All Good Gifts are from Above

Many months ago my friend Lisa told me about her friends David and Ellen. Ellen had food allergies to gluten, dairy, vinegar, tomatoes, fruits, and sugar. David had allergies to dairy and gluten. They told Lisa about a treatment called Advanced Allergy Treatment. They both did it and are now allergy free. When Lisa told me this, I started saving!

Exodus 23:25
You shall worship the Lord your God, and I will bless your bread and your water; and I will take sickness away from among you.

I emailed a clinic in Des Moines and told her how much I had saved up and she set me up a package that consisted of a week of treatments with two treatments a day. I planned a short trip home with a week long stay with my brother. However, the next month became very difficult financially. My taxes in Austria were twice as much as I expected and all the money I had saved was gone.

On a Thursday night, I went to a softball game to watch two of my friends play ball. We all walked home together and one of my friends asked me about the treatment. I told her the treatment was off because all my money went towards my taxes. She asked how much it would take to be cured of my food allergies and I told her about the package. That night, I called my mom and told her the treatment was off.

Friday morning, we had a great staff devotion in the morning with Thomas and afterward a friend came to my classroom to ask for some prayer and we somehow started talking about the treatment. My friend had NO idea that I had just told several people the day before that the treatment was off. She said, "I've been meaning to tell you, that I'd like to help pay for your treatment and I know of at least one other person that would like to help, too." My eyes welled up with tears. We were both crying when my students started to come into the classroom. We both laughed through our tears and said, "These are happy tears kids, don't worry!"

Later that day, I saw the friend I walked home with the night before and told her, "Remember last night when I told you my treatment was off? Well, this morning a friend told me she'd like to help pay for it!" She turned to me and said, "I've been meaning to tell you that God's be telling me since January to be putting away money for your treatment." WHAT? Since January??? See, I had it all covered in January, but God knew then that I would need to rely on Him for the money. I then went and talked to the 3rd friend that said she wanted to help and just broke down in tears at the gratitude of all these people. All the money was coming from fellow missionaries....I was flabbergasted and my friend said, "Well, we serve a flabbergasting God, don't we?" Indeed we do, indeed we do!!!

Psalm 103:2-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits--who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

I called my mom that night and told her the news. I was just a little worried about how I would pay the expenses on my car (getting new license plates, new drivers license, insurance, and GAS) to get from Appleton, WI to Des Moines, IA. Not sure why I worried about it when it was CLEAR that God had it all under control.

The money from my 3 friends paid the entire treatment package plus much more money that will cover ALL my car expenses, plus gas and food on my week trip to Des Moines. I'm completely blown away.

Life with Food Allergies

About 6 years ago, when I was a lifeguard at camp, I started having a lot of trouble with my skin. I was always itchy and at this point it was just an annoyance. But in the next year, as I started my first year of teaching, it got so bad, I couldn't sleep. It felt like my skin was on fire and started to develop many sores. I finally went to the Dr and asked to see a dermatologist. He told me it wasn't a dermatologist I needed...but an allergist. This started my journey with food allergies.

I was given prick tests and patch tests to find a list of things I was allergic to. Milk and chocolate topped the list in regards to food and I also learned I was allergic to soap and many other things that my skin was exposed to (sunscreen, bug spray, etc.). I then learned to read labels of everything I put in my mouth and put on my skin. Milk is hidden in many things and is even called many things on labels (ghee, lactose (or most things that start with lacta...), casen, whey, carmel color, and "natural flavors" (who know what that is but 90% of natural flavors comes form milk). I read labels but sometimes, I had to learn the hard way that milk was in things like green olives (which were one of my favorite things) and ham...can you believe they put milk in HAM?

As time went by, my allergy became worse and worse. I am now so allergic that if you touch milk and then touch my food or if my food touches the same counter that had milk on it, I'll have an allergic reaction.

Many everyday things became more difficult. Eating out with my family became hard. I started having to call ahead or check the internet to see if they served food for people with food allergies. I always alerted the server of my food allergy and ordered off special menues. We started narrowing down the places I could eat by the breakouts I would get after I ate there. Eating out is one of my least favorite things to do.

Going to friends houses for dinner also became difficult. Many tried their best to accomodate me. My friends, Dawna and Reesa accepted the challenge and were always trying new things we could eat together. Good thing too, cause, little did we know Reesa would come to be my roommate one day and be forced to eat along the same lines as I do! :-)

Church potlucks...out of the question.

