Truthful Testimony: Is there a God and How do You Know?

I was having a conversation yesterday with the love of my brothers life, you know my brother Ted who is in Afghanistan right now that I have posted about? She is having a hard time dealing with his deployment and worries constantly. In our conversation she said she " is so scared he won't be coming home". I reprimanded her and said " Don't be jinxing my Bro, of course he'll be home, just like last time".

I told her put up a yellow ribbon, I always do when a family member deploys, and every time I check the mail, or walk anywhere I can see that ribbon, I say a prayer for his safety and ask the Lord to give him strength. There are quite a few of those faded ribbons representing returned soldiers out there right now, along with that fresh bright yellow ribbon.

She said she was having a hard time believing that would help, because she had a hard time believing in the power of prayer. Lady M, stay strong, Ted is like the Bull in an antique shop, like the tanks he was trained to drive, very strong, and there is a God, and he does hear us. He WILL be home in time for Christmas. Just believe... With the faith of a child.
We all go through points in our lives where we are afraid, worried, in doubt about life in general, faced with problems bigger than us.

I was baptized as a baby, but for some reason, after my biological Mom was struck by lightening when I was 8 months old, the family stopped going to church. Things got worse after that, and at age 5 I was placed in foster care. That was when I was taken in by the Sweet family, and got four new brothers and the BEST Mom and Dad in the world.

But even before I was 5 I had already decided (knew) that there was a God, even though no one taught me. I think maybe it happened because of my biological brother Steve, who was 12 years older than me, and a registered MENSA member. He was always trying to decipher the Bible.

The family bible was big and full of beautiful pictures, and he was always making grids on the pictures, and looking for answers to what he felt were mathematical clues in the words. I just remember that as a child I loved that book, and I knew that God was real, and that belief stayed with me through my lifetime.

Sometimes though we seek reassurance, and sometimes, if the Lord knows we really need it, he sends us this reassurance,  in signs and symbolism. I don't know if this will help, but this is something I wrote back in the 80's, and it is a true story. Never doubt he hears us:)


A White Dove at My Window

One cold winters Morning
I dropped to my knees in prayer,
Snow and Ice were at the window,
I asked
Lord ?
Are You really there?

I asked for a sign, I begged and I pleaded
I made promises,
if you granted
what I thought that I needed.

His response is embedded
forever in my mind
A beautiful wintry moment,
Frozen forever in time.

A fluttering disturbance,
through the frosted glass caught my eye,
I was filled with peace and wonder
To stunned to question why.

In a cold northern state, at the wrong time of year,
When blue Jays and cardinals are all that are here. . .
It Was A Dove.

A beautiful White Dove,
Sent from Him for me to see,
Through the cold impersonal glass,
separating it from me.

Glowing white purity,
In A halo of sunlight,
It beat against my window pane
In a graceful Hovering flight.

How symbolic I think now,
As I look back and clearly see,
How frantic was the beat of wings
As it tried to reach out to me.

Like the frantic search
For world peace,
So close,
but somehow unattainable
always
just out of reach.


Peace Out all,
and Lady M>   Your love WILL COME HOME,
Believe.

My African Gray Has Quite the vocabulary

I don't think I've mentioned my bird in any previous posts, but today he cracked me up, so I'm gonna tell you about my bird.
My son gave him to me 3 years ago. He has a pair of african grays, and mine is one of the baby's. He had to be nursed back to health, and hand fed after mom and dad rejected him and basically beat him up and threw him out of the nest. Bird , yes That's his name Bird, I wasn't supposed to get attached you see. My son was working construction and couldn't be home to feed him every 3-4 hours and check on him, you know tuck him in so he wasn't laying there stuck on his back like a turtle. He was very weak when he arrived, and quite frankly I really doubted I would be able to save him. But he made it. When the subject of selling him came up I tried to act like I was okay with it. My son knew better though, he knew I was attached. So after I was "babysitting " him for a year, calling him Bird, on Mother's Day Dave said " well I guess I won't be selling that baby bird" . Best gift ever, sucker will outlive me.
SO anyway, yes he has developed an extensive vocabulary. Good morning, good night, I love you, my mommy loves me, hey get over here, he calls the cats and dogs, and even knows the horses names somehow, when the phone rings he says Hello, how are you, how ya doing, oh pretty good, all right. Haha.
Now he is putting longer sentences together.
He asked me today " Honey, Are you gonna make coffee?".
Hahaha he sounded just like Kevin :)
I love my animals, who can't use a good laugh now and then?
Been so  busy, but taking a moment to upload Bird's Video:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUEFVd-DVhA

