Falling into the trap of addiction

2 December, 2011 by Leave a Comment





If you follow my blog, you know I haven’t been posting as much recently. I’m getting serious about my book, which I’ve been devoting more time to, so today I’m giving you an excerpt. If there were one part of my story I could forget, the narcotic addiction would be it. It took me a long time to include this in my book, but God has called me to be transparent. I love the verse I chose for today’s prescription. I’m taking the shame of my past, which is erased in God’s eyes, and using it to share his truths.
The world we live in revolves around pills. Whether addiction occurs from taking pain medication from an injury or from sheer curiosity, the addiction potential is the same. Drugs do not care who you are, what you do, where you live, how much money you make, or whether or not you’re a Christian. Too many people are blissfully unaware how narcotics work and how dangerous they can be. It seems ridiculous to me that I let myself become addicted because I’m a pharmacist. But I wouldn’t trade anything for the understanding I have now. Addiction is truly a phenomenon you cannot understand until you’ve been there. I certainly would have never imagined it could happen to me. 
I hope you enjoy this tidbit of my story. 
My first seizure, though unnerving, did not leave me with any physical harm done to my body. I wasn’t so fortunate this second time around. In the emergency room, I was told I had a broken nose. My first glance in the mirror confirmed it. My head was killing me and my body hurt all over. When I fell this time, I was standing in the middle of the pharmacy, and I went down sideways into the “P” section of the pharmacy shelves. Apparently I wiped out the Premarin, Provera, and Prozac sections to say the least. My head hit first, and my nose caught one of the shelves at just the right angle to make it good and whop-sided. With my head as the lead Lego, knocking down the lower shelves, my body followed crashing to the hard, tile floor. I’m thankful my brain didn’t remember the scene, but my body sure did. I have to be honest here. I’m a wimp. I don’t like pain, I’ve never liked pain, and I do not tolerate it well. The emergency room doctor sent me home with prescriptions for Depakote (for seizures) and Lortab (for pain), a list of  “do’s and don’ts” for seizure patients, and a referral to an ear, nose and throat surgeon for my crooked nose. And so my recovery began.
The soreness slowly dissipated from my muscles, and the bruises on my body faded away. The bruises on my soul, however, were growing. The ear, nose, and throat specialist informed me that sinus surgery was in my near future if I wanted to ever use my nose for breathing again. Breathing through my nose. Hmmmm. Sounds rather necessary. Sinus surgery it was.
In pharmacy school, I was able to sit through four surgical procedures during my clinical rotations. One of those surgeries just so happened to be a rhinoplasty—a nose job. It wasn’t long into that surgery that I completely understood why people are so black and blue after a nose reconstruction. You’d have thought the surgeons were working with Play-doh or clay, not an actual human face. I was mortified to watch as the doctor cut inside the nostrils with a scalpel, and with his equivalent of tweezers, pulled cartilage out. Then they proceeded to mash, tug, squeeze, push, and squish this man’s nose until they had molded it into the shape they wanted. I wasn’t getting a nose job per say, but the surgery is essentially the same to fix a broken, crooked nose.
Between the emergency room and visits to my neurologist, and visits and surgeon, it took about two months for me to come to the end of this nasal nightmare. Lortab, a narcotic pain medication, had become my friend to get through those months, especially during my recovery from the surgery. It was not pleasant to have my sinuses packed with gauze attached to small tongue depressors hanging out of my nose for a week. Remember what a great pain tolerance I have? When the packing was finally pulled from my nostrils, which felt like ropes being pulled from my brain, my nasal nightmare was over. Or so I thought. For the most part, my pain was gone, so I stopped taking the Lortab. I could have never guessed what was coming next. 
Watch for my next post to get a unique perspective on drug addiction. Understand the truth about the dangers of addiction so you can prevent those you love from falling into the trap. Addiction is very hard to overcome. In some cases, prevention is the only cure. 
SIGNATUREFORBLOG





Filed Under: Overcoming Addiction Tagged With: ,

Be Encouraged and Inspired at the Free Online Christian Conference

25 November, 2011 by Leave a Comment

 
 
 
Be Encouraged and Inspired at this Free Online Christian Conference:
Are you free in Christ, or do you find yourself bound by your circumstances, sins, or even your past?
If your answer was one of the latter, you need to know that you are not alone. So many Christians today don’t feel like they are truly free. We feel like there is no way to move forward because of where we are or where we’ve been, and that is exactly how Satan wants us to feel. The tighter we’re bound by his lies, the less of an impact we will have for Christ. However, it doesn’t have to be that way, we can find lasting freedom in Christ, and that is why CJ and Shelley Hitz are hosting a free, 4-day online conference entitled: “Unshackled and Free”. They want you to know, and experience, the freedom that can only be found through Christ.
Do you want to be refreshed, inspired, and challenged? Join them November 28th through December 1st at 8PM EST each evening to hear from powerful speakers: Rae Lynn DeAngelis (www.livingintruthministries.com), Janet Perez Eckles (www.JanetPerezEckles.com), Renee Johnson Fisher (www.devotionaldiva.com), and Scott Mason (www.ScottMason.org), as they talk about how they have found lasting freedom in Christ, and how you can too.
They will be covering topics that are easily related to, including being set free from eating disorders, overcoming life circumstances, reflecting Christ in our relationships, and becoming a new creation in Christ. If you have ever felt bound by something in your life, regardless of where you stand today, I encourage you to sign-up for this conference.
You can have lasting freedom in Christ, and these speakers would love to help you get there.
Each session will be broadcasted live, as well as recorded for audio replay. This way you can attend from the comfort of your own home, and if the scheduled time doesn’t work for you, you can simply listen at a time that is more convenient. Each call will be under an hour to make it easier to fit into your busy schedule of work, family and other activities. I do hope that you will join us for this life changing conference.
Get more information, including a complete schedule of events and speaker information here: http://www.theforgivenessformula.com/conference/.
Freedom in Christ is not always easy to recognize until you have it. Then, once you have it you wonder why it took so long to get it! It took me seven years to “get it.” Don’t wait as long as I did. Watch this dynamic program of speakers for Christ who understand what it means to be free. Blessings to you!
 