Communion? Only when I had a chance to read the label. Wait, you say. Communion? That's only one bite! That's all it takes!

Decorating cakes has been a hobby for Reesa and I ever since we took a class with Bonnie Smith in Omaha. Here's a picture of our last creation for the daughter of one of the families that works at the school:

Although, lately, even being around the cake will give me a reaction that could last days.

Living overseas was hard at first, I had to learn all the German words for all the things I'm allergic to but through trial and error, I'm pretty good at knowing what brands I can and can not eat.

Traveling is the worst. I order the "vegan meal" when I fly, but eating food on the plane is a very large risk. For some reason, airlines are not required to post the ingredients of their meals. So, I have to just trust, that what they bring me is truly milk free.

Going on trips is also hard. For example, this year the staff went on a retreat up in the mountains. The place we stayed fed us. I brought oatmeal and some granola in case there was nothing I could eat. Well, it turned out there was really nothing that I could eat that they were serving but the cook did bring me clear broth for each meal. There were no grocery stores around. I was so hungry by the end of the trip!

When I go on trips with friends, I always plan the meals for the trips. We usually bring our own food. We eat a simple breakfast, pack our lunches, and I cook for dinner. That part I love!

Lately, even with all I do to avoid the things I'm allergic to, I've been quite miserable with allergic reactions. I've been very itchy and my eye lids are swollen when I wake up.

So, why am I writing this post? Because I'm asking you to join me in prayer for healing. June 9-15 I'll be undergoing some allergy treatments in Des Moines, IA. Please pray that, if it's God's will, that He would heal me!

Look what I saw on the way to work today:

Over the canal I saw beautiful sail boats.On Praterstrasse, there were hundreds of Harley Davison Motorcycles. Usually Europeans are riding scooters that sounds like, "NeeeNEEEEE Neeee Neeeeeneeneeee..."
You should have heard the beautiful noise hundreds of Harleys can make!
How do you shout, "Take me with you!" in German?

The Blessings Continue

Today, I had lunch with a dear friend of mine and she told me she wanted to be a monthly supporter! That means that I have 5 new monthly supporters!!! In addition to that, another supporter contacted me and told me they were increasing my support. I think that's 3 donors now that are increasing their monthly support!!! I am now pledged at 90%! Isn't God good?

Community Bible Church in Omaha

Today, I gave a ministry update at CBC in Omaha, my home church. I'm always very nervous before I get up to speak but today I just prayed that I would not be nervous and that He would use what I said be honored and glorified. Right before I went up my friend Dawna reached over, hugged me, and said a quick prayer for me. As I got up in the first service and started to speak, I noticed that the slide show wasn't working. I wasn't sure how I was going to give my presentation because the slides were going to help me remember what to say when. But overall, it went pretty well.

About a month ago, the director at the school told me to make a "wish list" including all my wants and needs for the special needs program. It's been amazing because God has been providing me those needs through people outside the school that don't even know about my wish list. After second service, a woman came to me and asked if there was anything I need for my classroom, like books to read. I told her that I was needing some books for my 7th graders that were reading at a 4th/5th grade level. She said, "Well, I used to be a 7th grade teacher and I have books at reading levels." She didn't say 7th grade until after I said I needed 7th grade!!! I knew it was from the Lord and that he was providing me with another thing off my list. God is so good.

There were commitment cards in the bulletin that people could place in the offering plate or hand to me. Through out the morning, a couple people handed me the cards and expressed an interest in joining my support team. One lady came up to me and said, "This is the first week I've ever been at the church but I'd like to start supporting you monthly." I left there with 6 new commitment cards and several others said they needed to go home, talk about it with their spouse, and pray about it. I even had some current supporters say they would like to up their monthly support! Can you believe it???

I've been praying for 10 new donors in the month of February. Today, I received 3 new monthly donors and several expressed they wanted to increase their monthly support. Praise God with me as I am that much closer to my goal of 100%!!!

Praise God With Me

I already have one new donor! Praise God with me and continue to pray for 9 more donors!

February is Raise Support Month!!!

Throughout the month of February, I will be raising support. I will be flying to Omaha to speak at my home church.

• I currently have 76% of my monthly support pledged.
• My goal is to get up to 100% in the month of February!
• This is approximatively $500 a month I still need to raise.
• That's just 10 new donors at $50 a month.

Will you join me in prayer as I travel home in hopes to raise my support???

As Hudson Taylor said, "The Lord's time for helping us must be close at hand."