My body has been trying to tell me something

My body has been screaming at me for several weeks that something is wrong. I would not listen, so it did something to make me pay attention. In hindsight, this is kind of funny. <br /><br />A little over three weeks ago my body attacked itself. At the time, I thought it was some strange allergic reaction. I had no idea what made this happen and had never had anything like this happen before.<br /><br />I was sitting at my desk at work, 4:30pm on a Friday afternoon about three and a half weeks ago. I hadn't eaten anything since noon, and only had water to drink . Suddenly I had a tingling in my upper lip, on the inside, right in the middle of the lip. It was a sensation I'd never experienced before. My lip started to swell up, very quickly, but only on the upper left side. Then the hives started on my upper chest. Terrible welts appeared and they itched like crazy. I looked like a freak.<br /><br />I went home and took Benadryl. I just thought it was an allergic reaction. I must have touched something at work, then touched my lip. I'm allergic to peanuts, but this was different. Peanuts make my throat close up and I can't breathe. That didn't happen.<br /><br />The Benadryl I took had absolutely no affect on me. The swelling of my upper lip continued and so did the hives. By Saturday, the hives calmed down, but my lip remained swollen until Sunday. I refused to leave the house because I looked so hideous.  <br /><br />By Monday I looked normal and put the whole thing out of my mind. Too much other stuff to worry about, can't think about it now.<br /><br />Two weeks later, same thing, same time of day, at my desk, but it was my lower right lip that started swelling and my entire body itched, with hives.. Again, I thought it was some weird allergic reaction to something at work.<br /><br />Today, five days after the last episode, it happened again! This time I was at home, 5 a.m. I hadn't eaten or drank anything yet. I had just got out of bed to go to the gym. I promised myself that I would get back on track with the exercise. As I was dressing for the gym, I started thinking about the project I'm on at work, about a particular problem and how I'm going to fix it, realizing I don't know how. Boom! The tingling in my upper lip, left side, started again, and it started to swell up! Right on queue, I break out in terrible hives on my entire upper body. This time the hives are worse than the last two times.<br /><br />Okay, I've had enough. I make an appointment for the doctor, and took the day off from work. I took pictures of my lip and my hives with my cell phone to show the doctor. By the time I got there at 3pm, I looked normal again. I showed the doctor the pictures and he was impressed--he said "this is serious". Then he asked me the question I expected, has anything changed in my diet or my personal care products. No to both. Then he asked about my life. I told him a little about my crazy, stressed-filled life. And what does he say? He tells me he is 100% certain that my problem is stress induced. The swelling up of my lips, the hives, all from stress! The prescription, first Zyrtec twice a day to stop the hives and itching, second, I need to relax.<br /><br />Wow! If that's not a wake up call, I don't know what is. It's like my body said, "hey stupid, you need to slow down and take it easy. You're killing me.". I ignored my body. Again, "hey, YOU...listen to me!". Finally today, with the worst hives so far, "HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU!". Okay, you got my attention. I hear you!<br /><br />I tried to think about what is so different in this last month from the previous five months. I handled much worse stress in those five months. I didn't get hives or a swollen lip. True, I almost had a complete mental breakdown several times, but I held it together. Then it hit me. The two things that have really changed in the last four weeks:  my diet and exercise. In spite of all the insanity during those first five months, I managed to stay pretty much on track with my eating and exercise. If I didn't go to the gym, I walked at lunch. I ate healthy foods, although sometimes too much. I got down to 173.<br /><br />Then I honestly don't know what happened, other than I felt like the worst of it was over and I had been to hell and back. Then I started eating junk, I barely exercised, maybe one or two times a week at the most. I even went a whole week a couple of times without going to the gym at all. <br /><br />My body has let me know that this is not a good thing. Eating poorly, not exercising, and my body revolted against me. It sure got my attention. My focus now, eight hours of sleep, good food, and daily exercise. These things are a must. They aren't optional. <br /><br />I can't help but wonder if this was what the outside of my body was doing, what is going on inside my body.<br /><br />I think it's kind of a miracle that our bodies are smart enough to do something like this to get our attention. I knew things were bad for me, that I wasn't handling the stress well, my eating was out of control, and my exercise was almost non-existent. I just didn't realize things were really that bad. I think I got the message loud and clear. <br /><br /><i>Postscript: I thought I'd look up the medicine they gave me for the hives before I took it. I thought the doctor said Zyrtec, which you can buy over the counter. I wasn't sure why I needed a prescription. They gave me a prescription for Ranitidine! Which is "Zantac"! Which is for heartburn, not hives. I don't have heartburn, I have hives. They gave me the wrong medicine! The script was sent in by the doctor on the computer (not my regular doctor). It wasn't a hand-written script. I just called the pharmacy and the doctor entered it in wrong. I guess hives...heartburn, Zyrtec...Zantac. Thank goodness this wasn't a serious condition or a dangerous medicine. Just makes you realize that you should always double check your prescriptions before you pop them in your mouth. </i><br /><br />

My body has been trying to tell me something

My body has been screaming at me for several weeks that something is wrong. I would not listen, so it did something to make me pay attention...