From my heart,
 
 
Celeste
 
p.s. Here’s the link to my blog post on freedom in Christ I posted in July. I have freedom in Christ, but I certainly haven’t always. I recently had someone who is reads my blog ask David if I was the “real deal.” I assure you that I am, but it was only 14 months ago that I was so lost. Ask for it, seek it, and you will find it. When you do, NOTHING else compares!

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

Mars and Venus

25 November, 2011 by Leave a Comment


This time of year brings so much of everything, and for many it means busy, busier, and busiest.  That’s sure what it means for me. So earlier this week when I ended up waiting two hours for a doctor’s appointment, I was a little frustrated. It just so happened that I had a book in my purse I’d won in a drawing, Eden Derailed, so I pulled it out to read. Well, the Mars and Venus authors have nothing on Matt Williams. He speaks to everyone—singles, married, men, women, divorced, and teens—on the plan God laid out for sex. He did create it, and he did have a specific plan in mind when he did.
If you have any question marks in your mind concerning the way your significant other thinks regarding sex, read this book. If you want to know what on earth God was thinking when he made men and women so different, read this book. If you want to better teach your children about sex—what it should be rather than what it should not be—read this book.
Sometimes God uses unusual circumstances for very specific purposes. There are a few people in my life right now that could really benefit from this book, and I will pass it along to them. But it also made me look at my marriage. I have an awesome husband whom I’m sure I’ve never given nearly enough credit. So every day from now until Christmas, I’m challenging myself to write down five things about David that I’m thankful for. One month, no repeats.
Often in a marriage, we take our spouse for granted. We are so busy in our own shoes; we forget what it might be like to be in theirs.
During this month from now til Christmas, spend some time this month on your marriage? Go to Amazon and check out Eden Derailed . Here’s the link: 


Will you do this with me? Just get a small notebook and jot down the date and five things about your spouse you’re thankful for. Then, give the notebook to your spouse for Christmas. Who knows? You might score some big brownie points!
Hopefully this exercise will result in a happier, richer relationship to begin the New Year!
From my heart,

Celeste

Filed Under: Marriage Menders, Parenting Tips Tagged With:

Where Medicine Meets Faith

18 November, 2011 by 4 Comments
Today on “Dr. Oz,” he had Joel Osteen as his guest. The title of this segment was “Where medicine ends and faith begins.” If you’re reading this blog, you probably know God gave me a miracle after years of failed medical attempts at healing. This particular subject holds a spot very close to my heart! 
I was excited to see such a mainstream show confront such a controversial topic, but honestly, I was left disappointed. The main message resulting from the interview was there is power in prayer. I wholeheartedly agree! But as came through in the show today, Joel Osteen is a “feel good” preacher. He believes in happiness and prosperity, and that anyone who believes and has enough faith can achieve just that. What I did not hear on the show today was the will of God. God has a plan. He is in control. For his children, God has promises that he will bestow, but not mentioned by Rev. Osteen today was that we may not see those promises until we reach Heaven. 
I realize this was a secular show, and I’m sure Dr. Oz had the network guiding him in what he could and could not say, but I was disappointed that the subject “when everything fails” didn’t come up. So if we die, do we assume that neither faith nor medicine worked? No. This brings me to one of my favorite quotes by Max Lucado: 
“The ultimate aim of healing is not just a healthy body but a greater kingdom. If God’s aim is to grant perfect health to all his children, he has failed, because no one enjoys perfect health, and everyone dies. But if God’s aim is to expand the boundaries of his kingdom, then he has succeeded. For every time he heals, a thousand sermons are preached.”
And to that I add this…even when he does not heal us while we are here on earth, he completely heals us when we die. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)


Even in death, God has a plan. The experience of losing someone often leads other to Christ.

Prayer is important–essential actually to our spiritual walk. But God already has all the answers, doesn’t he? God has already promised us that he has a plan and a purpose for us…a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29/11). When we pray, he restores us. Praying helps us to remember that he is God and he has us in his hands. It helps us to fight the evil influences this world has over us and have faith in him. Prayer doesn’t help God be a better God, but it helps us to be better children.
I have blogged on this subject several times, and I think as Christians, it is vital that we live on this earth with an eternal perspective. Yes, what we do here is important because while we are on earth, we are laying up our treasures in Heaven. What are those treasures? People—the people that will be in eternity beside us. I’m attaching links here of the other blog posts I have on this subject:

Life is Good, Eternity is Better
In Sickness and in Health

It all boils down to your heart. Only God truly knows your heart. He alone knows your faith, your love, your struggles, and your trust in him.
I love the PRAYER acronym on today’s prescription. I will leave you with the scripture that supports it’s meaning. 
P ~ praise ~ Yours, O LORD, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12)
R ~ repent ~ If my people … will humble themselves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear their prayer… (2 Chronicles 7:14)
A ~ ask ~ Ask, and it will be given you . . . knock, and the door will be opened for you. (Matthew 7:7)
Y ~ yield ~ …your will be done…(Matthew 6:10) and …not what I want but what you want. (Matthew 26:39)
E ~ expect results ~  …approach the throne of grace with confidence. (Hebrews 4:16)
R ~ return often ~ The prayer of faith will save the sick. (James 5:15)


I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on the subject! 

