The official Tatum Hay 11th year old birthday party arrived today! January 20, 2024
OH and I was nervosa! Why? Because the WHOLE week prior, Tatum had the flu, and just yesterday, I had a fever. WE prayed and prayed for miracle healing.
Well, I woke up feeling a bit better, and Tatum seemed fine. In fact, I walked into her room expecting her to be sleeping because she wanted to “sleep in” today. She was playing pretend with her pictures (with Rio of course!)
After our morning hug, I took out Coopy and this God art welcomed my morning.
Yes, God is in this place.
Tatum’s gifts to all the kids was a mini video game, but she included a gratitude card in each envelope. Liam, Vivian, Felicity, Hayden.
I made her a fun little brekkie with triangle tortillas, peanut butter, blackberries and a weeeeeee bit of coffee. HEE!
We headed to Glow Putt Golf to meet our friends!
Hayden, Felicity and Vivian came, and we waited for Liam. HI LIAM!
Ok< PUTT PUTT GO!!! I’m going home to meet Pita Jungle and Daddy’s going to hang with the kids.
I love you Bumby!
This year, I was all about convenience, and Pita Jungle came to the rescue.
Now, I bought some yummy pita wraps, and do you think the kids ate anything? Hmmmm??
Well, a few chips and a couple tablespoons of hummus went on a couple of plates and that was it. Srsly? They wanted to PLAY!
OK! But you know what? They had so much fun, and since it was so cold, the party migrated inside.
Cooper got involved in the floor games, and that made him so happy! Now, Tatum did not want any type of cake cupcake cookie or baked good. NOPE! It was to be a sundae bar!!!
Happy BIRTHDAY !!!!!!
OH the joy of control! (in the amount of whipped cream, right!?
AND>>>> THE JOY! She hasn’t had dairy in ages, and she said, “IT’S WORTH IT, MOMMY!” Can you tell?
Tatum gave little gifts to everyone, and Hayden just loved it!
I was so impressed with the kindness of each child. EACH ONE looked me in the eye and thanked me. They were so polite. She has wonderful taste in friends.
Later, we hit Barnes and Noble so she could spend her gift cards, and then it was play time!
One of her gifts from GLOW PUTT was this sword. She wants to fight off the bad guys! HA! Daddy? NO way, she’s defending for HIM! Such a good daughter. HEE!
Watch out, Daddy, he’s on your belly! ZWAPPP!!!
The day ended with HEDGE HUGS.
I love you. We love you. WE ALL LOVE YOU, LOVEBUG!
I set the timer for 15 minutes and told her to just free write. I said to write about a mom and her two kids.
BOOM…off she went.
I love HOW she writes. Man. She has a gift, and I tell her to keep it up!
The table
A girl about 26 wearing blue jeans and a ruffled green shirt sat down in a chair. Her face was covered in blood and her eyes were swollen.
The first thing that I saw was my mother and father dressed up in black clothes and their faces all red. I saw my sister clenching my father so hard her knuckles were white. I saw my brother crying in my father’s arms. There I was 3 days old looking around for the first time. My mother had said I was special, for I had heard her.
I had learned how to sit up by two months old. And I could walk by 5 months old. There was no doubt about it I was the most special kid on earth. Everywhere I went I heard whispers followed by oohs or aahs. When people heard of my name, they would collapse ,faint ,or pass out.
By 12 I knew every word in the dictionary. You could ask me any question, and I would have the answer straight away top of my tongue.
By 17 years old, every single girl would look at me, stare at me and faint ,over how beautiful and cute I was.
By 20 years old, I thought I had a great life, I had a beautiful wife, who every night would come home and talk to me as if I was her best friend.
But then one night, when I got home from my nightly job, shoveling snow at a friends house, my wife told me some news that changed my life forever.
Oh, sure it does, right? I think I’d rather just get there the quick way; I mean, who wants to go the long windy path? Did the Israelites really want to be in the desert for 40 years? They really wanted to escape slavery and be free for crying out loud!!
