolitis. The doctors could not do anything to help her and we were on our own with a little girl who could not eat any food and was ALWAYS in pain. She was breast fed, and I was on a diet of only 3 foods by the time she was 14 months. She did not sleep more than 4 hours a night, and that was a night that I celebrated. Through many, many hours and days of research trying to find a way to help her I found a group called GAPS that seemed like the right path, because so many people were Christians, and they were healing their children with this diet. God led me here. Because of this group I learned about giving our bodies the nourishment that they need with whole foods, the way God made them. I was able to give Grace LAMB broth with lamb meat pureed into it as a soup. That was the only thing that I ever found that she could actually eat that didn’t give her unbearable pain and diarrhea. (Now I see that it was only THE LAMB that could heal my sweet Gracie!) A few months later a new member was added to the GAPS group. Sarah lived very near to us, and had a little girl just a few months older than Gracie. She also had FPIES. We decided to meet, and have been instant best friends since. That was only 3 months ago! Three days ago Sarah sent me a text message telling me about this Pastor that has helped people pray and find healing through Jesus. She said that he was coming over to her house the next night to pray for her daughter. She told me that I could join them if I wanted. To be honest I was skeptical, but am ashamed to admit that now. I prayed over it and talked with my husband who was in Iraq at the time. We decide that prayer can never hurt. Then as the day went by, I realized how crazy that is. I have taken my daughter to multiple specialists, and have expected for one of them to offer some kind of cure, or even just some relief for my sweet little family. But I was skeptical to bring her to THE HEALER HIMSELF! Ridiculous!!! So I packed up the girls and drove an hour to go to the prayer session.
This is where my story changes. We arrived at Sarah’s house and are welcomed like we are family. I have a hard time in social settings, but felt no anxiety here at all. Let me add that I had never met Sarah’s husband or other children before this day. Then the other folks started showing up, Sarah’s parents, her husbands mother, and my mom all came to support us and be there for this prayer time. It honestly felt like one big family! Then Pastor Gregory came. He was kind, and vibrant and full of Gods word. He sat and talked with us for a while, and then started to pray. He prayed for peace and healing with such power and conviction. I BELIEVE! He SHALL HEAL, in JESUS NAME, AMEN! These are the words that are still ringing in my ears. Such BEAUTIFUL words! This was one of the most beautiful things I have ever been through! Then I packed up the girls and headed home. IT WAS A DIFFERENT FAMILY! Gracie hadn’t nursed for 5 hours, and she was content. Before this she would have to nurse ever two hours or she would be crying and a mess. She dozed off a few time in the hour ride home. We got home and I gave her the normal lamb soup and she went to sleep. SHE SLEPT! She was only up twice! It was our best night ever! She woke up happy, no wait, WE ALL woke up HAPPY! I gave Grace food, yes real food for breakfast! And lunch, and dinner! SHE IS NOW EATING FOOD! She still has a learning curve on feeding herself and will gag every now and again (she only has 3 teeth!), but NONE of her FPIES symptoms have stuck around!! THANK YOU JESUS! We are a different family. Happy, joyful laughter fills this house now. I can feel the love of Jesus in our house! I am now able to be the mother that I have longed to be, but have been so burdened, troubled and exhausted by Grace’s illness to be. I am so very grateful to have been blessed by Pastor Gregory and Sarah’s family for them to share this prayer time with us. Mostly I am overwhelmingly thankful to Jesus for taking away not only our sins, but also our illnesses and curses. He is all powerful. The devil has no power against all who BELIEVE IN OUR SAVIOR JESUS!

YUMMMMMM

Awesome – Natural Remedy for Earache/Infection

gaiakids

We are super excited to share awesome products and homeopathic remedies that really work! This will be short & Sweet…

Last week my 8 yo was really complaining of an earache. Not wanting to put him on a round of antibiotics, I grabbed a product from Whole Foods called, gaiakids – ear drops. In seriously just a couple of hours he was no longer complaining and it hasn’t hurt since!

Not only did we skip out on a trip to the doctor but, saved a good amount of moola avoiding a copay & cost of a prescription. Yay! Not to mention the run of an antibiotic plaguing his lil immune system. Loving homeopathy more and more every day!!

Not the Picture Perfect we Dreamt of: Realities of FPIES

By  Sarah (Gabby’s momma)

I’m just now at a place to share the real hard stuff. The stuff that we have only shared openly with a few close people. Otherwise, Jayme and I have tried to remain positive and exclaim victory in this yucko battle for Gabby’s life. Why share? I dunno…maybe it’s been a really hard week. Maybe I have to totally let go of the burden and control of our daughter’s survival. Or, maybe it’s that I feel like God has given me permission to be honest and admit struggle. That it’s not in only victory in our lives that He is exalted. But, it’s also in our weakest, worst moments that His supernatural strength and peace gets us through what otherwise we could not. Maybe it’s all of the above… This last year has really shot countless holes in the cliche that God does not give you more than you can handle. I’m pretty sure this is more than we can handle. Emotionally. Physically. Mentally. I don’t believe the cliche and really want to choke the person who came up with it…eeek. In fact, God does allow more than the human person can handle. BUT, yes, there is a big ol’ BUT! HE is all powerful, merciful, gracious, and gives everything that we lack. There is NOTHING that He cannot handle. Truly, looking back at what was required of us, of me as a mother, there are so many times that God’s supernatural had to come into play because we faced so many impossibles.