From my heart,

Celeste






Filed Under: Beating Depression, Chronic Illness, Fighting Your Fears, God's Pharmacy, Have an Eternal Perspective, How to be Happy, Living in Faith, Living with Purpose, The Power of Prayer, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , , ,

Smart Parenting: Don’t wait til it’s too late!

8 November, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Parenting. Whew! It’s a hard job these days! As if it’s not hard enough worrying about helping them with the basics like homework, friends, and dating, now we have to worry about the drugs that are rampant in our society today. Many people don’t realize how dangerous drugs are. These drugs are deadly–Crack, cocaine, Oxycontin, heroin, and now bath salts! Some of these drugs are addictive the very first time they are used, and then it may be too late. The very best method is prevention. But what if that doesn’t work? 
Will you know the signs? 
Will you admit that your child may be using drugs you or will you be in denial, hoping it will go away? 
Will you confront them?
Will you be too embarrassed to get them the help they need? 
Will you become an enabler because you’re afraid they will come to hate you?
Satan uses drugs to get a stronghold on our youth of today. Anita Estes has a new book available, Letters to God on a Prodigal Son:Overcoming Addiction Through Prayer in which she shares the story of her son’s drug addiction, the signs that she recognized, and her prayers to help him overcome it. 
If you have a child, whether you suspect drug use or not, you need to read this book. I know too many parents who realize what’s going on too late. Just as we try to arm our children for the world we live in, we need to arm ourselves with the tools we need to parent them. This book is an essential tool. If you purchase it on November 8th, you can even get some free gifts! Here’s the link…
Be armed and ready! 
From my heart,

Celeste
Filed Under: Overcoming Addiction, Parenting Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Who’s behind your mask?

31 October, 2011 by 3 Comments

Have you ever seen the movie, Point Break, with Patrick Swayze? I’ll never forget it. Not because Patrick was in it (though that was memorable), not because of the surfing and huge waves in the movie, but because of those stupid masks they wear at the beginning to rob the bank. There are four robbers, each wearing the mask of a US President. Doesn’t sound like big deal, right? For whatever reason, those masks completely freaked me out! I had nightmares about them for weeks!


I used to love scary movies. Halloween has never bothered me…haunted houses, scary masks, trick-or-treating…I loved it all. So what was it about the masks in that movie that disturbed me? 

They weren’t scary masks. They were masks of good people, worn by some seriously not good people.  

I’ve spent the last five days at the Christian Communicators Conference at Lake Keowee, South Carolina– Twenty-four women in one house who all want to be speakers. Can you imagine? We had to have scheduled quiet time every day like preschoolers, and preschoolers would have probably been better at being quiet than we were! But I digress…

I was so blessed by the transparency of all of these women. After only four days them, I’d made a connection with each and every one. They wear no masks. We are all women who have gone through different struggles in life, all trying to use our experiences to help others in similar situations. No judgment. The blood of Jesus Christ covers us all. No need for judgment. 

Once we can accept the gift of the cross that God gave us through his son Jesus, there is no need for masks. 

No need to worry about being judged by others. It’s only God’s judgment we need to worry about. Go back and read the verse on today’s prescription above. As Christians, we are to be ourselves; unashamed of our past or who we are, because we are covered by the blood of Christ. He calls us to share his truth with everyone, but how will they believe if they cannot see the work he’s done in us? 

In the movie, the robbers chose those US President masks to hide so they would not be punished for the crime they were committing. If they did not have the masks, do you think they would have robbed the bank? If they knew everyone would see who they truly were, wouldn’t they have been more likely to obey the law and act more honorably? 

It’s time to shed those good masks. Masks of deception. They may look good from the outside, but they also prevent you from healing on the inside. God calls us to be transparent and unashamed.

So when Halloween is over tonight, take off those masks for good! 
From my heart,

Celeste


Filed Under: How to be Happy, Living in Faith, Making Changes, Real Relationships, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , , , , ,

If I’d only known…

19 October, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I am a fixer. When someone opens their heart to tell me their struggles, I automatically go into problem solving mode. Whatever the problem, big or small, my brain goes into overdrive and I just know I can solve it. If it’s a subject I know, like medicine, good. If it’s a problem I know nothing about, I try to learn how to help or find someone else who can. I believe this characteristic is part of the reason God allowed me to go through seven years of a whole bunch of stuff. I want to share with you two very important lessons I learned during my seven years battle with grand mal seizures, migraine headaches, and severe depression. 


First, you never truly know how people feel until you have walked in their shoes.


During my first fourteen years as a pharmacist, I struggled with wanting to help my customers with their medical issues. I could tell them all about their medication, side effects, drug interactions, etc. What I did not know, however, is how they felt. I dispensed antidepressants, pain medication, anti-anxiety medication, and sleeping pills every day, but couldn’t understand the desperation they felt in their quest for relief. Well, God had a remedy for my problem. Beginning with migraines and then a seizure out of nowhere, followed by pain and depression, I received first hand training in empathy.  