Spirituality and Religion: God by any other name, Like the Rose, is Still God

I guess my upbringing and my lifestyle is what made me such a down to earth, two feet on the ground, spiritual individual. I believe that there is a Higher Power who created everything. This includes all religious deities, spirits, and beliefs from Mohamed, Jesus, Buddhist iconic figures, Everything, and Everybody. I believe that the Bible is a living book, but that the Apocrypha, The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Koran, The Torah, cave etchings, hieroglyphics, and many other texts are also living words. We need to step out of the boxes that have been created. Think about it for a moment... If Your God is THE God, then it stands to reason if he created everything, then that has to mean Everything, or you don't believe all the way.

So what if different cultures have different ways of expressing this belief in A Higher Power.  We have placed too much emphasis on HOW we worship and not Why.

This Higher Power gave us humans everything we needed to survive and be healthy and happy. We humans are the ones who ruin this wonderful balance. Silly humans so greedy and needy, polluting and consuming and doubting.For all we know we have done this before; used up a planet and figured out how to "save" a select few by launching them off to a fresh planet. That is one of the first things we need to do. Let go of what we THINK we know.

Look at what an argument and faithbuster for some people the topic of evolution has been and continues to be. Why couldn't evolution occur? Earth was doing her thing for quite some time before us humans arrived. Whether it was from dust of the earth, molded clay, or outer space. We Do Not Know all of these details. We know some information, we are curious and that's okay, I'm curious too. 

I do not know this Higher Power's real name. Even the Bible mentions we will not know his true name. That's because his name is changeable, personal, and relevant to the people He communicates with. On different continents, across time and space He may be known as  ShangDi associated with Tian, Allah associated with the Prophet Mohamed, He May be known as God, and associated with his Son Jesus, he may be known as Lord Shiva associated with his son Ganesh, or maybe Gluskap the good creator associated with Malsum, or The Great Spirit associated with the Earth, moon, wind, and stars, and moon, maybe even like the ancient Sumerians and the Dogan tribes in Africa, Anunnaki came from outer space with Enki, Enlil, Ninki, Inanna, Utu, Ningishzida, Marduk, and many others.
God works for me, it is the Name I am familiar with because of the time period and place I live in, but I also accept, recognize, understand, know that he has many names to many people. But he is still God too. 

Over time and through translations, and thousands and thousands of years of manipulations by man, for various reasons, we have been taught that our belief in Our Creator has to follow a set of certain guidelines, and that we should behave a certain way, be closed minded, try to "reform" all the "others".  If you had a real life experience with an Angel, or a spirit or messenger from the Lord, or God himself... how would you describe the experience? Would the visitation come to you in the form of a blinding light? A booming voice? Signs and symbols from the animal world? We really do not know, so we should not judge how "God" is interpreted or what name He is called, or fight with each other to the point of shedding blood to prove "our" Version of God is "better". He is One.

What's more important were you baptized, did you complete Holy Communion, were you circumcised, do you go to church every Sunday, do you pray in the right direction at the right time of the day, do you read the "right" book, follow the right rules? Is it okay to believe Jesus was the Son of God, but that he may have been sent to try to help us see the light on more than one occasion, at different times and places?

Or is it more important that your heart dictates your belief and That you are a kind, compassionate individual who cares about his fellow man? You work hard, your honest, you do what's right and you're thankful for everyday, and appreciate that the sun comes up in the morning and sets at night, and then comes up the next day. That flowers smell pretty, and babies are precious. That rainbows are beautiful, and death is not the end?

I like to believe that within every religion there is a piece of truth to it, and if we could all just agree that hey, nobodies better than anyone else, we're all human, and learn how to get along and respect each other, these little pieces of truth would all fall into place like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

It is not all an accident, everything is too perfect, too precise, too orderly, were it not for man's inventions, interventions, and "progress" it would still be perfect.

Well Peace Out all, I hope I have not offended anyone either by omission, or spelling, or my crazy personal beliefs:)

How Do You Know if an Herbal Remedy Really Works?

