No sugar, No dairy, No grains....JUST WHOLE FOOD

For the month of September 2015, we decided to try Whole30 as family.  You can see more details at www.whole30.com, but basically it’s a very strict diet that focuses on eating only healthy foods (meats, eggs, vegetables, and fruits) and eliminating ALL others foods (no sugar, no grains, no dairy, etc) for 30 days.  The main objective for us choosing to do this was in hopes that it would begin to heal Silas’s gut, and eventually heal his skin.

So, how did it go?  Well, that’s a complicated answer, of course.  ;)

First of all, I should say that the boys did AWESOME!  Their attitude was fantastic!  Thankfully, they are generally good eaters, and most of the time I could still serve foods that they enjoy, so they really didn’t complain about the foods they couldn’t eat.  A typical meal would be a meat, a starchy vegetable, and another (non-starchy, usually green) vegetable.  Breakfast was mostly eggs, with fruit or maybe potatoes.  We snacked on lots of nuts and fruit.  The ‘results’ varied quite a bit for each person.

Clarence – did great, with no cheats for the entire 30 days.  He even lost 10lbs, which I was quite surprised about, since he had lost quite a bit in the beginning of the year, and didn’t need to lose any more, IMO.  He is super self-disciplined, and already has way less cravings, etc. for ‘bad food’.

Anna – I did good for the first 3 weeks, but ended up quitting at Day 23 – for a variety of reasons.  I only lost a few pounds and still have lots of unhealthy cravings.  Oh well.

Austin – we basically just had him do the Whole30 at home, and allowed him to eat others things when he was out.  This seemed to be a good compromise for him. 

Silas – the biggest questions, of course, is ‘Did it help Silas’s skin?’  Unfortunately, not yet, since the skin is such a huge organ.  We have decided to continue with the program for him.  Three years of skin issues and probably a leaky gut will take a while to heal.  We’re hoping that if we continue the diet we will see changes in the next month or two.  We will allow a few exceptions to the diet – particularly eating rice again (this is not allowed on the Whole30 diet, but adding this back in will make life much easier for everyone). 

I’m not completely sure yet how this will look for our family with Silas still on the diet, but the rest of us not really.  I will probably keep most of meals still gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free, since these are especially problematic for someone with a leaky gut.  But I might sneak a few sandwiches into Austin and Clarence’s packed lunches when Silas is not around.  ;)  I have to say, again, how impressed I am with how well Silas has handled this and how he really hasn’t complained.  But of course it wouldn’t be too polite of us to eating macaroni and cheese right in front of him and telling him he can’t have any!

So, we continue to persevere and pray for God’s healing on Silas.  Thank you to everyone for your support and prayers during this journey.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – an update on the 30 days of prayer for Silas

Let’s start with the ugly: Silas’s skin.  Yes, unfortunately, much of Silas’s skin is still ugly.  We have seen a little improvement over the past 30 days, but honestly not much.  L

The Bad:  It seems in Western Christianity we often feel that unanswered prayers (aka , prayers that were not answered the way we wanted/hoped) are BAD.  I certainly feel that way most of the time.  I prayed for complete healing on Silas’s skin during these 30 days.  Many, many people joined us in prayer.  I prayed, read Scriptures, fasted.  And yet, still God is saying ‘Not yet’.  This is hard.  It seems bad at the moment, but I am trying to remain hopeful and continue trusting God for His perfect timing.

The Good: Yes, there is some good!

1.       Silas is starting to take a lot of ownership over his skin. 

He is really trying (for the first time) to NOT scratch.  This is actually a huge improvement!  He has told me that he prays for God to help him not scratch.  Even just being able to WANT to not scratch is a step in the right direction.  At night, he often sleeps curled up on his side with his hands tucked in between his knees to help control himself. 

2.       We usually just do lotions once a day now. 

Lotions and moisturizing is a complicated thing.  Using too much can hinder the body from producing its own natural oils, but Silas’s skin has always been SO dry and awful that we felt we couldn’t get ahead of it.  We were doing a minimum of moisturizing once in the morning before kindergarten and once at night.  Now we generally just do nighttime.  It’s been nice during the summer that he is usually with us all day and we can keep an eye on him to prevent excessive itching during the day.  Hopefully, we will not have to starting doing twice a day again when he starts schools.

3.       People praying. 

So many people have prayed with us for Silas, and people praying is always good!  Also, it has been super encouraging to us as we often feel weary after struggling with this for so long. It’s has been a wonderful reminder about the family of God and wonderful community that we have!