Second, no matter how much you want to help someone else with their problem, they must be ready to help themselves.



This one is frustrating. Now that I am on the other side of my struggle, I can see so clearly why I struggled so long. I had to learn the hard lessons myself. I was given advice time and time again to improve my health. Some good, some bad, and some just far-fetched and silly. The advice of the Godly people around me was good advice, but I could not or would not receive it.  For whatever reason, I had to learn the lessons myself. God let me get to the end of myself before I could completely and honestly surrender myself to Him.I am still a problem solver, but I go about it in a little different way. Instead of trying to fix a problem, I try to help find a solution to the problem. The solution starts with Christ. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 (ESV)I now find myself older and wiser. It’s a shame those two traits go hand in hand. If I’d only known then what I know now…


From my heart,

Celeste


Filed Under: Living with Purpose, Real Relationships, The Power of Prayer, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: ,

Help, I’m in pain!

14 October, 2011 by 3 Comments
     Have you ever seen a house that was taken over by stray cats? It all starts with just one stray cat. You feed it. It has kittens. You feed them. They have kittens, and so on and so on and so on. You end up with around 50 cats living in, under, and around your house, waiting to be fed. You get more food because you are feeding more cats. It becomes an out of control situation. What happens if you don’t feed them? They come to the door, to your feet, and pester you to death until you until you do! They get on your nerves, they might even get mean, and scratch or bite you.
     This is an analogy to help understand what happens to our brain when we take narcotics for pain like Lortab, Vicodin, or Oxycodone. Our brains have receptors that tell us when we are in pain. For the sake of explanation, lets say we normally have 10 receptors. Drugs in the narcotic class are the only drugs that truly block those receptors to relieve pain. Narcotics taken for short periods of time are typically not a problem. But when we keep feeding narcotics to those receptors, they begin to multiply like stray cats. Where we once had 10 receptors that perceive pain, we now have 100, or 500, or 1000. So what do we do? We have to feed them more. They continue to multiply. What happens if we take that narcotic away? Those receptors attack more ferociously that any amount of cats ever could. This is physical addiction. Narcotics will actually change the chemistry of our brains.
     When I began having migraines and seizures, I was prescribed a narcotic to use when the pain could not be controlled any other way. I took it off and on as needed, only it seemed like I needed it more and more often. My pain tolerance got lower and lower. When I ended up taking Lortab for two months after a seizure, broken nose, and sinus surgery, I couldn’t go off of it without throwing up constantly. My receptors were out of control. At this point, any tolerance I had at all completely disappeared. I struggled as my brain and body screamed for relief. 
     When God healed me and I became free from all medication, a floodlight came on in my brain. I looked back over my journey and realized something about pain I’d never realized before. When I began using pain medicine off and on to relieve migraines, my headaches intensified. Then when I began taking it even more often, the headaches were unbearable. The increased receptors in my brain were causing my perception of pain to be worse. Now that I have been off all medication for over a year, the migraines that once sent me to a dark room in tears are now just headaches. They are unpleasant and aggravating, but they no longer stop me in my tracks. 
     True, full-blown addiction typically requires help. It’s a tough battle to win, but with God, nothing is impossible. My focus here is on the millions of people every day who take just one Lortab at bedtime to be able to sleep, or just one Oxycontin in the morning to allow them to be able to work. Taking small maintenance doses of a narcotic increases pain receptors just enough to increase pain perception. We may think it’s the pain that is worsening when it might just be the perception of pain is higher because of the receptors. 
     God created those pain receptors in our brain–just the right amount–because we need to perceive pain to know when something is wrong. He made us in His image. He didn’t intend for those receptors to torture us, but when we feed them too often, they grow. And grow and grow and grow.  If you are taking a low maintenance dose of a narcotic, you probably perceive your pain to be worse than it really is. If you can stop taking it long enough for your brain to get back to normal, I bet you’d realize the pain isn’t nearly as bad as it once was. Give it a try if you can. Believe me, I never thought I’d see the day that a migraine headache didn’t send me screaming to a dark, quiet room for the duration.
SIGNATUREFORBLOG
Filed Under: Managing Prescription Drugs, Overcoming Addiction Tagged With: , , ,

The Trulywed Game~Episode Five: Languages of Love

11 October, 2011 by 2 Comments
Well throughout this sermon series on marriage, I’ve squirmed in my seat, been lovingly “nudged” by my hubby, and turned red in the face. Hopefully Perry won’t step on my toes quite so much during the next series! This post concludes “The Trulywed Game” as we discuss the Languages of Love. Perry’s words are in blue, my added thoughts in black…and here’s the link if you’d like to watch the sermon (and the conclusion of “The Trulywed Game” itself) ~ http://www.brookwoodchurch.org/mediaplayer
The way to improve marital intimacy is communicating love so my spouse will understand. 
Gary Chapman came out with the book, “The Five Love Languages” years which Perry based this sermon on. Learning your spouse’s love language (and your children’s) makes for a much happier home. 
Five ways to communicate love: 
1) Words
     