Hey popping in here because I got an email that read " You really have some nerve preying on people with cancer to make money. You don't know if any of those herbal teas really had any health benefits". Now I do not know why the person did not just post it as a comment, that way I would at least know what post they read that gave them that opinion. I was actually pretty offended and it hurt my feelings. It was curt, there was no greeting, no hello, and quite frankly if the person knew me they would know that I am the last person that would be "preying" on anybody.

I was just writing the other day about the recommendation I got to start keeping my posts shorter and more focused on a clear topic in order to promote my Mother Nature To You herbal green teas website through the search engine muckity muck stuff. This post will be easy to keep focused. I wrote in response...

First of all as far as "preying" on "people with cancer", hello, I am one of those people. Although I think positive and call myself a cancer survivor, in reality my doctors have told me I will not be considered "cured" until 5 years post treatment without recurrence of cancer. This is due mainly to the nature of the disease, and ironically the chances of contracting cancer from the cancer treatments meant to save you from cancer. So I don't "prey" on,  I "Pray" for others in similar circumstance.

As far as "making Money" , I have openly admitted in previous posts here in my blog that the past year in cancer treatments has wiped us out. We have been through all of our savings, and even a 401k loan, I am not trying to get rich, I am just a hard working American trying to earn an honest living. I put a lot of care and time into taking care of our little hobby farm that my husband and I love very much, we built our barn with our own four hands:)

In my current physical state it is all I can do to keep up with everything around here. The obvious career path, considering my limitations, combined with my love of nature, my lifestyle, and my green thumb, was only a simple step through my already existing garden beds. So, while I do hope to earn somewhat of a living, I am selling a quality herbal product that I put a lot of care and work into creating, that I believe in.

To the last point made in the email, regarding how I don't even know any of the herbal remedy teas I offer really had any health benefits...
I never made any claim that my herbal tea Better Body Blend "cured" my cancer, I said I think it "helped" me through my treatments.
There are a lot of scientific studies, more and more everyday, that support some of the claims regarding herbal remedies and herbal teas. Claims that have been around thousands of years in some cases. If the herbal teas did not help, then why would the market now be flooded with all kinds of processed pill forms and extracts of the very same ingredients found in the natural plants? As far as "proof", well I can tell you one very major benefit from my herbal tea while I was going through cancer treatments specifically. They helped me poop. Yep, you read that right. Kept me regular as rain. Most cancer patients, due to pain management medications get terrible constipation. The docs always were asking me how my bowels were working, and I always said just fine. Even the docs said it was very unusual to stay so regular, and that maybe it was the persimmon in the tea. I don't know, but it was a definite benefit in my humble opinion.


 Anyway, just had to vent a little:) Its looking like rain for this afternoon and next few days. I am happy for the gardens and my plants, but it is playing hell with plans for baling hay this weekend. Us humans, we're never happy:) We want rain, don't want rain, we're cold and can't wait for summer, and then hot and can't wait for winter:)
Peace Out