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My Life In Kenya: A Musungu Memoir -- Part 2

Cathedrals And House Churches -- Lessons Learned.<br /><br />Our week in Kenya began with worship at All Saints Cathedral where I was to give the sermon for Sunday worship. At this point you may be expecting me to marvel at the joy and enthusiasm of African worship. Actually not so much. The service was clearly designed with that in mind. At times a worship leader tried mightily to get the group energized, but frankly it fell flat. The music was intended to be lively, but the people just didn’t feel it. My sermon was well-enough-received by those who stayed awake, but some dozed on the front row. It seemed altogether like a frozen chosen assembly.<br /><br />Only later did I find out what was really afoot. It was the first day that the new Provost (similar to a Dean) was at the Cathedral. He is appointed by the Bishop – not called by the congregation. So it was his first day and he wasn’t preaching. I was. In addition, they normally worship in a quaint old English style church building – one that had been Whites-only until 1962 when the Whites exited in the wake of independence and the present congregation moved in. But now they are constructing a large modern Cathedral that will hold hundreds more people than the old building. It is far from complete. Beams and rafters are still exposed. The windows have no panes. This was their first day in the new building and they had not been warned in advance that they would be worshiping in there that day. They just arrived at Church and were directed into the new intimidatingly large unfinished structure. So: surprise! New Provost. New building. Musungu preacher. (They may have thougth I was the new Provost!) <br /><br />What I had taken for boredom was a state of shock. How many Anglicans does it take to change a diaper? You can’t change that diaper. It was given in memory of my grandfather. Same thing would have happened here. Still I felt privileged to give the inaugural sermon in the new All Souls Cathedral and the people, though discombobulated, were gracious and devout.<br /><br />After the Eucharist, we went to the Bishop’s house for Home Bible Church. This is one of the main things Fr. Lloyd had wanted me to see. It was like a house church or a cell group. It was a Bible Study with prayer and songs. The topic was the role of Godparents. People were challenged to find scriptures that informed the question of how to be a good Godparent. Generally, Kenyans have the same challenges we do in choosing and preparing Godparents. The discussion was intelligent and their ability to connect scriptures to the topic was impressive. <br /><br />This is what I took away from Home Bible Church: We need our Sunday morning worship services alright. We need public worship in God’s house, a sacred space. I could not disagree more with the Emergent Church Movement more on that point. We need that basic gathering to publicly constitute us as a community of faith. Most of us will not go deeper than what happens there. But the large scale public worship of the Church draws its life from those who do go deeper in small groups meeting to study and pray in more intimate settings, especially homes. That is where the spiritual bonds are forged; the heart of the church, strengthened. <br /><br />If a Church is medium to large, it needs several small church groups gathering at other times in other places to sustain its intimacy. But what if a congregation is already small – say 12 people gathered for Sunday morning worship? I believe even small churches need that gathering of a few to go deeper. Maybe it will only be two or three meeting to pray and study, but their gathering will provide the energy that will sustain and perhaps grow the larger group. Look back on my previous blog post about 80/20 rule in which I argue that we cannot build the church by extending its circumference; we have to grow the core within and the circumference will expand to keep the balance. Home Bible Church is a way to grow the core.<br /><br />Each church could create its own format. It can be a spiritual book club meeting at an Indian restaurant, or a Bible and Brew class engaging scripture at a bar, or it can be a meeting for contemplative prayer and spiritual story telling. The key is the small group gathering – somewhere away from the church property – to connect with each other on the basis of our common bond in Christ.

My Life In Kenya: A Musungu Memoir -- Part 2

Cathedrals And House Churches -- Lessons Learned. Our week in Kenya began with worship at All Saints Cathedral where I was to give the sermo...

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Invisible Ink-a guest blog by Herb Broda

