Mercy me, it's Baking Time

This is the day that the Lord has made... Let me rejoice and get... Baking. Yep that's right, it's baking day in my household. I think I'll tackle the insurmountable task of baking either cookies or brownies. Why, you might ask, is this an "insurmountable" task? It's the first (well actually second, my cake experiment didn't turn out so well), since being diagnosed with celiac's disease. Baking without gluten, well, it has it's challenges. Bread bake differently, cakes don't rise, just to name a few of the problems gluten free baking causes. Not many people know about the disease, so I'll get a very, very short overview of the disease. Basically speaking, someone with celiacs cannot ingest or be exposed to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley or rye. If I do get exposed, my symptoms can range in the extreme, from annoying to debilitating (hives, brain fog, edema, asthma attacks, depression, among others, as well as intense abdomen and stomach pain and all the joy that goes with it).

Basically, it's what some call the "the mother of autoimmune diseases". It's been linked to lupus, lymphoma and other cancers, diabetes and assortment of other nasty disease. In my part of the woods, 1 out of 99 people have the disease and don't even know it. For the rest of the U.S.A., it's about 1 out of 133. If a celiac ingest or is exposed to gluten, the body literally starts attacking itself. Every single organ is affected. I feel absolutely awful. I've had symptoms all my life, went to doctors to find out what went wrong, and no one could help me. Finally after decades of frustration, a G.I doctor told me what I had, and now I can controll the disease through following a strict gluten free diet. If you have any questions about what the disease really is, go to http://www.csaceliacs.org/, an incredibly insightful, helpful webpage.

Celiac's disease is not fun to be sure. I mean, celiacs disease not cancer (although it often does lead to it), but it encompasses every aspect of my life. I have to be careful of what lipstick,shampoo/conditioners, soaps, even how I eat my lunch at work (because of cross-contamination). My job is affected, because when I accidentally ingest (by that I mean ingesting cross contaminated food or other products), I miss work. In short, it stinks!

I could be bitter and blame God and my parents for my faulty genes, but what would be merciful about that. I choose to be merciful to God. Yep, that's right, I choose to believe God has a wonderful plan for me, even if it includes disease. I choose to bless Him and not curse Him. He is still my God and I will trust Him. I don't blame Him for letting me have this disease. I have this because we live in a fallen world. Bad things happen. They just do and there are somethings we just can't control. Having a disease like this has taught me to look at those with disabilities and diagnosed health issues in a different light. I mean, I wasn't inconsiderate to them or anything, but at the same time, I couldn't really empathize. I now know what it feels like to wait at home for test results, and am aquinted with that horrible feeling of not knowing what the doctor found until receiving a phone call. At least I know what I have and can take actions to protect myself. I thank God for that! 1 out 133 people, remember, have "something wrong" with them and don't the name of the disease that haunts them.

I thank God for sending me to a doctor that knows the signs of celiacs disease like: stomach discomfort, diarhea, constipation, anemia, edema, hives, anxiety and depression, brain fog, and that's just the short list. Many people are diagnosed in their 50's and 60's.

One of the things I'm grateful for is that eventually, I will be healed, either in this life, or in the next. That is only possible because of the death and ressurection of Jesus Christ. Thank you, God my Father, who gave up Your Son, for me! I can't wait to eat all the gluten containing bread I want!

God's peace be with you, and wish me good luck.

My introduction; Why Mercy?

Hello and good evening and God's blessings to you all,

My name is E.A. (I'm currently using initials for security purposes), and must confess that I'm a little excited. This is my very first blog! It probably isn't a big thing for most, but it's rather soul affirming in a way, to be able to share my ideas with you. Personally, being able to communicate the way one thinks and feels about something important to them is a sort of affirmation of existence.

Let me introduce myself even further. I live in Wisconsin, U.S.A., in a very picturesque part of the state. I cannot walk ten feet without seeing a tree and that's my idea of beauty. Some of you who have been raised in the Plains states, for example, might disagree. For you, the sight of rolling grain might stir your heart. I guess it's all in how you look at it, some people like trees while others grain. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" as the saying goes.

You might be asking yourself, why is this lady writing a blog at all, especially about mercy. One of the reasons I'm writing about it is because I believe it to be sorely lacking in this world. It seems mankind is too enthralled with itself to care about the hardship of others, even when that hardship is brought on by their own actions. I found myself guilty of this past week. One of my co-workers made a mistake that set us back a few hours. This person has made a similar mistake earlier and cost the company quite a bit of money and forced us into overtime. Our schedule was already full, and more overtime meant time away from friends and family. I found myself comparing my actions to my co-workers, and of course in my fallen nature, I came out ahead. Not only that, but I started to criticize this person openly to my other co-workers. I lost sight of the fact that I make mistake too, and in my imperfect nature, I elevated myself over another human being. In short, I was unmerciful.

Mercy is one of the key tenants of Christianity. God, who is not only the Judge, but the lover of our souls, didn't spare His Son, but instead, sent Him on the ultimate mission of mercy. He chose to die in our place. We wouldn't feel desolation after death. How merciful He is, that he should be thinking of us, who have done everything in our power to separate ourselves from His holiness. We, (myself definitely included) deserve to feel His judgement, but because of the sin we (I) have committed. But thank the Lord, I have accepted His mercy through Jesus Christ. I am free! I no longer am bound by my sins, even though I am quite capable of falling into old ways. Mercy is abounding in me because I'm no longer under the judgment of God! I can be at peace with myself and I'm free!

1 Peter 1:3

I'll try to post more about mercy tomorrow. God bless.