4.       Some answers?!? 

Maybe, hopefully we might be finding some answers.  As we have been praying we always ask God for wisdom in how to help Silas.  We continue to feel that this is an INTERNAL problem – related to digestion/gut health.

 

Our next step is to try a diet called Whole30 (more details to come, or you can just google it) starting September 1.   We continue praying and believing in God’s great power and healing abilities. 

Silas' skin: Two steps forward, two steps back.

Today is Day 12 of our 30 days of prayer for Silas.  We are asking people to join us in prayer for complete healing on Silas’s body.  Following is an update from Anna.  J

First of all, praying in faith poses a small but constant theology debate in my head.  I absolutely believe that God is MORE THAN ABLE to heal Silas.  I personally believe that someday Silas will have total healing with his skin issues, but I’m not really sure of WHEN.  We have been praying daily, usually multiple times a day for 3 years, and so far God has been saying ‘Not yet’.  Now we are asking others to join us in prayer, and I mostly believe that this is the time when Silas will receive healing.  For the most part, I pray in faith, believing that at the end of these 30 days we will see miraculous changes and recovery.  I pray and believe.  I can quote verses about God caring so much for us and God wanting to answer our prayers.  Silas’s story can be a great witness to many of God’s amazing power!

However, I certainly do not claim to know the mind or will of God.  My own mind often wonders, ‘but what if God is still saying not yet?’  I realize that God often has a bigger plan of which we are completely unaware.  Am I trying to force my own will on God by praying for healing now?  We certainly pray for God’s will for both of our children, but only praying for God’s will seems too generic.  Is praying for specific things testing God?  Or is NOT praying for specific things showing a lack of faith?  And then, what role do I play in helping Silas to heal?  Should I keep trying new medications and diet changes or does that seem like I’m trying to ‘help God along’?  Is it better to let God take all the credit by not doing anything ourselves?  These questions bounce around in my head daily. 

Speaking of medications and diet changes, here’s our latest theory.  [Disclaimer: we have had lots of theories and tried many, many things to help Silas.  Thus far, none have seemed very helpful, so I have no idea if this current theory will end up helping or not.]  We believe that Silas’s main problem is a digestion issue/leaky gut.   Basically, his body is detoxing through his skin.  The main way to heal leaky gut is through major diet changes:  no regular dairy, very few grains, no sugars or junk food, no processed food or conventionally raised meat.  To be fully committed to this, takes a LOT of discipline and commitment from everyone in the family!  We started eating this way around the beginning of July, and seemed to see some improvements.  Then we started our big driving trip down to Sicily, Italy.  We just spent 1 week ‘on the road’, and while we tried to eat somewhat healthy, some days it was just way too hard.  A few other factors working against us were the extreme heat and a sort of stressful daily environment (Silas doesn’t do well with changes, which would include traveling and crowded sight-seeing) which seemed to really irritate Silas’s skin again.  He was starting to look much WORSE again and I was feeling SO discouraged.  I was questioning this whole trip and wondering if Silas would ever get better.  We were both praying constantly for Silas, laying our hands on him and begging God for healing. 

Last night we arrived in Sicily.  Now, we get to stay in the same place for almost three weeks, which will help with stress level, sleeping habits and especially eating habits.  Also, we are near the coast, so hopefully the salty air environment will help Silas’s skin.  Again, we acknowledge that ultimately healing will only come from God’s grace and power.

Interestingly, when Silas woke up this morning his knees (which were by far the worst thing this past week) looked MUCH better!  I was so happy I almost cried!  We are hoping and praying that his knees will continue to heal and not flare up again.  I have so many theories as to why it got worse and then better, but only God knows! 

Thanks again for your prayers, encouragement, and reading this long update!  We are so thankful for each of you!

Silas's Skin

The continuing saga.  The struggles with Silas's skin.  Bad rashes, eczema, dermatitis, whatever name you want to choose, they could probably all apply.  I'm sure it's not the worst case of eczema ever seen, but it can be pretty bad.  Some mornings his eyes are so crusted over he can't open them.  His sheets have many blood stains from itching during the night.  He has big crusty spots on his scalp - kind of like cradle crap.  He constantly itching everywhere and I'm constantly trying to get him to stop; usually with little success.  I get super stressed out.

Tonight I was lotioning him and he started crying because the lotion stung.  I cried a little, too.  And then I yelled a little.  I shouldn't have; obviously didn't help the situation.  I just feel so frustration and exasperated and tired of dealing with problem.  Two and a half years.  We've been to so many doctors.  We've tried every lotion/cream imaginable.  Actually, we have seen some improvement.  I try to remind myself of this and stay positive, but the severity of the skin rashes still ebb and flow and these last few days have been bad again.

