A Little Refining.

Had a bit of a crummy day today due to an assumption on my part that my body was finished fighting strep.  I decided yesterday that it was time to go back down to my normal dose of Cortef.  Not such a great idea.  I was super symptomatic today.  However, I'm feeling better this evening after some rest and extra Cortef.  I read today that it takes a healthy body 7-10 days to recover from strep.  I was holding out with all optimism that I would be recovering sooner.  Good thing the lazy days of summer have arrived and I was able to go with the flow! 

Dinnertime in my house lends an opportunity for discussion from which the most thoughtful lessons are taught over a plate of chicken, green beans, and potatoes.  My fifteen year old football playing son has a bad habit of holding his fork akin to caveman style while abruptly stabbing his food.  Maybe this is how all fifteen year olds hold their forks?  Either way, it is a perpetual work in progress. This evening he decided to hold his fork in caveman fashion while smashing his red potatoes with all the strength he could muster.  "Even the strongest of forks has it's breaking limit, son," my husband announced from across the table.  I sat back in my chair and thought how  wise those words were.  In the same way that the strongest fork has it's breaking limit, so do our seemingly strong bodies.  As a result, pushing them so hard, is oftentimes not the best solution.  In my eagerness to be well, I pushed a bit too hard, reduced my stress dose of Cortef too soon, and as a result, felt crummy.  Great!  Lesson learned.  Will it happen again?  As sure as my son will grip that fork in caveman style in the same way that he has done in the past fifteen years, I almost guarantee it will definitely happen at some point again.  It's a learning process, and eventually both myself and my son will get there, with a few more lessons in between.

I must admit that I was hesitant to update my blog today. Who really wants to hear that I wasn't feeling as well as I had hoped today?  Somewhere along the way, I learned that the proper response to "How are you doing," was to smile sweetly and reply with, "Fine, thank you. How are you?" I am not entirely sure if I can attribute this etiquette to good old southern training, or just years of observation and absorption. It is that exact knee jerk response that was preventing me from wanting to update my blog today.  So what does any good blogger do? Write about it!

With that being said, if you deal with chronic illness, how do you respond when people ask how your doing? Fortunately, I have thrown all "proper training" aside, and I just honestly tell them. You would be amazed how many compassion filled responses I get. As an additional benefit, I know that these sweet souls are honestly praying for me. Often times, speaking openly about how I am feeling opens a door for that person to share with me as well. I have on occasion, had the "uh-huh, uh-huh, I'm not really listening to you. I didn't even notice that you stopped mid sentence, and oh look, is that a butterfly," kind of response. That's okay. I honestly don't begrudge them, realizing that they were most likely a byproduct of good southern training as well.  Just as the strongest fork, they may reach a breaking point one day themselves, or maybe not.  Often times if I know from prior experiences, I just give us both a pass and respond with the old tried and true, "Fine, thanks.  How are you?" 

In my search for a photo of a bent fork for my blog, I happened across a website which I will share below.  Amazing what beautiful pieces of jewelry are made from the strongest of forks.  In the same way that these forks are being shaped and fashioned into something beautiful, God is also shaping me.  Day by day!
http://sunsetsilverwear.webstarts.com/index.html

On days like today, I especially love my crock pot!  I threw in my handy liner, and added the following which resulted in a chicken strogonaff type meal that left my pickiest eater scraping his plate clean.



Chicken tenders about 8 (frozen)
Green beans 1 cup frozen (frozen)
Red potatoes 2 cups
Salt and pepper
(1/4 cup of fat free cream cheese mixed with 2 tablespoons of light mayonnaise and 2 tablespoons of Ranch seasoning and 1/2 cup of chicken broth)  place this mixture on top of other ingredients

Cook on low all day.  Thicken the broth mixture with cornstarch until it forms a nice gravy.  Stir while breaking the chicken into smaller bits.

Blessings!
Alicia