Well, God had a lesson in ALL OF IT.
You see, God wants TOTAL redemption of our story.
He also wants to write a BEAUTIFUL story out of our lives (pain and all).
So, alas.
Tatum and I seem to be hit hard with darts of health challenges. I won’t go into detail, but with her allergies and tummy woes, she really has been hit hard.
I continue to fight my battles, but I do have a tremendous amount of support.
How can I turn the pain into something beautiful? Well, I can reach out to others and start a support group?
Yes, it’s called Gut2Great on Facebook; a private group I hope to see help others.
Stay tuned on that.
In the meantime, God has the BIG PICTURE that we don’t see. May I rest in that as we go through each day.
And Tatum? God is using you amidst your pain. Think of Chris…your special needs buddy at church. You breathe life into him, and he adores you. SO do many! Keep being you, and keep fighting knowing God is on the throne and is your TRUE ABBA.
Oh, another way to my heart is through talking to a book. WAAAAAAAHHHHAAAAT?
Yes, I used to teach my middle school students to “talk to the book with your pencil.” I taught them how to annotate.
OH, it’s so exciting.. She is literally talking to the book with her pens. Now, she may not be “doing it right,” but the habit she is starting is worth all the price of gold.
Nancy Drew Mysteries to match my yellow bedroom. I loved her books! Tatum is now reading them again. This time for AR! I hope she enjoys them as much as I do. She does literally devour books.
First stop: Bungalow Mystery
I also have yellow memories of my Woodrow with this guy. Yes, he’s not the Woody we had for a few months, but precious RIO. All 35 grams of this yellow lovebird.
He joined us today when we played Sequence. I think he helped Tatum along since he’s such a “bright” bird! HEE!
Daddy joined the fun later as he cooked up some of his grill mastering shrimp, chicken and veggies. He is our master chef!
A welcomed year. We are all ready for this year to start, as we prepare with new attitudes, renewed hope, and some newfound joy!
After a good night’s sleep since we all go to bed before the country gets going, we opted to first each have our devotion time with God. I’m starting a new devotion from Susie Larson called PREVAIL> I shall be pursuing a NEW self this year. Stay tuned here.
This was my next vision as I took out little Coopyhead. Can you even? SPEECHLESS.
I hit the gym before our little outing. Tot, Doug and I walked to Starbucks for a little java from a gift card Doug received. THANK YOU! Look at my cuties!! Gosh, I love them.
SELFIE thanks to Tot’s long arm.
Ok, after we enjoyed our delights, we headed back, and started our craft. We wanted to make some 2024 goals. I gave each of us some categories: Characters, Spiritual, Work/School, Habits to cultivate, Physical.
TOT?
Watcha say? (BTW, gluten free bagel)
Tatum has such a beautiful heart. Let’s heal physically and as a family in every way. xxoo
Honey? WOW, he went all out with his spires. I can’t even draw one of those.
I love his goals. You are on it, babe!
ME? Well, I’m very focused this year. I want to add one thing…
We will check in with each other at dinners. YEAH! OK, I’d like to add this: Which I worked on today…my next drawing for Tot.
Tada! A juicy melon for my fruity pie-sweetie.
Gotta ways to go.
While Tot went to play outside I made a video for my new classes starting on Thursday. I try to make them personal by posting welcome videos.
After Tot returned from her bike ride!…we made some homemade hummus. One of my goals, HEEHEE. So good! My soaked garbanzo beans, Meyer lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, tahini, a few cilantro sprouts, and a tad of olive oil..oh and some water to thin it out.
you like?
You helped me so much, Tot!
Tatum later joined me to draw, and she gave me this!
It’s been a long and windy road. Many detours, crashes, fires, and explosions. Yes, this has been my life since about 6 months before I got married.
It probably started years ago when I never went a day without a stomach ache, bloating, cramping, or stool issues. It all came to a head the day after Doug proposed to me on May 20th, 2018. I look back at it now as a gift to me; funny how immense struggle and challenge can teach us so much about what needs to change.