Some people thrive on words of praise. If you grew up in a home of constant praise, it may be what you expect. If you grew up in a home of constant criticism and lack of praise, you might crave praise in your current relationship. 
Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim. Proverbs 15:4 (Msg)
When you live with someone, lets face it; they can get on your nerves. Their bad traits come front and center, and their good traits get lost in the shuffle. Sometimes we have to go back and remember why we married them in the first place. To get past the “life” that happens every day, it takes work to see and put emphasis on the qualities that you love about your spouse. I find that if I’m bragging about David to someone else, I name all of the things I love about him. I need to do that more often! 
When you do praise your spouse, your words must be sincere and honest, without attached criticism. 
2) Time
This one is high on the list of David’s love languages. How many of you multitask? I think I drive myself and everyone around me crazy trying to do five things at once, and if I’m not doing them, I’m thinking that I need to be. This is an area I need to work on. When I am spending time with David, it needs to be time spent focusing on our relationship (not sitting on the sofa beside him working on my laptop…that was last night =o/).
My lover said to me, “Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one!…The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come…” Song of Songs 2:10, 12 (NLT)
He escorts me to the banquet hall; it’s obvious how much he loves me. Song of Songs 2:4 (NLT)
Sometimes it’s necessary to dress up, put on those heels or fancy tie and go on a date. Taking the time to get uncomfortable and do something your spouse likes to do will speak volumes if time is their love language. 
3) Gifts
I’m making jewelry for you, gold and silver jewelry that will mark and accent your beauty. Song of Songs 1:10-11 (Msg)
A quietly given gift soothes an irritable person; a heartfelt present cools a hot temper. Proverbs 21:14 (Msg)
If receiving gifts is your spouse’s love language, one of the best ways to communicate that message is to know them well enough to actually know what gifts they like! If your wife always wears black and white, a bright yellow sundress might not be the best choice. 
Always buying on the markdown rack might send the wrong message. =o)  (Thanks, Perry!)
4) Service
This is a big one for me. Have you ever seen the ultimate book of porn for women? In it you’ll find photos of men (fully dressed) vacuuming, washing dishes, taking out trash, etc. I love it! 
Serve each other with love. Galatians 5:13 (NCV)
Rebekah said to Jacob: “Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish.” Genesis 27:9 (NLT)
Service is also an important love language for David, especially when it comes to his stomach! Even if we’re having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, he always says they taste better when I fix them! 
5) Touch
I found the one my heart loves. I threw my arms around him. I didn’t let him go… Song of Songs 3:4 (WORD)
Again, this love language is important to David as well (I might as well just focus on all five the keep this man happy!) 
I am almost five years younger than David. When we were dating, I felt uncomfortable showing much affection in public, because I didn’t want it to look like I was “hanging” all over him. I was just worried what other people would think. David, on the other hand, wanted me to hold his hand and put my arms around him in public. To him, showing affection in public made it obvious to people that I loved him and was proud to be with him. 
One mistake we can easily make is using our own love language to try to communicate with our spouse. That doesn’t work. Washing dishes and vacuuming does not show David that I love him, no matter how much I do it! I have to communicate my love to him through his love language. 
How do I discover my mate’s love language(s)?
1) Observe how my spouse expresses love (we most often express love how we want to be loved).
2) Listen to what my spouse requests most often. 
3) Offer choices between options representing different love languages. 
…Let us practice loving each other… 1 John 4:7 (TLB)
It’s a shame Rosetta Stone doesn’t have software for this! 
From my heart, 

Celeste




Filed Under: Marriage Menders, Real Relationships, Uncategorized Tagged With:

Shredding away my past…

6 October, 2011 by 2 Comments

Although it’s fall, I spent the week spring-cleaning…

Yesterday, I spent the morning shredding 4 years worth of insurance statements. Since my seizures have disappeared, I’ve been on the search for new insurance and decided it was time to get rid of all paperwork for claims that have been closed. I really did not expect to take a journey back in time while I was shredding! 

As I picked up pages to put in the shredder, I caught words here and there…ambulance, emergency, x-ray, fracture, prescription, …and they did not bring back good memories. Dates tied random words to the place and situation in which the seizures occurred. For seven years my memory was really fuzzy from the seizures and medications, but yesterday, my memory was crystal clear. Several of my seizures happened in public places like Wal-Mart, The Glazing Pot, and Gray Court Pharmacy. You’d have thought Wal-Mart was on fire when I had them there. All because of a seizure, I got two fire trucks, and police car, and an ambulance.  I had one in Park City, Utah while we were on vacation, so of course sirens screamed all the way to the hotel, where lots of people took notice. Trevor and I were alone in the hotel room and he handled it all! One of my seizures happened at home while I was alone with Miranda and Marlee. They were in the bath at the time, and Miranda found me about twenty minutes later with our Great Danes hovering over me. There was a puddle of blood about two feet wide under my head from breaking my nose. It’s truly a blessing I don’t actually remember the seizure and seeing people react to them; I want no memory of my children’s faces in the aftermath. But I do remember the events after I regained consciousness, which usually took about an hour. They are NOT good memories. 

I let seizures define me for seven years. I felt like a victim. I let the depression that went with each seizure build on the one before, driving me further and further into the hole of isolation I’d dug for myself. That was not God’s plan. He wanted me to turn to Him. He wanted me to see His strength in my weakness. 

