During the past 3 months, God has helped us through several challenges and trials. Seeing children go through trials can be a trial itself. Here is a list of ones I can remember right now, along with the hidden blessings that came with them. All within the family, and not just one person.
*Survival of a suicide attempt; wake up call for us all, it took me to a hospital where my neighbor had been admitted for removal of a brain tumor and recovery, so I was able to visit her while picking up my child. Prompted me to require this child to be under our direct supervision for the next month which assisted him in staying away from drugs.
*Survival of rolling a truck; forced me to take this child where he needed to go from then until he could get his own vehicle again, and create and stand up for some boundaries. Made it so that he could focus more on Education. Gave me a sense of control and reassurance; since I was now the one taking the older boys to their GED prep class, I personally knew they were getting there.
*Loss of the use of that and ANOTHER vehicle; simplified the driving situation and saved some gas and insurance money.
*Jail time; always humbling to some degree, at least for someone.
*Court meetings; forced to re-evaluate life choices and renew commitments.
*Suspicious mole was discovered, biopsied, and found to be a basal cell carcinoma; I had no clue this was even there, because it was where I couldn't see it. My reason for going to the dermatologist in the first place was for suspicious spots that ended up being benign.
*Serious relationship breakup; seriously, this was a blessing in so many ways, but was absolutely depressing for my son going through it, which I believe contributed to the next on the list, as well as the truck rolling:
*Collapsing at work; a blessing in disguise I believe, because it led to us finding that he had elevated liver enzymes, which led to a bunch of other tests and now we know his iron is way low too and it could be the motivation he needs to fix up his nutrition approach.
*Drug use and abuse; blessing in disguise how? I suppose leading to all the court dates and jail time and such… it may have more indirectly contributed to learning and growing.
*Drug tests and counseling; inconvenient and sad that they are needed, but what a blessing to have the opportunities to re-evaluate and try harder each time.
*Demolition of our kitchen and subsequent asthma attacks; of course this was to redo our kitchen, but the realization that we needed to get the demolition done quickly happened just a week before it was supposed to be done, so it was done in a big hurry and flurry… but a huge blessing to be redoing the kitchen in the first place. We were able to replace some rotting floorboards. Finding out about the asthma through allergic reactions to all the dust wasn't fun, but I had suspected that he had asthma for a couple of years now, and just never had him tested, mainly because covid protocols prevented the blow test from being done when I first took him in for it, and then it stopped being too much of an issue, so I never followed up. This presented the perfect opportunity to get an inhaler at least, which we did.
*Strep throat; always a humbling reminder to get more fresh air, more probiotics, more veggies, more water, more smiles and sunshine, and less starchy carbs mixed with lots of screen time.
*Living out of our basement and having to use our bathroom sink instead of a kitchen sink; makes us be all the more grateful for the finished kitchen we're about to have. Makes us appreciate handy running water so much.
*Kidney stone discovered; finally now I know for sure that I do deal with that problem. This can prompt better treatment of my body. It also led to me finding out what another symptom I had was due to, and it was benign, thank heaven!
*Started homeschooling 2 of my kids after withdrawing them from the private school they were in. I hadn't planned on homeschooling anyone this fall. This has been a hard trial for me, as I really needed a break from academic homeschooling. I have had to embrace some of my more eclectic approaches from the past, which I have conflicting feelings about but they really are valuable...
*Since August, we have known it to be a possibility that we would be moving. It has been difficult making plans not knowing what the near future would look like. Finally, at one point, we just decided we would stay the school year here and make it work if he did get the job sooner. But to have everyone in the family feel unstable because of the possibility of moving has been a challenge for sure. It has been a blessing in that it has forced us to take risks and have faith in everyday and weekly/monthly decision making.