Herbal Green Tea : Standing out in the medicinal remedy Crowd

Okay I have been told that if I want my blog, which of course offers links to access my budding herbal green tea shop, to come up in these SEO search engines that I need to focus my posts better. Haha, well anyone that has read my posts is well aware of my tendency to ramble. I may post something titled I wish it Would Rain, and then talk about everything but the weather in the post.
To try to focus each post I am supposed to make a short like "phrase" list of "ideas" I want to get across. So since I am trying to figure out how to get my website, Mother Nature To You Herbal green teas, which are very healthy, to show up in search engines... So what are some key points about my Mother Nature to You herbal green teas that makes my herbal green tea blends stand out from the crowd? What makes my herbal green tea any better than the oh so many others available? Are there even any health benefits or really medicinal remedy qualities that can be obtained from using herbal green teas as a supplement? What would I want potential customers to know about myself? Okay see my list is even getting away from me lol.
Deb's Mother Nature to You Herbal Green Teas is NOT just a redistributor, as many other herbal green tea sites are, ALL of the ingredients actually are grown, tended, harvested and packed by my own hands under my watchful eyes.
Deb's Mother Nature to you Herbal Green Teas NEVER have ANY commercial pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers applied to them.
Deb's Mother Nature to You Herbal Green Teas are 100% Made in the U.S.A., and we have been growing our ingredients on our same little six acres of America for over a decade now. Local grown herbs for green teas means less likelihood that the herbal green tea ingredients were irradiated as well.
I believe in my teas, and I use them myself.
So are there really health benefits to be had? I think so. I am a cancer survivor, so I can use all the help I can get staying healthy. An apple a day keeps the doctor away has been proven to be a pretty accurate statement over time we hear now. Like wise many of the ingredients used in my herbal green tea blends have been used for thousands of years by cultures worldwide as remedies for numerous health ailments.
For example honeysuckle, as noted in a previous post, is most likely the oldest documented herbal remedy. Its use dates back to B.C. Both honeysuckle and clover are thought to help cleanse toxins from the major organs of your body. Both are in Mother Nature to You Better Body Blend Herbal Green tea.
So is Persimmon, another herbal tea ingredient used for centuries in Chinese, and Korean and Traditional medicine, has had outstanding successes in numerous scientific trials, both as a diet and weight loss aid, and for its high vitamin and mineral content, as well as the fact the persimmon leaves are bursting with anti oxidants. All of these are are good things for your body, so can it make you feel better? Can it be considered a medicinal herbal remedy? That is up to you to determine due to FDA regulations, but I would say some herbal teas may have health benefits could be considered a totally truthful statement.
Well, the day is getting away from me, I have been busy picking a lot of mint and lemon balm lately, the room smells so fresh and springtimey back there, coming down the whole hallway smells good  lol:) Must get off, I will try to pick a more fun focus next post.

Single Serve Herbal Green Tea Sister Site Added

Still very much at work building up my online herbal green tea business:) Now that I almost know how to do it lol, I have begun a fresh, less cluttered herbal green tea site that is not loose leaf only pre filled tea bags of the best Green Herbal Tea.
The other site I will maintain, but eventually turn all loose leaf products.Here is a link to the all new Mother Nature To You Herbal Green Tea... From Mother Nature's Home to Yours:)
http://www.mothernaturetoyouherbalgreenteas.com/

Seriously research some of the studies regarding herbal remedies, it is amazing. Persimmon leaf, Stevia, honeysuckle blooms, all a part of BBB Herbal green tea, all have medicinal values that are being  supported by scientific studies over and over.
A lot of the problems we have with our normal bodily functions are due to build ups from our overly processed diets we consume. Why get processed herbal remedies as well?

Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3jdbFOidds  
Just "Cause I like it:)

Not the Best News, But Not the Worst Either

So, I was waiting to hear final results from last set of scans that were done because of a relapse of symptoms that has been ongoing since just after Memorial Day weekend. Dr. B got back to me, I knew he would that's why he's my favorite. Sent me a copy of the final report on the neck scans. They were gone over by a few people because of the ambiguous results. There were a number of areas that kind of raised more questions than answered them. The report starts out harmless enough, with nothing that was not really to be expected...

"Extensive post radiation changes are noted, including thickening of the suprahyoid epiglottis, induration of the endolaryngeal soft tissues, and thickening of the skin and surrounding subcutaneous soft tissues".  
One of the concerns was that the edema has gotten worse, instead of progressively better as it should be, the report mentions on that "There is extensive postradiation laryngealedema, and fluid also extends into the planes of the neck".

Of the 4 areas in question, the report states "There were areas of enhancement within the interarytenoid soft tissue, the anterior commissure, along the laryngeal surface at the base of the epiglottis, and within the left aryepiglottic fold, but there is no large recurrent mass noted" So not so bad, some shady areas, but no "masses" noted. The only other maybe spot was a very small "nonspecific hypodensity  present in the right thyroid gland".  
I have been complaining of bad right earaches for weeks now, maybe this is part of that, report says "There is partial opacification of the right mastoid air cells" Which I believe has something to do with the ear. I could of course be wrong:)

So the Final Impression closing summary paragraph says

"IMPRESSION: Postradiation changes with extensive laryngeal edema as

described above, with multifocal enhancement of the anterior commissure, interarytenoid soft tissue, the base of the epiglottis, and the left aryepiglottic fold. In the setting of significant postradiation edema, the findings are non specific, but could represent persistent/recurrent disease. PET-CT may be beneficial".