I finished shredding all four years worth of statements (three garbage bags full). Four miserable years of my past represented in those garbage bags, shredded beyond recognition. No more reminders and a new insurance plan in the works. 
My past is past. It is gone. I cannot and will not go back. I wish I’d realized sooner that it was only God who could heal me and maybe I wouldn’t have turned to so many other ways to “fix” myself. But now, God has wiped it away, as far as the east is from the west, and He didn’t even have to use a shredder! He just wanted me to turn to Him. 
From my heart,

Celeste
Filed Under: Beating Depression, Freedom in Christ, How to be Happy, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , , , ,

The Trulywed Game~Episode Four: Achieving the “Big O”

3 October, 2011 by Leave a Comment




You have to watch the podcast. If you are married, have a boyfriend, have children, or are still in the planning phase, this sermon will change your way of thinking. I am only going to highlight Perry’s main points and give you some of my thoughts (his points are in blue). I’ll bet you’ve never heard a sermon like this before!

Here is the link. If you cannot access it directly from here, just copy and paste it into your browser…

http://www.brookwoodchurch.org/mediaplayer

Over the last 4 weeks, Perry has preached a sermon series on God’s plan for marriage. He has discussed emotional intimacy, spiritual intimacy, and this week is physical intimacy. Glad you can’t see me…my face is red just typing this! 

I grew up as a “good little Southern Baptist,” and knew my list of “thou shalt not’s.” Of course sex was high on that list. In my mind, it was forbidden, so it must be bad. On television, the only time sex is “shown” is between two people who are not married. It’s either teenagers having premarital sex, or it’s a married man or woman in an affair. Hollywood only portrays a worldly view of sex. We never see it portrayed as the wonderful God-given gift that it is. 

Physical intimacy results from becoming one sexually with my spouse. 

1) Appreciate the spiritual nature of intercourse. He designed it to be a supernatural encounter, never intended to be experienced without a spiritual dimension. (See 1 Corinthians 6:13-20) 

Now I don’t know about you, but I am rarely praying during sex! We have been so programmed to see sex as a physical act; we forget that God actually created it! When we have “the talk” with our kids, we explain sex physically, not spiritually. Not long ago, Marlee (my 8-year-old) asked me, “What is sex?” I truly believe that God gave me the answer. First, I asked her what she thought it was so I wouldn’t give her information she wasn’t ready for. Her reply was “when a married couple lays in the bed together naked.” 
So I explained it to her like this…

“You know when a mommy breastfeeds her baby? Well, God designed us that way. During that ‘skin to skin’ contact, a bond is formed between and a mommy and her baby that no one else would ever have. God intended for a man and woman to have a similar bond when they are married. They have that ‘skin to skin’ contact they never share with anyone else. It’s a bond they have together for life. They become one.”

2) Act according to God’s direction. 

Honor marriage, and guard against the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex. Hebrews 13:4 (Msg)

Sex has taken the place of kissing from a few decades ago. Sex should grow from a permanently committed love. It should not be depended on to stimulate love. 

When David and I first had talk to our kids about sex, we even had the thought, “In this day and time, the best we can probably do is make them wait at least until after high school, when they are in a serious relationship that might be forever.” Now of course we want them to wait until marriage, but we were trying to be realistic. SHAME ON US! God created sex, and has a purpose for it. Are we to believe that he made us incapable of waiting until we’re married? NO. The “true love waits” road may not make us popular, but it will be what allows us to experience the real intimacy of sex inside marriage. 

There is no freedom without restraints. Think about that statement. It applies to everything that is good in our lives. Without boundaries, there would be no such thing as freedom. 

3) Accommodate my spouse’s needs. Read 1 Corinthians 7:3-5. 

Does this mean we have to do anything our spouse wants? No. Does it mean we need to have open communication? Yes. Hebrews 13:4 tells us that the marriage bed is undefiled. Inside marriage there is room to try new things. Continue discovering each other as long as you are in agreement. 

4) Attempt to attain oneness. That’s the “Big O”~ Oneness. 

Read Genesis 2:18, 22-25. The end of that passage says …a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.  Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame. 

True intimacy grows from a relationship where your body and your heart must be naked. The relationship must be one of complete acceptance. The goal of sex is unification, not just pleasure. It is a soul-deep bond that develops when people in a committed marriage love and serve each other. 

As Christians, it’s time we quit letting the world determine what sex is or what it can be. As parents, we need to teach our children about the awesome gift of sex God gave us, and how amazing it can be when we use it as God planned. As spouses, we need to stick with God’s plan.

When my lover looks at me, he is delighted with what he sees. Song of Solomon 8:10

Sunday morning (before hearing this sermon), David and I were laying in the bed talking, and he looked over at me and said, “You know, seeing you laying there on that pillow, you look exactly the same as you did when we got married.” Now of course he was just looking at my head, not the extra bulges that have appeared in the last 22 years, but my first thought was, “Okay, what does he want.” But believe it or not, he just wanted to tell me. 



I’m sure we have the same problems and arguments that any married couple does, but when this area of our life is good, we can handle those problems together. We are one. 
From my heart, 

Celeste






Filed Under: Marriage Menders Tagged With:

The Trulywed Game~Episode Three

26 September, 2011 by Leave a Comment





Spiritual intimacy includes submitting to Jesus Christ and sacrificing for our spouses. 


I think one of the key words here is “spiritual.” True intimacy cannot exist without a spiritual component. God created man and wife…marriage, the closest tangible example of a Christian’s relationship with Christ. 

Marriages have such a hard time these days. We are bombarded by the media with Hollywood’s definition if intimacy…sex. Sex is most definitely necessary for intimacy in a marriage, but certainly does not stand alone as a formula for intimacy. The way Jesus treats the church is the best example of how we should treat our spouse. 