Many of these trials created a need for more stringent boundaries that should have been in place long ago. Sometimes I have coped well and sometimes I have curled up in a blanket and shut down, binge watched some things, or just complained to God or a good friend. For the greater part, however, I have felt like I am in the eye of the storm. I can't help but wonder if the 40 day Aap Sahaee Hoa meditation that I did from mid Aug to mid Sept has/had anything to do with me feeling that way (the eye of the storm) or anything to do with how much we've been dealing with these past 3 months. I believe it helped me better cope and deal with all of it. I am thinking about doing another 40 days of it.
For anyone who didn't know, wearing a face-covering, reportedly to prevent the spread of COVID-19, was the focus of many conversations on social media for some of the spring and early summer months in 2020. As EVERYONE who participated in those conversations will attest, it was a hot and controversial topic!! It was something that an either loud or fairly large amount of people had strong feelings against! And a fairly loud and large group of people felt strongly for! They say that everyone wearing masks is something "small" that people can do to help prevent the spread. But anyone who was and is able to step back and mediate, or have a bird's eye view, is able to see how it is not a "small" thing to those people against it, and also why the one promoting mask-wearing feels passionate about the practice.
I just want to point out here though... That I see a lot of people with either one of these perspectives giving in, caving in, to the all-new and famous "narrative" (meaning believing what the mainstream media and government are telling us to believe), rather than focusing on these facts:
The virus has mutated to a point where it has become less threatening to the general population.
It has a 99+% recovery rate if a person gets it
Hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zithromax are excellent for prophylaxis and early treatment
Most of the people who get it, do not get serious complications from it.
Most of the people who die “from” it, actually had other contributors to the cause of death like cancer, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, or their immune systems were suppressed.
Death is as natural a part of life as birth is. (Not that we love to hear of anyone dying of anything.)
Vitamin D, C, and Zinc, along with meditation, and regular exercise, staying hydrated, and a diet low in processed food can really boost a person’s health level and immune system, making it hard for any disease to take a toll.
Decreased oxygen intake of the wearer… Which… if we are trying to prevent a disease whose main symptom is shortness of breath, shouldn’t we be allowing our lungs all the oxygen they can get? “When your body doesn't have enough oxygen, you could get hypoxemia or hypoxia. These are dangerous conditions. Without oxygen, your brain, liver, and other organs can be damaged just minutes after symptoms start.” (See: https://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/hypoxia-hypoxemia)
Increased carbon dioxide intake of the wearer. This can cause headaches, panic attacks, confusion, depression, dizziness, drowsiness, excessive fatigue, feeling disoriented, shortness of breath, flushing of the skin, and other more serious things like seizures, paranoia, hyperventilating, irregular heartbeat, muscle twitching, loss of consciousness, and coma. (see https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320501#causes)
Decreased exposure to germs (which, for the immune system, this is like us not exercising, which causes the muscles and body weaken - same would happen to the immune system)
Validation of fear of something that really isn’t much bigger of a threat than things we've dealt with in the past… (Things that make you go hmmm…)
Cultivating a belief that you are a threat to someone else’s health.
Cultivating distrust and mistrust.
Cultivating a belief that we are not safe without a mask.
Cultivating resentment or hatred towards those who do not buy into the beliefs this move is fostering or promoting.
Decreasing the quality of communication one can have in person.
Increasing the amount of viruses, mold, and bacteria that we breathe in, considering the ones we breathed out were supposed to be expelled (farther than a few inches) and taken care of by the sun or the earth, but rather stayed in our breathing-back-in reach. Our natural method of cleansing the lungs, and therefore the body, is literally masked, with a mask on.
I could probably go on and on considering I only *barely* touched on the psychological impacts mask-wearing carries… And of course, not everyone will experience the same thing with mask-wearing, but one has to stop and think of what all this really means.
Practically speaking, it means that we are making a pretty risky trade-off.