 <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ja8AbQgYa6_o91TPyXXRHTO03Phv8CCJep2aNdSwwv2g9yvOxS4c3AMR7VL3j0_Pw1Z9sny9wZS32oaQFgVGyg0SYDPB_CeSjv7rfDrG6OZkesllpfn4FRPFFYgosQZJkMxgE4pwMZoK/s1600/GirlReadingOutside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ja8AbQgYa6_o91TPyXXRHTO03Phv8CCJep2aNdSwwv2g9yvOxS4c3AMR7VL3j0_Pw1Z9sny9wZS32oaQFgVGyg0SYDPB_CeSjv7rfDrG6OZkesllpfn4FRPFFYgosQZJkMxgE4pwMZoK/s200/GirlReadingOutside.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from the Appalachian Mountain Club's <a href="http://greatkids.outdoors.org/2012/02/outdoorsy-kids-still-have-better.html" target="_blank">Web Site</a></td></tr></tbody></table> I will often reference other blogs that are relevent to the topic of outdoor, environmental and/or wildlife education here.  It's my pleasure today to reference one of my favorite people, Herb Broda with Ashland University, and his recent post on the Children and Nature Network's Blog.  Herb looks at how changes in children's literature are unfortunately a reflection of the decline in time spent outdoors by today's youth.  Enjoy!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Herbert%20W.%20Broda%20is%20a%20professor%20of%20education%20at%20Ashland%20University%20in%20Ohio.%20He%20is%20the%20author%20of%20%22Schoolyard-Enhanced%20Learning:%20Using%20the%20Outdoors%20as%20an%20Instructional%20Tool%22%20and%20%22Moving%20the%20Classroom%20Outdoors:%20Schoolyard-Enhanced%20Learning%20in%20Action.%22%20He%20is%20also%20a%20leader%20of%20the%20Children%20&%20Nature%20Network's%20Natural%20Teachers%20Initiative." target="_blank">Invisible Ink: Is the Natural World Disappearing from Children's Books and Education?</a><br /><br /><br /><em>Herbert W. Broda is a professor of education at Ashland University in Ohio. He is the author of "Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning: Using the Outdoors as an Instructional Tool" and "Moving the Classroom Outdoors: Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning in Action." He is also a leader of the Children & Nature Network's Natural Teachers Initiative.</em>

Invisible Ink-a guest blog by Herb Broda

 Photo from the Appalachian Mountain Club's Web Site  I will often reference other blogs that are relevent to the topic of outdoor, en...