Essentials for spiritual intimacy:

1) Similar convictions ~First things first: We’ve all heard that as couples, we should not be “unequally yoked.” That has taken on so many meanings, but it all boils down to being matched with someone with similar beliefs. 

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV)

Taking the step from love into marriage is a step of faith. It’s hard to keep a marriage happy and growing. So many people marry unbelievers thinking they will be the one to change them…to save them. But once inside marriage, difference in beliefs will not diminish over time, they will be magnified. 

Okay, if you’re thinking, “Oh crap, it’s too late,” don’t worry and don’t try to hit your spouse over the head with a bible or put it under his pillow hoping osmosis will do the trick. God tells us the best way to handle an unbelieving spouse.  

…Fit in with your [spouses] plans; for then if they refuse to listen when you talk to them about the Lord, they will be won by your respectful, pure behavior. Your godly lives will speak to them better than any words. 1 Peter 3:1-2 (TLB)

2) Spiritual Leadership~ Ephesians 5:21-25 is the well know scripture about “submission.” I’ll let you look that one up for yourself, but basically, the husband should be the spiritual leader in the home by loving and cherishing his wife…going “all out,” for her. Just as Christ did for the church. And in turn, the wife should support her husband in ways that show love for him and for Christ. How could you not resist the leadership of a man who would be willing to die for you? Or even more, give up his every Saturday golf or football game? 

…Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She…is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 (NLT)

As spouses, we are equal partners in life. A team. Husbands will not always be the one that’s best to lead everything, but as a good leader, he will realize that and let his wife take the lead when that’s best. God made us to complement each other. Where the wife is weak, the husband is strong, and vice versa. This parallels with our relationship with Christ. 

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10

We are marriage partners. Not to be too cliché, we complete each other. 

3) Surrender Self~ A Christ centered marriage is willingness of both spouses willing to die to self-centered desires. Closeness comes at the loss of yourself. “But I shouldn’t have to lose who I am!” If you are committing yourself to a Christ centered marriage, God will make you the person he created you to be. 

Husbands, go all out in love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church–love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in a dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor–since they’re already “one” in marriage. Ephesians 5:25-28 (Msg)

4) Scriptural Obedience~ As we are obedient to God, and growing closer to God, the intimacy with our spouse will increase. As married couples and as families, we must build our foundation on solid rock. 

…All those who come and listen and obey me are like a man who builds his house upon a strong foundation laid upon underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm, for it is strongly built. But those who listen and don’t obey are like a man who builds a house without a foundation. When the floodwaters sweep down against that house, it crumbles into a heap of ruins. Luke 6:46-49 (TLB)

Look at today’s prescription. Husband and wife can pull together across the bottom of the triangle, without God, and they may be together, but they will have no foundation. If a husband and wife draw close to God first, they will grow together at the same time, and land on a firm foundation. 

Marriage is tough. Believe me, I know. I have had the blessing of a godly husband who is a spiritual leader in our family, although I know I haven’t always allowed him to be. Life is much smoother and happier in our home when I do. 

From my heart,
Celeste

If you would like to view these sermons from Brookwood Church, here is the link. The production of their very own “Trulywed Game” is definitely worth watching. It will make you smile =o) Just copy and paste into your browser.

http://www.brookwoodchurch.org/mediaplayer


Filed Under: Making Changes, Marriage Menders Tagged With: ,

Mustard Seed Miracles~My One Year Anniversary

25 September, 2011 by 1 Comment

Today required two prescriptions. The thing is, they seem to interact with one another. As a pharmacist, I always do my best to warn patients about interactions between their prescriptions, but this interaction is a tough one. You see, one year ago today, God healed me completely from migraine headaches, grand mal seizures, and severe depression. He healed me from the addiction of constantly chasing anything and everything for a cure. He showed me that even though Satan had a hold of my brain, he (God) was stronger…I only had to allow him to be. That’s where the interaction comes in…


Matthew 17:20 instructs us to have faith just as much as a grain of mustard seed, and we can move mountains. Yet John 4:48 tells us, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” How can those two exist at the same time? Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is believing in the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Yet unless we see we won’t believe? So how do we get that mustard seed of faith?

For the seven years I suffered, prayed, and pleaded with God for an answer, but I was really depending on myself, on science, or on whatever else came my way. I jumped on every bandwagon that passed by with both feet, only to have my feet swept out from under me again…literally. The grand mal seizures took care of that. I was a Christian. I was saved. I fully believed that if I died I would go to Heaven. So why did I rely on science, nutrition, acupuncture, ‘hocus pocus,’ or whatever to fix me?

‘Faith the size of a mustard seed’…wow. ‘Unless you see you will not believe’…hmmm. God divinely inspired those who wrote the books of the Bible. They wrote about what they saw, and there are so many miracles in the Bible. But they happened such a long time ago. What about now?

I believe miracles happen every day. I think that we all know someone who says they have experienced a miracle, and I believe they have. They just didn’t happen to be divinely inspired by God to write in what would be the greatest book ever written.