And then I try to get some perspective.  It's just skin.  As far as physical ailments it's really NOT that big of a deal.  So many people deal with much worse and for much longer.  I should not be this bothered by it.  But instead of having a more positive outlook, I just add guilt to my pile of feelings.

I feel like as a missionary blog, this should have some sort of positive spin at the end.  i.e.: And then I turned it over to God, and here's my spiritual insight . . . But at the moment, I'm not there yet.  I'm trying to give to God.  We pray for healing and patience and answers.  And some days, it's a struggle.

Happy Fall!

A few pictures from the first days of school:

Silas and Clarence's first day of school.  Silas wants to be a Kindergarten teacher when he grows up, to help kids learn English.

Austin's first day of school, a few days later.  He wants to be a Lego Set Designer when he grows up!

The Einschulungsfest.  A special program to welcome the first graders to the elementary school.  The second graders put on a play and Austin was the tiger.

Summer Recap

It was a great and busy summer!  Here’s a little overview:

First, we had two weeks in Calgary in Clarence’s family.  We got visit with lots of friends and even did a little roadtrip around Alberta (Edmonton, Jasper, Columbia Icefields). 

On in the Icefields - yes it was cold!

Boys in the Alberta Badlands

Exploring with Yeh-Yeh.

Still loves to be carried, especially by Mah-mah.

 

 Then we had almost a month in Ohio with Anna’s family!  The boys loved having lots of time to play with their big cousins.  One big highlight was the Pandora area Vacation Bible School.  The theme was ‘Jerusalem Marketplace’.  Everything was set up to look and feel like Jerusalem around the time of Christ.  The kids got to do daily chores of fetching  the water and baking bread each day.  They also got to try out new activities like woodworking, weaving, and metalworking.  There was Synagogue school with the Rabbi, and skits which helped them to think about how the people felt when hearing about Jesus – particularly his death and resurrection.  So fantastic!  [But of course I didn't get any pictures of that . . . ]

Silas has a special bond with Aunt Amy!

Line of cousins!

Joint birthday party for Austin and his cousin Isaiah.

Special reading tent.

 

 

We also we glad to be in Ohio for Anna's grandpa's burial service.  He passed away on the day that we flew from Germany to Calgary, but the burial service was a few weeks later.  As a World War 2 vet, he was honor with a military burial.

 

 

Finally, we ended our time with about  12 days in Toronto.  This was a bit of a whirlwind as there were SO many people we wanted to see!  It was great to share at North York Chinese Baptist Church on a few different occasions as well as attend a wedding of one of our old youth group kids!  Even though our time in Toronto was short, we loved being there and reconnecting with so many wonderful friends!  I'll try to add some pictures of that later!

I Love Raising Support :)

There is no sarcasm included in the title of this post. It's a true statement and as you read on, I hope you will catch a glimpse as to why I made this the title of the post.

There has been a book going around missionary circles called "People Raising" and while I have not personally read this book I believe that it's an appropriate title for what missionaries around the world have been given the responsibility and privilege to do. I (Clarence) will admit that it was something that I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the first time I went out as a short-term missionary when I graduated from college but currently I can say that I enjoy and I actually love it.

We are currently in Calgary and we were able to enjoy worshiping with the faith community of Crossroads Community Church. They have been a huge supporter of me ever since Middle School and this community has taken upon it's hands many others and developed life-long disciples of Jesus Christ. It's a special privilege to be part of a community that even when you're gone they are still praying for you and looking out for you and when you come back they treat you with love and compassion as the body of Christ has been instructed to do. This is why I love the term "People Raising" because it implies that the work you are doing is allowing all those whom in are in your sphere of influenced to partner together through prayer, finances and going forth to share the gospel and spread the good news.

It was a great joy to be able to meet some new people and be able to share about the great work that God is doing at Black Forest Academy. I love being able to share about the students and the people that I get to work with everyday at BFA because they are so awesome and to give that picture to people of what an incredible ministry is happening at BFA is by far one of the most special things I get to do in my ministry. We even were able to meet with fellow missionaries from our church who are involved in a school similar to BFA in the Philippines. Raising up people to understand the calling that God has given us has become a great joy for me and I know that it is only by God that I have been able to have this attitude.

If you are wanting to partner with us and support the ministry we are part of financially or through prayer I encourage to get in contact with us or even go to our mission organization's website at www.teachbeyond.org and click on the Give Online button and you will see how you can join and be a partner with us. Thanks for those of you are praying for us and supporting us through the gifts God has given to you and for your use. Blessings!