INSTEAD of allowing our society to get herd immunity by catching a virus that has a 99+% recovery rate, we are (or rather the governments are) cultivating distrust and mistrust, cultivating a belief that YOU are a danger and a threat to someone else’s health, cultivating decreased regular exposure to germs (=less exercise for the immune system), mandating that people put their oxygen levels at risk and increase their carbon dioxide intake levels (which puts the wearer’s health at risk), decrease the quality of in-person communication we are having, and among other things, literally masking our natural way of cleansing the lungs and body.
I can’t help but come to one of the following conclusions:
The governments are filled with fear and therefore their decision-making abilities have been greatly compromised.
The people are panicking and have demanded - out of fear - more of the government, even at the expense of SO much!
The governments are being threatened by someone (above them?) to implement mask mandates for some other purpose.
There is SO MUCH MORE to “their” purpose of mandating masks than they are letting on.
The virus has an unknown component to it that will somehow be worth avoiding - even at the expense of all the drawbacks above. (I really pray that it's not this one!)
The people mandating these things are doing it for the purpose of making us want to stay home, make grocery trips brief, stop seeing the doctor for every little thing, work on getting rid of co-morbidities, and perhaps they want us to stop driving so much... and they may even be doing it for the purpose of making us sicker (I REALLY HOPE I'M NOT RIGHT ABOUT THAT!), and more hidden purposes.
Considering the documents (which you need to read!) “A World At Risk” put out by the World Health Organization, AND the “International Health Regulations” (also found there), this whole mask bit could be what "they" decided on long ago to make sure we are being obedient to government officials and "really preventing" disease. This whole thing looks to be either only a drill, or maybe that plus a method of changing the world "for the better" or "for the good of the whole". The mask-wearing could be a "mask", if you will, for what is really going on. Go read the documents. Note the extreme open-ended-ness and lack of specifications in the IHR. Note the possibilities that are left open to the World Health Assembly for the regime to do basically whatever they want when there is a "public health risk" (such as the kind of risks mentioned at the beginning of the world at risk doc). And note the very clear focus in the "A World at Risk" doc on a tighter top-down government. Note the very clear understanding that the WHO had and has that the poor would be hit the hardest with this. Note the financial goals and readiness markers they have in that document! Note the readiness markers on page 10.
We now live in a time so close to the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, that we are crying and asking for it with sincerity of heart. There is so much contention, political and economic upheaval (a violent or sudden change or disruption to something), and it is affecting all of us! Peace and balance seem like rare treasures that we must put more focus on obtaining, guarding, and keeping.
I'm a birth worker. I help women in labor. The Bible tells us that this time shall be as a woman in travail. I see where we are in that process. We are most certainly in a time of transition, and have been for a few years I think. I believe that our spiritual journeys (labors) are personal and that our paths can all be different and still lead to the same place: Happiness and bliss, basking in the light of the love of Elohim (plural: male and female). The Divine Whole.
But here, I will tell you some similarities I see in most laboring women when they are transitioning from active labor to pushing (or breathing) the baby out of her womb. See if these traits and qualities match up with how you observe yourself or other people feeling and acting today.
They all seem to get into a way of handling things that they have either practiced before with a birth prep mentor, or have never practiced before and are just doing the best they can with what they have. Sometimes this looks like panic, screaming, crying, anger, blame, demanding, praying…
Most do not like to change positions very often, but they need to in order to keep progressing comfortably, even though the initial change of position is not comfortable or easy to make.
Most will make a lot of noise. And rightly so. This is definitely (IMO) ALMOST ALWAYS the hardest part of labor.
When they are properly supported (with affirmations of love, trust in God and the divinely created process, and that they are doing their best) women in transition seem to progress more comfortably and even more quickly. Though labor still does get more intense, they know they can rely on their support people who are there for them and cheering them on.
They will get quite sad and irritable or even angry if someone tells them to do anything contrary to what is working for them right now. In fact sometimes the support people need to get extra supportive during those moments in supporting the mom with what she knows is best for her body and her baby. Sometimes this takes some creativity and working with the flow and groove the woman is currently experiencing.