I’d like to think that I had faith as much as a grain of mustard seed, but it sure was a long seven years to grow that mustard seed! I knew of miracles in the Bible that I learned growing up, but somehow, since these were recorded in the Bible, they must have been more “miraculous” than the miracles I’ve heard in my lifetime. They weren’t. They just happen to be the ones that are recorded in the Bible. We see those “signs and wonders” every day. So why do we not believe? Or if we say we believe, do we really, truly, down deep believe? I think that’s the “interaction” I experienced between these two prescription verses most of my life. I believed in my head, I just don’t think I believed in my heart. I “knew” Jesus in my head, but I didn’t “feel” him in my heart, at least no to the extent he wanted me to.

So today, being the one-year anniversary of my very own miracle, I can tell you 100% for sure that miracles do happen. The change in me that happened from going to bed on Friday night September 24th to Saturday morning, September 25th, was nothing short of a miracle. I knew it. I felt it. I felt Jesus deep inside me, more than I could even imagine was possible. My family, who had to live with me every day for those seven years, will be the first to tell you it was nothing short of a miracle! (My hubby says it was his miracle, not mine =o)

I wish I had a prescription to give out for a miracle. Wouldn’t that be easy? But I don’t, at least not exactly. I certainly could never compare myself to those God appointed to record what is written in they bible, but I am working hard to learn to write for him. I pray that those who may not have seen quite enough ‘signs and wonders’ to have the ‘faith of a grain of mustard seed’ might gain a little more faith in the wonder-fullness of my miracle.

Thank you Jesus!
From my heart,

Celeste
Filed Under: Beating Depression, Freedom in Christ, Miracles Do Happen, Overcoming Addiction, The Power of Prayer, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , ,

A Whole Man

22 September, 2011 by Leave a Comment

     Do you find yourself on a wild goose chase when you develop some sort of symptom you cannot figure out? That chase can lead to many painful years of you get trapped in it. I believe it’s time to take our health into our own hands (which are in God’s hands) to get the best possible care in medicine today.

     Creation: God created the heavens and the earth…light and dark, water and land, fish and birds, land animals…all on different days. 

      When God created man, Adam, he created him all at once. He didn’t create his head one day, then his toes, his kidneys, fingernails, brain, liver, nostrils, kneecaps, heart…you get the picture. He created our bodies as a masterpiece, all together, in his image. So obviously, he created our body to work as a whole. Some parts cannot survive without the others. So why, then, do we end up seeing one doctor for our eyes, one for our heart, one for our brain, one for our bones, etc. There are so many systems, organs, enzymes, neurotransmitters, hormones, and so forth, that no one doctor can possibly be an expert in everything. And that is understandable, but here’s where the problem comes in. Every day I see people who are mindlessly wandering from doctor to doctor to try to solve their problem. Each specialist will rule out anything that he might be able to find, and then pass the buck to the next specialist. To be thorough, they will typically run every test known to man in their area so they won’t miss anything and later be sued.  

     We need help. As patients, we need to find one doctor who can look at the whole picture–the whole body that God created–and think out of the box sometimes. Many doctors will simply not take the time or have the time to do this, so as patients it’s our responsibility to find that one person who can manage your “whole picture.” Between you and God, you can find the physician for you. Be informed, and then hold your doctor accountable. And from personal experience, I would find this person BEFORE you actually need them. Interview them. Remember it’s your body and they want your business. Let them know what you need and expect from them and see how they respond. 

     You know my story (or if you don’t go back and read in this blog under the “my story” page). I want to share another story with you that is a perfect example of the pitfall we step into when we don’t have one doctor than can keep an eye on everything, in conjunction with our specialists. I am going on memory here, but I think all the details are correct…

     A pastor of a church began getting dizzy. Then dizzier and dizzier and dizzier. He had to go on disability. He went to a neurologist who performed general tests, including an EEG (to scan his brain waves). Something in the scan prompted him to believe this man was experiencing some sort of seizure causing his dizziness. The doctor put him on an anti-seizure medication. Still dizzy. Added another one. Still dizzy. Added yet another one. Still dizzy. He ended up in a hospital in Texas for around two months so they could monitor him and see if they could figure it out. After those two months (and probably $200,000), he was still dizzy. His wife had enough and said, “when.” She talked him into going to a health and wellness doctor…someone capable of looking at the whole picture. In that appointment, the doctor learned that he’d started taking Lipitor for cholesterol shortly before his dizziness started years ago. But Lipitor is for cholesterol. How could this possibly matter? 

     Well, this new doctor told him to stop taking the Lipitor for a few days and see if he could tell a difference. Wouldn’t you know he started feeling better? The dizziness began to subside. As the Lipitor was stripping fat from his blood, it was also stripping the “good fat” from his brain. Thus, the dizziness. He was on disability for four years and is now stuck on three medications that he probably never needed, but going off them too rapidly is dangerous.  Because this one doctor who was willing to take time to look at the whole picture, he is getting his life back again. 

     Our bodies are complex. It is an absolute miracle to me that such a complicated being could result from just and egg and a sperm, and God made it that way. We all must find our own balance, but if we take the best knowledge we have, listen to what our bodies are telling us, and go to God for guidance, hopefully the wild goose chases will begin to decrease. It may seem an overwhelming task at times, but really it’s just about changing our way of thinking. No matter how much book knowledge a doctor has, he cannot feel what you feel. No one knows your body like you do and like God does. 

     God created man…us…our bodies. Doctors are there to help us. We need to find a doctor that meets our needs, and thinks along the same lines. With God in control. 
SIGNATUREFORBLOG
Filed Under: God's Pharmacy, Managing Prescription Drugs, Physical Wellness, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: ,