I won’t go into detail in this blog about the hundreds of supplements, multiple doctors and healthcare providers, hundreds of tests, and thousands of dollars spent. But I will say I have had one simple prayer.
PLEASE> HEAL ME. PLEASE send me some answers, clarity, healing…something, LORD! I can’t live this way. I have had many challenges in my life like everyone, but when you lose your physical health, there is not much you can do. Your. heart may still be beating: life, but you are not living life. You are functioning; subsisting; operating below zero. It’s NO WAY TO LIVE. But in the process, you realize all the things you have taken for granted.
Now, let’s fast forward to December 2023.
Miracle number one: I got a diagnosis of colitis from a long awaited colonoscopy. I had never had biopsy from. my colonoscopies, so I don’t know how long I have had this inflammation. Suffice it to say, it explained a lot. BUT, there was more in terms of diagnosis that my next Miracle IDENTIFIED>
Miracle number two: This lead me on a path to find some distinct help. Not another naturopath; not another supplement regimen; not a new way of eating; no, it would be something completely different. I came upon a program through a past podcast I had listened to, and the Holy Spirit had told me to listen again. I made an appt for a discover call, but in the midst of that, I found someone else. He fascinated me! His program: The mind-gut-immunity protocol. Hmmmmm, another promise? I booked a discovery call with him, but he required $50. He wanted SERIOUS folks. Dr. Chanu Dasari. He was a real intestinal surgeon, Hmm….again, was this happening?
I also was assigned a trauma specialist.. MIND-GUT…it’s all connected.
Miracle number three: The call was amazing. He even said that he expects full healing within 6 weeks, and money back if not. Never has he had to give a refund. He’s based out of Las Vegas, and his passion stems from his own suffering of colitis and the failure of western medicine. Doug and I had prayed for someone who was not only qualified ( an MD), but someone who had compassion due to suffering themselves.
Miracle number four: Dr. D and I communicate daily. Our first meeting, he identified my THREE areas of issues. Isolated. Focused. and now. ATTACKABLE Gut dysbiosis, chronic hypo caloric restriction, sleep disorder.
BOOM. Just like that. All the years I have damaged my body have now caught up to me, and NOW I HAVE BEEN GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE WITH GOD and DR. D’s HELP.
Yes, he calls ME even when we were trying to solve one of my health issues. He figured it out! He also told me to STOP apologizing for using his time. He told me he gave up 1/2 his practice because he LOVES to help people with these issues and SOLVE them. He’s dedicated to making this happen. Wow. I’m not just another patient with a stamped program. AND he doesn’t own a supplement company to sell me anything.
Miracle number five: God has used all these people too: 1. Doug. My sweet husband. He’s stuck by thick and thin, AND he’s been completely part of every inch of the journey. He does EVERYTHING for me. 2. Tatum; She gives me about 100 hugs a day, and tells me multiple times how much she loves me. WOW. Total compassion and love. 3. My mom: She may not know everything about my journey, but she loves me. 4. The Banner Health PA, Jeanie. She had the same ear issues I had, and knew exactly what to do for me. Not a coincidence that all of these people are in my life at the EXACT time I have needed them. So many others, but I see GOD’S hand in all of it. Man, answered prayers.
GOD WINK right after. A minute juicy heart-shaped strawberry. I’ve got you, and I Love YOU, Steph
I’m not out of the woods yet, but for the first time in years, I have HOPE of COMPLETE recovery. 2024 will be the NEW and IMPROVED Stephanie. Fighter; Perseverer; LOVER and? I AM HEALING.
AND, do you know what else? Every challenge is setting us up to HELP SOMEONE ELSE> these lessons we learn from adversity are not wasted; God uses every single thing, yet when we are in it, it’s hard to see this.
The difference now is that I’m probably TRULY ready for healing. My mind and gut are available and willing. I’ve also been given a provider who GETS me and is 100% committed WITH me. Stay tuned!