So, we are giving it 5 weeks in which I am supposed to take it a little easier, go back to wearing a mask when I am outside or in the barn, stop talking so much and rest my vocal chords, go back to gargling with my magic mouthwash,and see if there is any improvement, I.E. less pain and return of voice. If things get worse I am to call and let him know and we will make a sooner appointment. If I go the whole 5 weeks and there is no improvement then we will probably be able to ask the insurance company to cover a new PET/CT scan.


See that look what happens when I slack off on my tea drinking, lol. Seriously it has been sooooooooooooooooooooo hot here, and I know I should have just made pitchers of iced tea I have been on an indulgent root beer float kick. Lol I can faintly taste a familiar rootbeer flavor, I can smell the rootbeer, and its COLD lol. Hey I thought they were gonna help me put some weight on, but it hasn't happened yet and I have gone through about 25 gallons of Eddy's Vanilla ice cream since Memorial Day. On a more serious note though, all that sugar probably wasn't a good idea either, I think I am supposed to be avoiding sugary stuff.


Okay, well signing off, here's to better days ahead

God Bless:)

Why I follow up with a call to my docs after tests are done

LOL hi John, How are you doing ? No I am not very patient actually, but I try to keep my blog positive:)
I called today and requested my radiation doc to personally look at my neck scans, since it is now Wednesday and I have not received a phone call yet from the ENT who was the last appointment last Friday, and he told me the neck scan report was not in yet. I thought it a little odd one report was in and one was not. Hopefully Dr. B will get back to me by the end of the day today though.

Prior to diagnosis my faith in doctors and the system was already broken down due to long standing, undiagnosed ongoing problems. The reason I do not trust Dr.'s when it comes to test results specifically goes back almost 2 years now. Way Before diagnosis I knew something was wrong, and I went through months of run around and tests and referrals from my primary, as well as numerous worthless prescriptions for non existant depression.  Repeated results of muscle enzymes being elevated, but doc kept saying everything else normal. Then last year, just before diagnosis I had reached what I refer to as the end of my cope rope, I wanted answers, and was not getting them. I was in pain, and worn out. Primary refused to prescribe anything for pain without a diagnosis, said she was going to "investigate"my prescription history because she said I "got mad at her for not writing me anything for pain". I said go ahead and look, and you will find -0- pain prescriptions in my history. Next time I saw her (September 2009), and I guess she did go over my history at least, she asked me " what did I ever do about the very elevated blood calcium levels?" Yeah, the high calcium levels found in late 2008, that no one ever told me about? Even though I did call to get the results of that 08' blood work and I was told nothing was off but the elevated muscle enzymes. How am I supposed to DO anything if I did not know? Turns out those elevated calcium levels were a very important clue, and quite frankly as I understand it now should have set off all the alarm bells and whistles. It was another month before I totally lost my voice for two weeks and was referred to an ENT, who found the tumor, which left to its own devices for over a year was at stage IV by that time. So, No, I do not count on docs to catch everything anymore, not even when it is an obvious dark bolded highlighted lab report clearly indicating an abnormal result.

Oh I have Done it Again and Let the Days Get Away From Me

Lol, only have a moment here, I hate when I let so much time elapse. I have of course been quite busy, bringing in the first cuttings from thinning the Stevia most recently, lots of mint that has dried very nicely, as well as a constantly replenishing batch of chamomile blossoms which I keep rotating on screens, moving to storage as they dry.

As you may have read in previous posts I have been having some problems since just before Memorial Day with a new onset of pain, and a loss of voice which has been almost complete. I was sent for new scans last week after each doctor had checked me, and each one was puzzled and concerned with the increased edema evident through scope, and loss of voice, especially since it has dragged on for 4 weeks or more now. Friday I was supposed to get the scan results, but Dr. W said only the chest report was in, which was clear. The neck scan he said I will have to wait for a call.  Monday of course no one was in, I have waited for a ring all day, but no news so far. They say no news is good news though, so keeping fingers crossed.



I did get one hell of a workout this weekend though, as we brought in a load of hay, and had to get it up into the loft. I actually think (now that I am recovering a little from the really sore muscles I had lol) that I am feeling a little better. I have always thought that A good physical workout, really exerting yourself, was good for you. Maybe so, hopefully I am beginning another upswing. Last negative note, at Friday appt. weight was down another two pounds, I am now at 94 lbs.