A woman in transition who tunes out the noise of the world, to tune into her body and go deep within to find her inner guidance system transitions more calmly, safely, and more quickly.
Labor, in general, is filled with surges of intensity, followed by restful periods of time. During transition however, the surges of intensity get more intense and last longer, and the periods of restful time in between get shorter in duration.
The highest priority for a woman in transition is to breathe and relax during the intense surges (or periods of time).
Some women feel like holding their breath during contractions in transition, but this only limits the health of the baby and the mom, as oxygen is necessary and vital to life. Think "The breath of Life"...
The less oxygen the mom gets because of panic, the more intervention she will need, if available. If interventions are not available, she will not get all the oxygen she needs and therefore not function top notch. The baby as well, will not be getting all the oxygen it needs to function well right after birth.
All women in transition are very sensitive. Anybody allowed in their space needs to honor them and their space by making it all about them and supporting them in the ways they need support; easy to digest nourishment, including water or something with electrolytes in it that can help the nervous system function better.
If a woman senses that there is a threat to her peaceful environment, it can impede progress or put the woman on edge. Fear will inhibit progress.
There comes a point in time where many women in transition don't know what they need and it really is hard to not panic even if they have prepared beforehand. But, once again the space and the laboring woman need to be honored and respected in whatever suggestions are given to help.
Getting rid of waste during transition is sometimes very uncomfortable, or hard to remember to do. However, doing so will make the labor easier.
Often in later transition, women may burst out things that seem quite rude. Sometimes the person they were yelling at said something with good intentions, but it was not what the laboring woman needed. Usually this doesn't mean that the woman doesn't like the person, it just means they weren't being helpful in her labor.
A lot of times it helps for the laboring woman to remember what she's working so hard for. To remember that she is bringing into the world a new human life, a piece of heaven, that she will get to serve and take care of, and love and admire.
Most laboring women in transition need, or at least very much appreciate, continuous love and appropriate support from their husbands.
When a laboring woman addresses fears with a mentor that she trusts, and is able to trade her fears for trust, love and faith, then peace, safety, and reassurance follow and her labor can progress more easily and gently.
I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. We are a society of "laboring women in transition". We have intense waves followed by somewhat mild periods of rest… followed by a more intensive wave, and then a less lengthy period of time where we get to rest. We need support that focuses around us. We need support from our "Husband". We need to address our fears with the Wonderful Counselor, who can replace them with faith. We need easily digestible nourishment (or gentle nudges and advice that first affirms to us that we are doing or best - scriptures are great for this). This goes for both the BODY AND SOUL. If we have prepared beforehand, we are probably fairing a lot better than those who have not. Those who have not prepared beforehand are most likely panicking, especially if they don't have a support system, or they have not been taught to see/acknowledge it. We can support these people by giving them what they need, such as a quiet environment, good and simple nourishment, and surrounding them with affirmations of love. We are all going to be a little more stuck in our ways than we usually are and it is going to be harder to change our positions on things or encourage others to do so, even when doing so would help us labor more comfortably or effectively. Same with getting rid of what we don't need anymore. It can be really undesirable to release waste - things that are getting in the way of our progress and comfort. But it is only helpful when we are able to do so. We are making a lot of noise, which is totally normal when something is really hard. It even helps us deal better with it! Sometimes we have no clue what we need or want, or things get confusing. It is then that we reach out to our support people. We need to respect each person as if they were a laboring woman in transition who needs our support and cheering on. We need to remember how sensitive they are right now, how sensitive we are right now. It is so much easier to give or take offense when people are vulnerable and sensitive. We need to tune out the noise of the world, and tune into our inner guidance system. We need to make it our highest priority to breathe deeply and with great focus on relaxing and allowing God's design to work for us, not only during the intense times, but during the restful in between times as well. This helps us preserve our energy for the times it is most needed.
We need to remember what we are working so hard for. We are working to usher in the second coming of the Savior of the World, a piece of heaven, whom we will get to serve, admire and take care of.