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dressed beds

Let's talk about your bed.<br /><br />Now don't blush. I know we haven't known each other that long. But I'm interested.<br /><br />Are you a white bed person?<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX1W_Gfk9Udjd6UxVh0eFVjpD8JLJS8F9LB2ghNn3EYcRNqIDY9Gl4BXBXtifN4ui1Aet_WtsWhO59jknYAV-XfIoShwtIGypc0AePDAEjYkPtNNy3JtdeFR4VRYa6EVt_VT9mgPMqIcYe/s1600/p_101201717.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX1W_Gfk9Udjd6UxVh0eFVjpD8JLJS8F9LB2ghNn3EYcRNqIDY9Gl4BXBXtifN4ui1Aet_WtsWhO59jknYAV-XfIoShwtIGypc0AePDAEjYkPtNNy3JtdeFR4VRYa6EVt_VT9mgPMqIcYe/s640/p_101201717.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://www.bhg.com/rooms/bedroom/makeovers/editors-picks-our-favorite-bedroom-makeovers/#page=9" target="_blank">Better Homes and Gardens</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Or do you like a little color while you sleep?<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-PFSOOfYgTGnY4e06nQ35Lbzag5NZ6_egAiurvvmGyZHPyGdSnZmoVpj1wmcCuPZoS41waZufxMpfkgwKo_IBvDUo183c3snCxghwiBs3yMV-5DKpHolbsszGp-2NWJGQIs58ecHoKnK3/s1600/editors-picks-our-favorite-bedroom-makeovers.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-PFSOOfYgTGnY4e06nQ35Lbzag5NZ6_egAiurvvmGyZHPyGdSnZmoVpj1wmcCuPZoS41waZufxMpfkgwKo_IBvDUo183c3snCxghwiBs3yMV-5DKpHolbsszGp-2NWJGQIs58ecHoKnK3/s640/editors-picks-our-favorite-bedroom-makeovers.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://www.bhg.com/rooms/bedroom/makeovers/editors-picks-our-favorite-bedroom-makeovers/#page=9" target="_blank">Better Homes and Gardens</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />In pictures, I always seem to be drawn to a crisp, white fluffy bed.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9WSYLZ5zqeEHqazClX5wIEOpzyPXVvR_hfjmcA24H4NBcHw0ZlUhr_IdtYKKjQejeQtwOmS1R4PIYVPC_k81U6Ie0isoFxaCYgzTInDEQN2_lvkSaf6mKOnmpdM1u6wcG4myVI9OCoh4/s1600/room-of-week-all-or-nothing.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9WSYLZ5zqeEHqazClX5wIEOpzyPXVvR_hfjmcA24H4NBcHw0ZlUhr_IdtYKKjQejeQtwOmS1R4PIYVPC_k81U6Ie0isoFxaCYgzTInDEQN2_lvkSaf6mKOnmpdM1u6wcG4myVI9OCoh4/s640/room-of-week-all-or-nothing.jpeg" width="478" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTAqQB82BbEOYNQ_947bmDG_wZbkZ5S-uwRuDpnCg6OC5iLIxsuNEkmW2x7z_wqP8vr2fbuDmOBxMLMHFBzcFsLJBNjKK7_SAjfP6X2foHr5BsER_Vxmarx3oBsqXEVZHexDSDUV6UFaM/s1600/193692-9-07%2520copy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTAqQB82BbEOYNQ_947bmDG_wZbkZ5S-uwRuDpnCg6OC5iLIxsuNEkmW2x7z_wqP8vr2fbuDmOBxMLMHFBzcFsLJBNjKK7_SAjfP6X2foHr5BsER_Vxmarx3oBsqXEVZHexDSDUV6UFaM/s640/193692-9-07%2520copy.jpeg" width="622" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://lonnymag.com/decorate/bedrooms" target="_blank">Lonny Magazine</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQaKMhXRprDikQzuX6GpI1_DNbsSO368Nz6NaizJkAXEO3f4ISGyUYW1ER8SkuYTxQyYiDT66lDVpvJPBc4g0GQXFFJVMLEtmFkCIMTgioO0MeP6JSVdoyqWP24X9D2kRcjHeJ4kkp-Wvj/s1600/Default.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQaKMhXRprDikQzuX6GpI1_DNbsSO368Nz6NaizJkAXEO3f4ISGyUYW1ER8SkuYTxQyYiDT66lDVpvJPBc4g0GQXFFJVMLEtmFkCIMTgioO0MeP6JSVdoyqWP24X9D2kRcjHeJ4kkp-Wvj/s640/Default.jpeg" width="390" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://www.somersetbayhome.com/Default.aspx?PageID=55&catid=&m=d&pID=132&page=&IsBed=Y" target="_blank">Somerset Bay</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />But in reality, I most often go for a bit of color (no surprise) when I pick out bedding. That<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> of course might be influenced by the reality factor. Having a dog that spends much of her day in our bed makes me think twice about investing in any luscious white bedding. (especially during the rainy spring months when I often find muddy paw prints)</span> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3szqvyHx3p27bPTfaCmMDDlYT98QQveEdeduaiFWwYtGo5iF-6pi5WZYbUjRjn2evl2lx18Y4cwVMNp-jD2G_VQJ4-l-fGHkV3z8i1HMswhgFXEeZgX0xZ7mrao_rHVC2rhvAl6WHR7L/s1600/interiors-to-inspire-timeless-and.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3szqvyHx3p27bPTfaCmMDDlYT98QQveEdeduaiFWwYtGo5iF-6pi5WZYbUjRjn2evl2lx18Y4cwVMNp-jD2G_VQJ4-l-fGHkV3z8i1HMswhgFXEeZgX0xZ7mrao_rHVC2rhvAl6WHR7L/s640/interiors-to-inspire-timeless-and.jpeg" width="516" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://lookbook.elledecor.com/Bedroom-Eclectic-A-Harlem-Brownstone's-Vivid-Transformation/id15627" target="_blank">Elle Decor</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYuLXVPibjvzq1A_LvVOkDEpSviXSRu7ebEa2SEXfqWjeOVvGyQJt7a88N0-Ua5pp0t-q4EAsPsiC6q6EX-YUvF-WnKysA-Kp9XqhhfOtVtsrUSsT37awyrb8LgMCNousa5Zu-P9juRKq/s1600/search.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYuLXVPibjvzq1A_LvVOkDEpSviXSRu7ebEa2SEXfqWjeOVvGyQJt7a88N0-Ua5pp0t-q4EAsPsiC6q6EX-YUvF-WnKysA-Kp9XqhhfOtVtsrUSsT37awyrb8LgMCNousa5Zu-P9juRKq/s640/search.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://www.gusandlula.com/" target="_blank">Gus and Lula</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-97FrK7bxXnpOhg7mTUJ9ofHXHwmqsrr4KfnwkyNfCIrZtrFezP1rRTiqHbcD4IKFVafYQiCpSnQE6PBKj4edMHlKZOiKscZVZ5N3EJbeyqQWRjkl_x06KT4ov7JJUJC2Eo5jMk9oSjuC/s1600/Bedroom-Design.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-97FrK7bxXnpOhg7mTUJ9ofHXHwmqsrr4KfnwkyNfCIrZtrFezP1rRTiqHbcD4IKFVafYQiCpSnQE6PBKj4edMHlKZOiKscZVZ5N3EJbeyqQWRjkl_x06KT4ov7JJUJC2Eo5jMk9oSjuC/s640/Bedroom-Design.jpeg" width="558" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via Domino Magazine</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="text-align: left;">So which do you prefer? All white? Color and pattern? Or maybe a mix of both?</span>

dressed beds

Let's talk about your bed. Now don't blush. I know we haven't known each other that long. But I'm interested. Are you a whit...

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