For those of you that don’t know us personally, you can read Gabby’s story on her page. What’s not in her story is truly some of the worst moments of our lives. We have gone through so many hurdles that are so far from that original diagnosis of what we thought, “she’s allergic to milk – no biggie!” Never in our wildest dreams would we think she would be allergic to everything! And, that every day life would consist of vomit, vomit to shock, bloody diapers, diahrrea, extreme stomach pains, pains from intestinal burning, mouth & throat blisters, eczema, insomnia, crankiness, histamine reactions from warm, beautiful weather, delayed speech, etc. etc. There were no cute pictures to come of our baby in a highchair happily smearing pureed peas all over her face. We didn’t get to watch her dig into a smash cake at her first birthday. And, there would be no more true family dinners as one of us would sit out with our lil girl in the other room so, she wouldn’t have to watch us eat. There were no mistakes that could be made when the boys grabbed a snack after school. One random crumb could send us to the emergency room.

The boys have been so good about quickly understanding the severity of their sister’s allergies and have made us so, so proud in how well they protect her. For 6 and 8 year old boys, I can honestly say that they don’t come any better! But, our hearts have also broken for them in the emotional roller coaster and stress they’ve also seen this last year. There have been many mornings that after I have loaded them on the bus, I burst into tears because I know they are exhausted from hearing their sister cry all night. And, then there is the night that I’ve never felt so torn in my life. – Jayme had a work dinner and I was home with the kids. I had given the boys dinner and went up to draw Lukas (our 6 yo) a bath. I trust them completely with Gabby & she was safely playing with them. They had yelled up and asked if they could have a yogurt for dessert. I told them that would be just fine. Not thinking about how Gabriella beelines for the fridge whenever it is opened. That’s when I heard that blood curdling scream come from Lukas as he cried, “MOMMMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIEEEEE!” That scream that tells a mom something is very, very wrong. I ran downstairs to find Gabby covered head to toe in yogurt. Yogurt made from cow’s milk that would send her into vomit to shock. My heart sank as I prepared myself for what would be a night at the hospital. As I cleaned her up, I had to let her go and turn to my little son who was rocking back & forth saying, “it’s all my fault, it’s all my fault, it’s all my fault…” As I’m trying to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault, my peripheral catches glimpse of my 8 year old son who is white as a ghost, just watching the scene with his internal anxiety that we have come to recognize since he was little. In that moment, I prayed & prayed that God would miraculously prevent Gabby from reacting that night. She never did. Not even a burp. Yet, it was still months, before either one of us left the other one alone with all three kids during dinner time.

We have told most of you about the sleepless nights and you’ve prolly noticed that we’ve aged about 20 years! And, seriously when I mentioned the impossible, the lack of sleep is absolutely impossible. It’s all almost a blur. There are so many nights that have run together because a reaction has caused insomnia and the night rendered maybe 2 hours of broken sleep. These streaks could last for up to 2 weeks before we actually would get a break and she’d sleep for an hour at a time to her very best of 3 hour stretches. There have been so many times that I’ve watched Jayme drive off to work after driving her around the entire night so I could get enough rest to nurse her every 2 hours. In October, we traveled to Florida for our 10th wedding anniversary. That man drove a rented mini-van hours up and down the coast of Florida for 4 nights in a row to prevent me from jumping off the hotel balcony. I have no idea how he did it…well, I do in hindsight. In the times, of utter and complete exhaustion, to the point where our bodies were sick and our minds were NUTTY – HE was there. Giving us some freaky supernatural strength to keep going and keep parenting.

I never thought we’d be that couple sitting in the doctor’s office hearing them say, “We don’t know what to do, we can’t fix your baby.” When you grow up in a country that expects miracles out of our trusted doctors, this phrase is just so wrong. So wrong and absolutely deflating. If the doctors couldn’t fix her, that meant we had to find a way to. The pressure is so crushing, you literally can’t breathe. We let fear creep in so many times and pictured watching our baby starve to death. We were backed up into a corner that I never, ever want to experience again. What do I want to experience again? The absolute timely rescue of a God that holds answers and graciously gives them when asked. We needed an answer that was so black & white – actually not black & white but, blinking in neon! And it was in days, that we left a world of FPIES which has very few answers & very little hope and discovered the world of GAPS. Where there was so much hope and stories of healing. Is GAPS hard? SO hard. But, it is a hard with hope and progressive purpose. Currently, Gabby is still at just a couple of foods. And, I’m down to a diet of less than 10 foods again to nurse without causing her excruciating pain. Gabby is now hitting stages of detox (which is good) but, hard on her little body. And, sleep is still all over the place. We are not accepting the probable outcome for FPIES babies to land on the Autistic Spectrum as they grow into older children. Although there were quite a few symptoms pre-gaps, they are quickly dissipating as her gut heals. She spoke her first word at 9 months (dada) and then didn’t speak again until a few weeks ago. She now says momma and dada! We are working with her daily to allow both the spoon and sippy cup in her mouth & she will start a little bit of therapy soon.

We love her. She is an angel. God’s grace is sufficient and we are content. Tired! But, content. XO